m I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. | I Chap. .'B.pt.^..^.. I Shelf \...,\^,Ls> I I'^n ' ^'' p UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ADDEESS A -V DKl.lVKHKI) UKFOItE THE TAMMASY SOCIETY, TAMMANY HALL, NKW YORK. July 4th f 187 :i. >K. HON. CLARKSOJV Nf POTTER. LIBERTV CONSISTS IN TRK IT 'MITATION'* 0F~G0VK.KN V ENT. \m'6 NEW Y()IU\': D. TAYLOR. LAW. BOOK AND JOB PRINTER, Con. FILTON & XASSAT' STS. '? Mit. (tKA?»J) SAtllK^I A>l> FkI,1.()\\ C'lriZK-NS : We have assembled to celel)rate the iiinety-seventli aniiivor- sMvy of the Declaration of American Independence. It was a De- claration made amid doubts and dangers and ditlicnlties. It was maintained only after long struggles and sacrifices and sutfer- ing. And it was finally followed by a national ))rospcrity so great as to have endeared the memory of the day, not only to the people of that generation, but also to tlieir childnni and their children's children. And yet the separation of the people of these States from Great Britain could, in no event, have failed long since to have taken place ; and whatever may be our |»rcsent dan- gers, that of subjugation by any Eurojie;in power, or even loss of national indejtendence, is n(»t among them. This anniversary cojnes to us, then, as his birthday comes to a man — not so much as a day on Avhich to rejoice because he was boi-n, as one on which to consider upon his situation, his duties, and his future. ^Vhat, then, shall we say of tlie ]»rcsent condition of these ITuited States? On every hand an unprecedented nuiterial prosjierity ]>re- vails. The three millions of people Avhose declaration of inde- pendence we celebrate, then thinly scattered along the Atlantic seaboard, have grown to be the forty millions of our time. Every where this people have ]»ushed l)ack the forest and sub- dued the wilderness. To-day they hold the continent from one of tlie great oceans of the world to the other. Throuoh- out all this \ast tcrritoiy, — rich in all the prodiu'ts of the torrid and teni2>erate zones, — hamlets and villages, and even great eities, have been l»uilt up ; yeai" hy year the ])roduee of tlieir fields and their floeks, tlieir ores and their minerals, their coals and their oils, their mills and factories and fui-naees have increased. Year by ja-ar they have gone on constructing slii])s and boats, roads and canals, railways and telegrajdis, until at last the entire land is knit together with the means of instant intercommunication and rapid interconveyanee. Year by year the emigration from other shores, bringing stout arms and willing hearts, seeking homes and shelter liere, has increased. Until now their shijjs whiten every ocean, their trade gathers its riches from every land, and the wealth and power and influ- ence of this peo])le are known and admitted of all nations. VYhile throughout nearly all this vast domain, beyonatron- age some secret gain V While men witliout ])rinciple, seeking ])rotit through political organizations, ally thenisel\es with tlie dominant party of the moment, and call themselves Republi- cans in Pliiladeljdiia, or Democi'ats in New York, in order to wield the inHuence ami c-ontrol the ])atronage of tlie party for jtei'sonal and selfish ends. Until only now and then some fla- grant enormity raises a tem])orary publii- indignation and tliev are driven, as these walls bear witness, from the power t]\v\ abused and the shelter of the mimes and the Society they ha\ e outraged. Indeed, throughout a })ortion of our land larger tlian France, a region wliich submitted to the Federal (Government nearly ten years ago, and Avhich has been the s}>ecial subject of its paternal care, which has been constructed and reconstructed, and even in parts re-reconstructed, a condition of ])ublic dc- moralization prevails which illustrates the results of rule by the worst. In which those having most to suffer and to lose, those most interested in the welfare and prosperity of the section, are shut out from its councils, ;uid the adventurer, the "scalla- wag " and the "carpetbagger," reign in their stead. In which l)lunder, under the form of law, has been so general and so enormous as to destroy public credit ami ])aralyze even private energy. Nor is this demoralization confined to otHcial conduct or to ])ublir life. Mark, liow cxeii in jirivatt' life incu arc i\'oai"(U'(l lor tlieii- t'oiliiiu's fatlior than for tlieir worth ; liow siu-ccss causes t'rainl and