Evening star., 1936-07-02


varience with New
Deal philosophy in several particulars,
but this deviation appears nowhere
more dramatically than in his letter
accepting the vice presidential nomi-
nation on August %, 1882, in which
he said:
In my opinion, nearly all of our
civic troubles are the consequence of
Governments departure from It's legiti-
mate functions. = -
1T is not the business of Govern
ment to make individuals rich; though
too often has Government beer bent
on that purpose. Nor is it function
of an administration to direct the
personal affairs of mankind except
in so far as it places bar against such
things as involve injury, loss or dis
comfort to others. =
Dependence Encouraged.
Had it not been for the steady
encroachment of Federal Government
on the rights and duties reserved for
the States, We perhaps would not have
the present spectacle of the people
rushing to Washington to set right
whatever goes wrong.
But successive administrations have
encouraged this spirit of dependence
on Government either because of the
lust for additional power on the part
of Federal officials, or simply because
of a blind insiStence on the Hamil-
tonian principle of a strongly central
lied Government as opposed to the
Jeffersonian idea of giving to the
administration at Washington only
such functions as the States themselves
cannot perform.
The grav,tation of power to
Washington has bulded a structure
of administration vast beyond the
imagination of the builders of the
Constitution-complex, involved, and
uncoordinated; a fabric Of bureaus,
commissions, boards, and departments
that overlap and interfere with one
another-and all at the cost of the
people . =" =
Cited Unbalanced Budget.
whatever view may be held as to
the so-called business cycle; whatever
may be the real theory that business
panicS inevitably follow great wars, the
fact remains that the master element
of our trouble, the unbalanced budget,
lies on the doorstep OF the Republican
administration. Through administra
ton after administration, Republican
officials have so conducted our fiscal
affairs as to change a large Treasury
surplus into a deficit of three billion in
the space of less than II years.
The Republican platform, as usual,
carries a retrenchment plank couched
in vague, elusive terms-a striking
contrast to the Democratic platform
which demands retrenchment Of at
least 25 per cent in expenditures.
The economy plank in the
Democratic platform is guarantee
that the President will not attempt to
pass this buck to Congress"
Had the authorship of the above
speech not been disclosed, many parts
Of it would, if circulated annony-
mously, be sure to be attributed to
the economic royalists" or to anti
New Deal speakers.
Garner's views of 1882 are in ac-
cord with Democratic doctrines of the
past, and as such they would find
ready response today among the
Jeffersonian Democrats who oppose
the reelection of Mr.. Roosevelt.
Change Is Discounted.
The Vice Presidents abandonment
Of his 1882 views, if indeed he has
q ;,,,
much comment during the campaign,
but political Washington strangely
enough is going on the assumption
that at heart Garner has not changed
one iota, that he feels exactly as he
did, for instance, when he EXCHANGED
letters in July. 1885, with John Henry
Kirby, head Of the Southern Con-
stitutionalists. Kirby wrote:
MY Dear John: How long are YOU
going to tolerate the apostasy of the
Roosevelt administration to the cardi-
nal principles of the Democratic Party
and the notorious contempt for the
plain terms of the Constitution"
To this Garner replied:
Dear John Henry: Your favor is
do everything you want to and can't
DO half what would like to do.
You can't control everybody you would
like to and am in a similar fix. I
think that answers your question.
With regards and wishing you health
and happiness, ETC."
Hands Tied.
As Vice President, Garner has had
seat at the cabinet table. He knows
what Is going on. But he has no
power to change things as he has no
administrative authority. He has done
yeoman service, however, in helping
line up votes in the Senate for various
presidential measures. He has earned
his denomination.
The incident of the 1882 acceptance
letter is cited not in criticism of John
Nance Garner but to illustrate what
the average man probably doesn't
realize-namely. that the code of
politics really knows no consistency
and that political expediency governs
many of the public statements issued
by candidates for high Office. This is
probably no discovery to those who
follow the game of politics, but there
are many persons in America doubt
less who will still wonder why Garner
did not reiterate his 1882 declaration
and take a walk. For there are people
who would not even accept the vice
presidency at the price of a public
reversal Of convictions of lifetime.