WSP11554 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

lV r, sure. We do 110t need any change in the Constitution upon tlll? great flludHmentals, find WhP-ll .we do nep-d it the people will mnl{e it, and wake 1t as the Constitution provides, and not (,j herwlse. . Mr. Pl'csldent, it is not gracious to' cr1ticlf:le the actions of eltller pnbItc officials or pubHc bodies, but I tbinl( yon will all a.gree with me to-dny if I should make the statement that we have gL'OWIl exceedingly coli'cless, even in the Senate of the United States, aB to the charucter of the leglslllUon' we allow to go through. 'l'he other day, when tbe clearest possible iUY9..c;!on ot the rights of a Stnte that could be walle was before the Senate, find when I objecled to It, not being It Representative from that State, some of my cCllleagues said, "Oll, that iR n local matter; let it go." No violation of States rights can be local. ])very vIolation of the rights of one State is It vIolation of the rights oj' all, Ilnd It is Olir duty here RS the Representatives of States not to minimize in any degree the National Government, ()ut 1I0t to allow Elny Invllsion by the National Government of the rights of the SLates, which Is as InjurIous to the National Gov- ernment llS It is to the State government. If we are to maln- tflin, a8 I have t:::fl.ld before, and t wnnt to repeat it, the cOlldi- Uon we are now In and this system of Government, we must (10 It by the maIntenance of tbp. Statf's. '.rbe Supreme Court has dedared tbat the Constitution of the United States WflH mnde not onl:v for the National Government, but for the SLate governments and for the people alike. M1'. President, th~re is n .growing disposit.ion to regUl'd the Declo I'll tion of Independence us obsolete. A friend of mIne {I'om New York saId to me, "You may go into good society in, New York and quote froID the Declaration of Independence, and they will laugh at you." I may say that the same thing iB true in some sections when you qnote from the Constitution. They lnugb at yon. I believe the Constitulion of the United Stntes hUB made n great Govel"nment, and yet as compared with wllo.t it wlll be it is still a little Government, n young Gov- erlllllent. ""Te have lfl'ed Qne hnndl'ed and twent;v Yf'flrs. We hope to JIve n thouf'llnd. We hope to be an example for all th(' world. We hope to see all maukind taking advantage of our system ot government Rnd thus spreading abroad as far as possible human comfort and human lIberty and humUll bappj. ness. It 1s not a question to be turned down. As I said the otber day, there will be no Budden <lepartul'e here, no breaking . up of thil:l Government. by any sudden act. It will come in- shliollSly, little by little, until by and by the States wlll exist in nnme, but they wlll be of no value to Illaintalll the General Goverument nole.ss wIth It they carry the power to protect and take CRre lu n proper stately manlier of the people who ,reside wIthin theIr ()orders. . PatriotIsm does not exIst aDywnere jf tbere is Jlot a corre- spondIng protection and benefit arising from the Government to those who pay to it devotion, You may talk about your ttag. That llag b; but a rag when It does not float over free. men. It is but n rag when it does !lot stand for protection to eveL'Y mnll in the c01l1ml11llty over which it flouts. Its beauty flop.s. lIot consist in Its lilies nor in the color nor the shape, but It CODf-lists In the fnct tImt It slonds for the rights of men as 44'JO(i-7t;lG ) "r j,/'" \