wroiiii' to l»c (>\ crlooked ; what a strugy'lc yoos on for posts of jtultlic anorne in tniiid. r>u( licyoiid tliis tlie Fathers carcl'iilly and wisi-lv con- sidered what wei'e tlie iiialieual»U' rit!,lits ot" |)ers()iis, and in wliat ivspect thi' authority of o-o\ernnient shonhl be defined ami hniited. In thc'ii" system (»!" L!;o\erninent, — and by that |ilirase 1 here inehnU' t\\v wliole autliorities, State and Federal, tlu'y estnb- lislied t() exercise power, — in tlieir system of government, three canhnal |ii-inciples were deemed essential. The first was that government shonhl l)e defined, anut our Fathers really revolted be(ta,use they reali/.ei-iiu'iides there was no diifereuce among the Fatlu'rs. Men differed, and differed widely, as to how powers should be distributed; as to what powers were to be lodgi'd in the Federal, and wdiat should be left to the State governments. Hut as to the rights of individuals Federalists and Democrats were agreed. It was the Federalist Alexander iramilton who tations wdiolly unlike tliose of our generation, that our Fathers souglit to establish govern- ment. And if, in establishing it, they apprehended e^ils which never arose, and failed to jjrovide for those which do now exist, it was because the subsisting I'vils have come in with a growth, riches, and consolidation wholly unj)recedented, and mahdy resulting from inventions, and methods of interconnuu- nication then unsuspected. 80 that the present wealth and centralization of the country could not then have been fore- seen, nor ])rovision made against the ])articular evils which at- tend it. The jtarties which were formed upon the establislnnent of the Federal Government, were, therefore, naturally i»arties as to the construction to be given to the Constitution and the .» ■''' powers which might be exercised under it. ■ Tn the \ ery ear- liest Congresses the power of Congress to imj^iose duties foi- pro tection, to make inteinal improvenu'nts, and.to establish a National Bank were I'.iised and discussed. These qjiiestions were indeed not questions as to whether the particular authority in controversy might l>e exercised at all. For no one regarded the buildhig of a dock, or the giving of a bounty, or the establishment of a bank, to be lieyond the province of government ; and indeed these were powers which had all been exercised by the States. But the difference about them was only as to v diich of our dua 1 Governments such authorit} was lodged in About sucl 1 questions , wherever the 1 anguage of the Con- stitution was not clear and ex})licit, the A'iews of hones t and conscientous men might well differ. Those who fa\ ored a system of paternal government ; who desired g overnment not only to ])reservt order and niainttiin security. but to underta ce tlu' ))i-otection of industry , the exe- i; (MitioM of internal inii»n)Voments, the direction of tlie finances, tlie control of education, wouM naturally, when any question arose as t<* whether a i»articular power should he exercised by State or Federal authority, look Avith favor ui)on its exercise hy the central governnient ; while, on the other hand, men, whose frame of mind made them a)>i)rehensive of authority and jealous of the rights of mdividuals, would, even if a par- ticular power was one confessedly proper to he exercised hy o-ovevnrnent, naturally side, if the lang:uao-e of the Constitution admittele allegianee which eacli citi/.en owed to the State and Federal Govern- ments, was one of those things tew foreigners eonhl under- stand, hut it was one, twenty years ago, discussed in every ctountry store, talked over around every har-rooni tire, revived u|>on the stump and platform at every election fi-oni Maine to (^n'orgia. E\ erywhere it. ^vas understood, and everywhere the resti-aints and limitations of the Constitution wei-e insisted n[)on. IJut in time a new question ai-ose — that of Shnei-y in the Territories. Upon that cpiestion many Democrats sided with the South, not because they favored slavery, but because the F'edei-al (Tovernment, having been estaldislu'd by Slave States, and haviiig ix'ceived no power to deal with slavery except to ]ti-o- \'i(le for the return of fugitives fn-.n service, could not, in their judgment, rightfully interfere with slavery. That is, u[)on the shnery ({uestion, Democrats took thi' side of the I'ights of the States which hajjpened to l)i' the side of slavery ; l)Ut they did this, not because they were for slaxery, but