Daily Kennebec journal., 1925-06-01

| here has largely been due to the
capacity of our people for efficient
cooperation. We shall continue
| prosperous at home and helpful
| abroad, about as~we shall maintain
and continually adapt to changing
conditions the system under which
we have come thus far. l mean our
| and responsibilities between the
States and the National Govern
nlent. For that is the greatest
American contribution to the organ
ization of government over great
populations and wide areas. 1t is
the essence of practical admins
| tration for a nation placed as
| ours is. 1t has become so COM
monplace to us, and pattern
by so many other peoples, that we do
not always realize how great an in
novation it was when first formu-
lated, or how great the practical
problems which it's operation in
wolves. Because of my conviction
| that some of these problems are at
| this time in need Of deeper consider
alton, I shall take this occasion to
try to turn the public mind in that
direction.
Distribution Of Powers
When dealing with the distribu-
tion of powers between the General
J Government and the States. Chief
/ Justice Marshall declared:
when the American people created
a national legislature with certain
powers, it was neither necessary nor
proper to define the powers reserved
by the States. Those powers pro-
ceed, not from the people Of Amer
lea, but from the people of the sew
eral States, and remain after the
adoption of the Constitution what
they were before, except so far as
they may be abridged by that in
| Strument."
Our constitutional history started
with the States retaining all powers
of sovereignty unimpaired, save
those conferred upon the National
Government. The evolution of the
constitutional system has consisted
largely in determining the line of
demarcation between State and ma
tional authority. The cases involved
are many and complicated, but there
is a fairly good popular understand
ing of this continuing struggle be-
| tween these contending sovereigntieS.
Because of better communication
and transportation, the constant
tendency has been to more and more
social and economic unification.
The present continent-wide union Of
48 States is much closer than was
the original group of 13 States.
This increasing unification has
well-nigh obliterated State lines so
far as concerns many relations of
life. Yet, in a country OF such
ways be certain regional differences
| in cnpia1 nlIf1nnl NJ In
thought. The most familiar illus
tration Of this is found in the his
tory of slavery. The Constitution
did not interfere with slavery, except
to fix time when the foreign slave
trade should be abolished. Yet
within a generation the country was
confronting q sharp sectional di-
vision on this issue. Changing
economic conditions made slavery
profitable in the South, but left 1t
| Improbable in the North. The re-
sulting war might have been avoided
If the South had adopted q policy of
ultimate abolition. But as this
method was not pursued the diff
ferences grew sharper until they
brought on the great conflict.
State and Federal Authority
Though the war ended forever the
| POSoiDAllly Ol ulSuulOIi, tIlGTS Sliu re-
main problems between State and
Federal authority. There are d.
visions of interest, perhaps more
apparent than real, among geo.
/ graphical sections or social groups.
| The seaboard thinks 1t has interests
in maritime transportation and over
seas commerce which differ greatly
from these of the interior, which Is
peculiarly dependent upon railroads.
Difference in climate and physical
conditions throughout so great a
territory tend to varied social habits
and modes of living which react up
on the economic and political at
titudes. The industrial development
of some sections contrasts with the
agricultural character of others.
Obviously, these differences give rise
to many problems in government,
which. must always be recognized.
Eut it is hardly conceivable that a
really menacing contest between the
sovereignty of the States and of the
| Union could ever again arise.
Our country, having devised this
dual system of government, and
lived under it longer than any other,
is deeply concerned to perfect and
adapt it to the changing conditions
of organized society. A community
comprising half a continent and
more than a hundred million people,
4 could not possibly be administered
under a single government organiza-
ton. We must maintain a proper
measure of local self government
while constantly making adjust
ments TO an increasingN interde-
pendence among the political parts.
Our national history has presented
- NhnC ~ II
Slavery showed one; the complexities
of interstate commerce have kept
others constantly in mind. On the
day the Constitution was finished,
probably more people would have
seen seeds of conflict and dangers to
the Union in future commercial re-
| lat1onS than in slavery. But COM
merce became a source of strength,
while slavery became a cause of
division. 1t brought the Union into
danger; and in the end was de-
stroyed itself. Where there was
sincere acceptance of the dual
sovereignty theory; where the States
sought to do their full part, and ac-
cepted the determinations of the
| National Government as to the rest
the plan worked. Where the States
sought more from the Federal au-
thority than it could give, and re-
| sisted national demands-then came
! dissension and, at length, war.
1t would be folly to deny that we
still have problems of interstate re-
| lations to handle. We boast that
! this is a land of equal opportunity
/ for all. We insist that there is one
law for all the people. But that
equality suffers often because of
4 the Emergencies between the laws
! of different States. So long as some
| can go to a distant State for