Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-06-25

have known freedom win never
willingly live In slavery.
The assertion and mainte-
nance Of its independence by
Yugoslavia. the unceasing unrest
in East Germany. the upsurge of
freedom in ruthlessly depressed
Hungary. the increasing liberia
ton Of controls in Poland. all
bear witness to mans eternal re-
fusal to live enslaved by his fell
low creatures or as the pawn Of
the state.
I am profoundly convinced
that one Observation-Disclosures
nations and those peoples win
again be free. Evolutionary
change, generated by pressures
from within and without, hopes
and yearnings Of the oppressed,
kept alive by the friendships Of
the free peoples Of the earth. will
eventually destroy or disinte-
CRATE despotic power, and those
downtrodden populations will
again walk upright upon the
earth. But in the meantime, the
cost will be great and sad
measured in privation. in degra-
dalton. in human suffering and
despair.
Thinking on these things. we.
in America, gain renewed deter
mination to hew to the principle
of diffusion of power. knowing
that only thus will we ourselves
forever avoid drifting irretriev-
ably into the grasp of some form
Of centralized government.
Forecast Of Degeneration
Our governmental system, so
carefully checked. so delicately
balanced. with power fettered
and the people free, has survived
longer than any other attempt
to conduct group affairs by the
authority of the group itself. Yet,
a distinguished scholar has only
recently counseled us that in
the measurable future. If present
trends continue. the States are
sure to degenerate into power
less satellites of the national
government in Washington.
white House Press Secre-
tary James Hagerty later iden-
titled the scholar as Prof.
Leonard D. White Of the Uni
versity of Chicago. Mr.. Hag-
erty said Mr.. White was the
author Of a series Of lectures
published by the Louisiana
State University Press in 1880
That this forecast does not
suffer from lack of supporting
evidence all of us know full well.
The irony Of it is accentuated as
we recall that the national gov
|ernment was itself not the
parent, but the creature, Of the
States acting together. Yet to-
day it is often made to appear
that the creature, Frankenstein-
like, is determined to destroy
the. creators.
Deliberately I have said made
to appear" The tendency Of
bureaucracy TO grow in size and
power does not bear the whole
of the blame. Never, under our
Constitutional system, could the
national government have sy-
phoned away State authority
without the neglect. acquies-
cence, or unthinking co-opera-
ton Of the States. themselves.
The Founding Fathers foresaw
and attempted to forestall such
"a contingency. They reserved to
the people, and they reserved to
the States. all power not speci-
fically bestowed upon the ma
tional government.
But, like nature. people and
their governments are intolerant
of vacuums. Every State failure
to meet a pressing public need
has created the opportunity.
developed the excuse and fed
the temptation for the national
government to poach on the
States preserves. Year by year,
responding to transient popular
demands the Congress has in
creased Federal functions. Slow
ly at first. but in recent times
more and more rapidly, the pen
dulum Of power has swung from
our States to the central govern
ment.
-Four years ago. at your Sc
attic conference, expressed the
conviction that unless we pre-
serve the traditional power and
responsibilities Of State govern
ment. with revenues necessary
to exercise that power and dis
charge those responsibilities, then
we will not preserve the kind
Of America we have known;
eventually, we will. instead, have
another form Of government
and. therefore, quite another
kind OF an America.
That conviction I hold Just as
strongly today.
Because Of that long-held be-
lief-because many Of you, also,
believed that the historic Fed
eral-State relationship and its
modern deviations needed care
full REORGANIZATION - in that
same year l obtained Congress
sional authority to establish a.
Commission on Intergovern-
mental Relations. With the CO.
operation Of State Governors,
Members of Congress and other
leading citizens, the commission
completed the first official sur
vey Of our Federal system since
the adoption of our Constitution
ITO years ago. This study
brought long-needed perspective
and pointed the way TO improve
ments in areas OF mutual con-
Germ TO the States and the Fed
eral Government.
Opposed though I am to need
less Federal expansion, since