be- cause they were for the States. This slavery agitation was continued for many years. It involved moral as well as ])olitical (piestious ; the rights of government over the governed, as well as tlu' extent of P'ede- ral ])ower.S(^jVlen talked then of the higher law, and of a duty al)ove the CoiistituBoii^Ttaivided the Democratic party it- self, aiuT, m a degree, took the place of the previous (piestious about the distribution of the powers of governmeut. Mean" time a new generation wni> growing up, and the changes in tlie nature of the country itself — which, in the end, proved more controlling than any public discussion or |)arty action — wei'e l)ecoming comjdete. When the Constitution was adojtted it was thought that the 15 flaiigor of tlic t'utuiv was, not tlial llic new go\enirnent Avould absorl) too niucli power, but that tlie State g-overnmeiits would cripple, resist, and defy it. ^'^^ndcr the cirennistanees thvw existinii', these views were prol)al»ly justified. I>ut the introduelion of steam na\ i!j;-atiy step occupied and overctmie ; trade and intercourse between different })arts increased, and a better understanding and greater honiogeneousness among the people of the different States followed ; until at last the Railway was invented, drawing together within hours, the i)eo])le whom the steaml)oat had only l)rouglit within (L-iys of each other ; and then last, and most centrali/ing of all, the telegraiih was intro- \ duced, putting all parts of the land into instant communication \with each other. •-yil — Heyoiul all thi^ of all the thirty-seven States, twentv-four never were original States at all. Xearly all of these have known no life that Avas not ]>art of or connected with that of tlie P^ederal Government. From their earliest settlenu'ut thev were Federal Territories, living upon Federal bounty, con- trolled by Federal oflicers, subject in all things to Federal leg- islation ; and, when they came at last to be States, their people could not forget the territorial relations of their earlier years, nor have that State pride and that veneration for State rights which the citizens of the original States ])ossess. 1^ r -, 16 Ffoiii the iiKinu'iit, tlu'iefoi-e, llic (|iu's(i(>ii of Shivery ripened into secession, and tlius Itrouij^ht on a test of pliysieal strengtli, the clianges in tlic natuiv of the i-onnfry wer^ apparent. Tt Avouleo])le of tlie Nortli, wlio liad l»een larj^elv tracU'rs, manufacturers and travelers, instinctively felt that these States had become actu:dly consolidated and one, ami must be kept together ; and with a wondei'ful unanimity, they i»erniitted the Federal ])awer to exercise during the war general and a1)solute authority. But the peo])le of the South Avho had remained chiefly agricul- turists, among whom the planter was the first citizen, whose territory was much more sparsely settled, and whose ti-ade and means of intercommunication were far less develojied, believ- ed in no such consolidation, and saw in Union no necessity. The war justified the judgment of the North, and proved for the present at least, the nationality of the whole country. In carrying on the war the Federal Government had, besides ex- ercising its ordinary powers, inqiressed citizens, made forced loans, monopolized the control of tlie banks and currency, arrested on suspicion, imprisoned at will, suspended TFabeas Corpus, resisfed the Courts, and done all this not oidy without the consent, but against the armed resistance of some, and the protest of others of the States. In short, it exercised through- out, of its own will, the most general and the most absolute national i)owers. The war resulted in the a1)olition of Slavery and the conquest of the South. With peace the United Stales stood forth with but twenty-five States, the othei-s wvvc its eon(juered ten-itoiy. I^ut it stood forth with national jirestige and power second to no country upon I'arth. Following the Avar, came reconstiau-tion, with tlii' i-egulation 17 of suffrngi:' mill the control of elections by Congress, and finally the establishment of its i>ower over vested rights. All ill effect working a revolution ; a revolution which the changes in the physical condition of the country had long been preparing the peo[>le for, lint which the war precipitated. And yet dui-ing all these years of war and of reconstruc- tion, the Democratic Party raised its voice for the rights of States, and against the usurpations of the Federal Government. But that cry though heard was not heeded. And it was not heeded, liecausethe circumstances and condition of the country were changed, not because the people no longer favored limited and localized government, at least so far as they thought about principles at all. But since limited and localized gov- ernment were presented under circumstances that involved, as the people thought, nationality and the necessary supremacy of the Federal Government, and since they were determined, above all things, upon maintaining nationality, they decided as they did. Tn their nature, in their development, in their relations, in their intercourse, the States have indeed grown together ; and a generation has come up whose ideas of the relation of the Federal Government to the States, so far from according with the true relation, accords rathei- with tlu; real relation of the Federal Government to the Territories. If you enquire of the young men of the country and of the women of Avhatever age you will find that, as to at least three-fourths of them, such is the nature of whatever views on the subject they have. If, then, the changes in the country itself and in the ideas of the })eople have been so great, our first duty is to recog- nize the fact. It is always a duty frankly to recognize and to nnike the best of the inevitable. And however clear it may be to us who are familiar with the com}n'omises of the Constitution and the rights of the Stat?s, that the Federal 18 Govermnent has assumed powers alike unwarranted and un- constitutional, we niusi not let the unavoidable logic of our convictions prevent us from remeniV)ering that behind. all con- stitutions remains the riglit of revolution. That what the peo- ple as a wliole, really, soberly, and finally determine uj)on, they will have, and, as this day reminds us, have a right to have. For after all, this Federal Government was established by the People, and for the People. Its just rights depend np- on their consent. They did indeed ordain a fundamental law, and prescribe how alone it shonld be amended. Bnt a new condition of things liaving arisen they insisted upon changes in that law and did in fact change it. Perlnqis regularly and wisely, and ])erhaps, as most of us have thought, irregularly and unwisely, but none the less did they change it. They are the source of power, accountabk' only to themselves ; and if theiv be anything in . the world the peoj)le of these Fnited States have settled, and settled irrevocably, it is that this is a nation, not a confederation of sovereign States ; that within its limits sla\t'ry shall remain abolished, and political rights be denied to no man because of race or color, and that the Fed- eral Government shall have i>ower to ])reserve and enforce these rights. We find oui-selves, therefore, face to face tliis day with a new situation. A vast powerful united nation has taken the l)lace of a few separate and sovereign States. Our central government has, by amendments, by construction, by assump- tion, but, above all, by the consent and will of the people, absorbed all the substantial powH'rs of government. It is idle to attem])t to roll liack the past and to return to those con- structions of the (%)nstitution now^ so rejieatedly rejected. If we could reduce our population to a fcAV millions, without the steamboat,, the i-aHway, and the telegrai)h, then it might he j)ossible to restore the strict State rights construction of the 19 past. But if we cannot undo tlio physical clianges wliich have led to these })olitical results, we cannot expect to reverse those results. But if we could reverse those results, we should e\ en then hut })artially and imperfectly remedy the evils which now exist. These evils arise, first and ahove all, I think, from the power / o^" )»rivate and special legislation. [n a poor and sparse community just establishing a govern- ment, as this State was a century ago, the local questions and private claims which exist are insigniticant. But as the State grows richer the opportunities for j^rofit in the form of grants of si)ecial privileges and franchises increase, and the induce- ments to corrupt legislation increase with these accordingly. New York has now a population larger and vastly richer than that of the whole country at the Revolution. Men can find for- tunes by the monopolies of ferries and roads and streets its Legis- lature can grant. The power that Legislature possesses to crea.te corporations, to authorize combinations, to grant privileges, ami confer s]iecial rights is the power to enrich one man at the expense of the whole. Few sought such monopolies in the early days of the State because few^ such monopolies were then valua- ble ; but now, that such grants have become valualde, those who seek them besiege the Legislature for their gift ujitil it has of late years become a prey to schemes for private grants and private gains. Those who seek such grants not only seek to intluence and corru]»t the Legislature but to control it^O^c- ginning with the primaries they put their men forward, carry- ing them through the nominating conventions and sustaining them at the })olls, so that such members, if elected, go to Albany, not to represent the people, but the jobbers that elevated them. Every year the number of jtrivate acts increases. They 20 numlicr already niiu'-tcnths of the whole leoislatioii. We have indeed repeatedly seen the Legislature eontiiniing to sit for weeks beyond a legitimate session without any known or law- ful compensation because of the number of its ])rivate bills. Indeed, no public advantage can result from any private grant ; while, as regards local legislation, since tlie Legislatui-e cannot know wliat roads or bridges or corporations are needed in particular localities, in acting on such and kindred questions it cannot but act blindly, if not recklessly and corruptly. ►Such evils are not confined to Xew York. They jirevail in all the States where private legislation is of value and is permitted. They are among those evils I repeat which were not fore- seen, and could not have been anticipated by the Fathers. And yet tlieir cure lies in a simple extension of that general ]»rinci])Ie of limiting the range and action of government which lies at the fouiulation of the P^athei's' system^j^In every State of this I'^nion and in most Euro})ean nations it has beenToivncr "^sential to impose some constitutional limitations ui)on gov- ernment. B(> that whether exercised by persons born to place,"or"criosen by the people, governinent should equally be restrained, in favor of individual rights from exercising cer- tain powers. On. the same principle, wdiat is needed to sub- tantially overcome the evils resulting from the late enornunis growth of private and special legislation is to resti'ict the Legislature from such powers of legislation.V/ This has already been done in some of the Western States, no- tably in the llepublican State of Iowa, and ^\\%[\ the best effects. In that State the Legislature is prohibited by the fundamental law from passing any })rivate act. AVhatever is dont' must be done by ])ublic act equally open to all citizens. Such a provision may be attended at times with some incon- venience, though I doubt even the need of that, but such in- convi'uience if it exists is of small importance conq)ared with 21 tlu' public n'ood wliic'li must necessarily result from putting an absolute end to corrupt legislation l>y deprix ing the Legis- lature of the power to permit jduuder. The late amendments to our Constitution proposed hy the Constitutional Connnis- sion, although in this respect less thorough than T could lia\e wished, would have heen a long stride in the right dire<'tion, and the mutilation of those amendments l)y the Legislature is, indeed, greatly to he regretted. For nothing short of a change in the fundamental law will effect a cure of these evils. From the very nature of tlungs so long as the necessary pub- lic legislation is small, and private legislation is largely prolit- able, so long must such evils \k' in a greater or less degrei' looked for, and reform in these res[)ects })rove but partial and temporary. A State in which men are left at full liberty to follow their private business without tronbling themselvi's about pixblic affairs is, doubtless, a most fortunate State, i>ro- vided such neglect can be safely permitted, and will not necessarily end in leaving the government to the worst, (/.s vnll 7-es)dt w/terever the worsf alone profit by eo)i(liirtvng //"/<- ernment. We shall be free to hidulge in such neglect in i)ro- portion as we limit the power of government against that pri- vate and special legislation whicli affords inducements to coi-- i-uption, and restrict it to those jniblic measures which, opera- ting equally on all citizens, lea\e no special advantage to be sought or gained by anj^yj^lien so mucli of legislation as especially affects those l^^lities is relegated to the county and town authorities ; Avhen claims against the State can only be recovered through a court of justice; when the Legislatui-e is actually stripped of the power of giving private grants and special privileges and legislation as to such things is made ab- solutely general, then, and not until then, will there be in these resi)ects — no matter which i)arty is in jtower — permanent 22 I im|)i'ovc'iucMil, ill U'nislntion. When' tlio carcass rciuains llicrc / will the vultures l)e also. N^ *" It" there l)e a necessity f<>i" such restraints ujtoii the Stati' (Toverninents, still more are they likely to be, and at no dis- tant time nci'di'd in rcsjtcct of the Federal |>o\\er. When Congress shall have fully entered on the hnsiness of private legislation ; when it shall i)roceed generally, as it has just begun to do, to grant private charters and create s|ii'cial privilegt's and franchises in the h>tntc^^ the result will be to unite upon Wasliington all the lol)l)ies and im|)roper intln- eiices now distributed among tlu' various State Capitals, and bring about there a corruption, as much worse than that which pi-e\ails at any State Cajntal, as the power of the Fed- eral (Tovernment is greater and imux' geiu'ral than that of any State. Hitherto the legislation of (^>ngres.s has been chiefly gen- eral. Doubtless its power to determine what shall be ex- jieiided for ]utblic works and buildings in partitailar localities too ofti'ii controls l{ei)resentati\ es, and leads to evil com- binations and to log-rolling. But this intiuence is of a ([uasi public nature. So that, except grants of the public lands, subsidies, and those ]irovisions of the tariff for protection so shaped as to give bounties to particailar persons. Congress has hitherto had little op])ortunity for direct corrujttion. Ibit with the special legislation T fear the opportunity for and in- dncement to corruption will eome also. Doubtless such sjtecial legislation is not warranti'd by those constructions of the ])ower of Congress which formerly jirevailed; and to re- turn to such constructions would tend to prevent these evils. Hut such constructions are based u|»on a general narrowness of Federal powers in conflict wit ii the ]>revailing ideas. Ibit ' to restrain Congress by direct anu'iubuent from such legisla- I lation is to conflict with no man's \iews of how the Const it u- 23 tion should ho construed, and it might, therefore, he hoped tliat upon such issues men heretofore divided in politics would unite. Besides, no construction wtmld prevent the exercise l)y Congress of certain })o\vers clearly within its authority which have nevertheless now hecome dangerous and evil. Indeed there are respects in which it might be for the inter- est of the |»eople if the powers of Congress were enlarged. For instance so as to permit it to iirescrihe uniform regulations in respect of "commercial pai)er,'" and the liahility and duties of common carriers. But would it n ot be better in every re- spect if instL'ad of leaving Cong ress to assume — as bv and by it will — -to leg islate on such sul )jects, the needed powers were now expressly given it, and its other powers be al the same time so limited and de fined a s t(» restrain it, c(pi;illy as the State-i are rest rained, from impa iring! xcst cd riglits, ;iiid beyojid that from ent eriuir at all on t his dangerous class of private and special legislation which now threatens us. r Another source of our present evils is to be found in the enormous increase and centralization of ofhcial patronage. With the growth of the country ortices and patronage have grown also. But especially is this true of the Federal patronage. So wholly insignificant did this patronage seem to the Fathers that they made no provision on that subject, and the first Con- gress was in doubt whether the Executive could remove from office at all. To day there are in the hands of the President more than SO, 000 appointments over which he exercises abso- lute and immediate control. Bt-fore the telegraph, although this patronage was large it was impossible for him to exercise it as now. Commimication by mail was then too slow to admit of i)roper encpiiries and prompt discipline in remote l)arts of tlu' country, and the patronage was therefore neces- sarily largely delegated. 24 But now, 1)y tlie aid of the teleli, the President- knows in the niovnini:; ns well what has ha)i})i'ned the day before in Orei^-on as in Maryland ; and can discipline every office holder who fails lo keep his shoulder up to the administration collar, even in I he remotest parts, as promptly as if he were a clerk in the Treasury. The result is, that hv wields that army of officials as if it were one man. And Avith their active interest, and that of their friends and relations, they can almost con- trol not only nominations but elections. This evil, of which we have felt the commencement only, it has been proposed to cure by what is styled civil service reform. But no exami- nation nor proficiency in learning will Avork any substantial cure for this evil. Tt can be radically cured only by decen- tralizino- mid limitino; this poAver. In AA'hat i)recise Avay it may l)e difHcult now to suggest. Perlia]»s by localizing the selection of such .officers as can pro})erly be chosen by the localities — as, for instance, postmasters and tax gatherers, and the like, and by making the tenure of office for those ap- l»ointed 1)V the President depend ujton good liehaviour. But certain it is that this patronage is now so enormous that it must be in some Avay restricted and reduced if it is not to continue to be abused. Finally, as regards the third essential of free government, the absence of any class jM-ivileged to perpeliuate^accnmulations orproperty— -pray regard the great corporations of our day. SpringmgTroin small associations; allowed, in the supposed interests of trade to increase and consolidate — note the gigan- tic concerns that now overshadow the hind. Holding estates vaster than aiiy noLTeTwithout coriscienceTwitliout moral or personal a^ountability, and without elKl^and with()ut ]»ossiblc inducement to seek the public good. Having for their best \ 25 obiuct ttu' in-iv:i_t<' gain •>! . j'lt' corponitorsj often only the wrongful gain of their managers. To-day some of these eon- cerns absolutely control the States that created them. Others" "exfend over thousands ot miles oi" territory, anci will soonT^ they do not now, control the selection of every mem ber of the Legislature a nd of Congress alo ng their i-oute s, and be ready to combine with others of their kind to control the nation. Sjj ice the Avorld began nothi ng so crahgeronsto good govcrn- inei^ i , :i.s these gigantic artificial creatures ever existed. For they not only monopolize power, centralize wealth, .nid exer- cise c ontrol without responsitnlHyj but their sharejs afford facility and temptation to speculation and corniptioi! wliich make the influence ofthese conipati it s alike dangcroiiN and dc- Aiid no man need fear that thr>e ciKirnKius and mora lizing _ ^ perpetual artificial creatures are needed to secure such unions of capital as may be required for great public works. Such unions could be authorized and secured without exposing us to corporations of the present dangerous powers and dimen- sions. Neither need any one be apprehensive about interfering with the natural rights of corporations. Doubtless that is the best government Avhich, wliile it preserves order and security, governs least ; and giving no bounty to any class at tlie expense of the rest, leaves the freest trade, and the largest liberty practicable to all. But corporations have no natural rights : they exist only by the force of positive law*:;j/God never made anyth ing so dangerous as a great corporation ; it was left to the folly or the wickedness of men to contrive it. p? Being the creature of the law it has no rights except tliose ! given by the law, and, IiK othei- monstei-s licensed by governTfreni;^ it should for public safety, if brought in at all, Xow, no reaction in respect of the powers of the Federal 26 Govenmu'nt — no return to old c-onstnu^tious Avill give the country the remedies against these evils it now needs. They can only l>e attained by direct and positive limitations of the powers of government. Not only do revolutions not go backward ; not only is it impt)ssil)le to make the ])eople of these thirty-seven States, — the majority of them l»orn ami brought up since the old discussions as to the distribution of powers ceased and those as to slavery l)egan, and knit to- gether l)y every facility of trade and communication, — feel in respect of State pi-ide and State rights as our P^ithers felt ; but if we could go back to these constructions of Federal power these evils would not even then be cured. That can only be done by positive limitations on the jiowers of the Legislatures, both State and P^ederal. ; inhibiting the exercise of those powers that should not be exercised at all ; localizing, where practicable, the exercise of the ])owers that must be re- tained ; and restricting within safe limits the authority ami the combinations of the great Coi-porations. History furnishes no ])recedeiit for the possible future of this nation. Vast, fertile, salubrious, settled at a late age, and thus enabled to avail itself of all the learning, experience, and progress of the older nations ; iitted for every form of }»ro- duction, of manufacture, and of trade ; lying in the oceans between the Orient and Euro})e ; it has within the centuiy passed from a few feeble colonies to a nation of the mightiest power and wealth ; while indefinite room for growth and pro- gress still remains to it. IJut, alas ! the ditticulties in government increase with the numbers go\erned. If but a few men dwelt alone u[)on this island, each might retain the largest liberty. But as numbers increase, and men crowd upon each other, each must in some degree resti'ain the exercise of his own rights, or trench upon 27 those of his neighbor, and thus the difticulties of government begin. With increasing nunihei' and increasing ca])ital, they increase. Our people have been disposed to think that the form of government bequeathed them by tlieir Fathers woukl of itself Avork a cure for all the evils of humanity. At length it must be seen that this is not so. And although the national domain still affords a refuge to the laboring man, when crowded.'^ down l»y (competition in the great cities, which Euroi)ean na- tions do not have — which is in itself a reason why these lands shotdd not be parted with, except in limited quantities to actual settlers — yet grave difHculties and grave evils do now exist. It is time our people realized that to us is now given the arduous task of adapting the free institutions which our Fathers so wisely established for a sparse and poor and frugal })eople, to the numbers and wealth and luxury of our time. That the government of a great nation cannot safely be left to neglect, nor to the care of those who seek it only for the personal profit that results. That such a government de- mands the care and attention of all honest citizens : and even beyond that, demands also the ai»plication of sound principles and wise methods to the circumstances existing. Of course, I speak only for myself. But I speak boldly, for I feel deeply. I know, everyone of you knows, that the evils I have dwelt upon do indeed beset us. On every side the people conq)lain, demanding, ino wers of the State and Federal Leu-jslatures, the |>atronage of the Executive, and the growth and })rivileges of i>rivat e cor- porations^ Limitation by construction if uiay be, if not l)y direct constitutional amendment, but in any event, limitation; 28 localization l»y States and within States, but yet localiz- atioTi. Now, whatevi'V inay be the ])arties of the future, I sliull l)e found on the side of those who seek by sueh tridy deniocratie menus to put bouiuls to corruption and absolute })Ower, and to preserve limited and localized and thereby free government. ^1^ Rut remem.beriiiLr that the ]>artv which had oonpscd the e\- istiuL!,- Constitution had, after its adoption, conformed them- K» new situation, and ttien had come before long to of the country, lastini^ for tiftv years, my wisir — — ^»— — — ^— ioiAj^— — g »— a—MU— — ^^^— — ^» that this saine 'j^vcwt De mocratic ))arty should onc e ••^mmmmimmmmmmmmmmmm^mmmmmmmm'mm'fmm^^''''^'^ ^^ ^^^"^""""'•''•^mmti and frard<:lv confront the situation; and, recoirnJ/.- volution through which the country has passed and 'j,es in the government which haye resulted, should the existuig situation those ]»rinciples of limiting and j^>-,)\ iTiinient that lie at the foundation of our faitli. ^^ That having purged and purified itself, it should set its face against the creation of great corporations, the abuse of exe- cutive })Ower and patronage, and all forms of private and spe- cial legislation, and should call around it all tliosc who, what- ever theii- views heretofore, now seek to limit and localize tlie powers of goyernment. And thus uniting all of true Demo- cratic prnicii)les, however sei)arated l)y the exceptional eyents of late years, once more resume that control of the country it so long exercised to its own credit and the highest i)iil)lic