Centralization-causes-effects

From a soholarly and ablu addross, duivered on the '2Cth uit., before tho litcrary societies of the TJniversity of Virginia, by Senator Tiiurmas, of Ohio, we oopy the followiug paragraphs, coiumending thom to tho caroful consideration of every thoughtful reader. Tho L'he subject' of thom, "contrclifttion," forms a large part of "both tho wsb und woof of the political fubrio now rinning tlirough tho natioual. loom ! CENTEALIZATIOS TUK S''tr.IT 01' TUK AGE. I come, ltiatly, to :oüsider whnt, in my udgment, is a greater peril tlin any of which I have spoken, the íendoncy i o centialization. In treatiiig this subject I must nocessarily expresa s'ome political viows, for thcy aio inherent in it, but I h ill not viólate tho propriotieS' of the occasion by speaking as a partisan, and I h pe to avoid woinding tho most delicate sensiH ity. If, as I suppösö, tho the me I havo chosen is proper, it caunot bo r.npruper to exj r c ml.v, iuipar tialiy, and váthout party bias, tooiing, or purpose, tho thoughts to which it gives rio - thoughts, indeed, that are inseparable from its conttideration. The ;y towcris eentrali.ation ia by no moans onfin, d to tho United States. It stands l in the consolidation of Italy, the mification oL Germany, and the union of British prtmnces rtnder tho Dominion of Janadu, as weÜ as with us. There may je hidüen cauaos of thia tonden oy that it s difficult to discover, but there are other ;auses too pátont to escapo observation, jr at least agencies that work without leasing in a centralizins direction. Ev■ry sliip that is launchod, ovcry railroad that is built, cvory telegraph wiro that is ïtretchod, is an agoncy of this kind. The ship-ownet looks to the Federal Government, clothod with power " to rugulato sommeren with foreign nations, and among the süveral States," for the protectiou and eiicoumgemijnt his inti r -quires, and naturally wishes thut Governuient to be powerful enough to grnnt bim all he asks. The railroad company, spurning the limita of a State, projects its road through raany States, and submits with ill-ootioealed discontent to thü voxatiöns of local law. Tho road itsolf, ilmÓBt, aTinihilating tinrj by tho rapidity of transí1;, brings Üie trost remoto rogions into olose communioation, until the niind finds itselï losing tho idea of State lines and thinking onïy of tho wide-spreading Eopublic. And so, in a Btill moro eminent dogree, ivith tho tolegraph. But these are not the only agents of consolidation. One of the most powrful, it' I aiu not mistaken, is what may bo styled UETUOl'OLIT.AÍí LITERAL r l:i: AND TUK MKTKOPOLITAX l'BESS. It has been said that orators govem rcpublics, but if the remark wero ever truo it is true 110 longer. H;id cvery memoer of Conjrri tho eloqitenr.o of Demosthèn'ea they could not mould public sentiment against a pross whose daily i exceed 1,300,000, and furnish daily mental food to millions of roaders. But of these 1,300,009 daily sheets about 1,170,(K)0, or nearly eight-ninths of tho -whole number ore püblisheii im the three oities os New York, Philadelphia and Boston, iore than one-half of the wholo numbor issue from the press of New York alone. If we turn from tho dailies to the weeklies, tri and sem:-weeklios, rtv cws and magazines, wo find tho same striking faot that thoso three citios are the great centres of publication. ïhere is soaroely an art or an industry that has not it3 organ in the City of New York. So, too, Oí tlie D00K8 pUDllsnOd lll u.w juii;u States. Moro than thioo-fourths- probably nearer nine-tonths - issue froin the pre-ss of these thveo cities. ïho fact is that they have bacorae the great etui tros froin whioh the facts,the fictions and the opinions that aro moulding tho Amerioan mind enííanate. But local self-govominont requiroa vigorou-í txnA inilopanr d nt thorg'it on th?p:irtof thcso who uphold it. lt is a plant that doca not flnurish in the atraosphert of mono: whsther of business or of ideas. TEa (t;ntr;ilization of power that has Jistinluishod for oonturies every government 0( PíanOo, v hatever its form, has hcvu dwing in' S great dearee, it is thought, to the caiitralizing influeucn of Paris. And so, I am inclined to think, tho tendenoy of tho i'acts I have stated has been and is to strengthen theidoa of consolidation nmong our peoïlo. Look into inany of tía. tdtoiA h itílts and seo what 'political doctrines are tnught to our children- doctrines that twenty yoars ago no party would have venturod to assert. See how in newpiper and periodical, in liw buok a;id volumes calluü historical, the powers of tlio Federal Government are exaltad to a height beyond the imagination of the warmt st advoc:;ti of a itrong government wlen tno onsutution whb formcd. Tn briof, see how literilure in all its dopartracnts, influeuced by the the materialistic tendeneies of tho igo, or seduced by the growing iinage oL I GOKOEOrS AJTO IMPERIAL REPUBLIC. f Lends its potent aid to the work of contruliz.iüou. And romembering that this literature oomcs from a seution of the country in which centralizaron has over found its most ablo and efficiont f upportora, I think that I do not err in attributing to this cause all the weight that I attach to it. Another striking fact may hw some connection with the subject uuder discussion. I refer to tho nmoh more rapid rate of increase in tho last seventy years, and throu-hout all Christendom, of the urban thun of tiie rural populftti n. The popuhti m in England in 1871 was nearly two and a half timos as great as it was in 1801. But in the 8 mie periodtho population cf London had erown froin 875,O0O 3,983 000 ; of Liverpool from 77,000 to 193,000; of Manchester, from 70,000 to 255,000. From 1800 to 1866 tho inorease of pojaüation iu JFrance was about 33 per cent. But in the same time the population of Pana was nearly trobled. Berlín, bieb in 1816 contained but 182,00;) iabftWLtantu, now contains over 700,000. Bi Potersbuig has six times the popnlotion that it h;ul a century ago. Sttadrid tont:uns two and a half tiines aa many peopTe as it did in 1845. Aad these art but ülustrations. Throughout all Buropo tho population of the (sitios and tovvns has inoreased far more rapi Vy than tMfct of tho country. The sauio fching is trua ot America. The Io3t oei sus shows that in Bomo oï the States thoru was within tho last deoado uo inoeaso at all oí' tlie rural i)opulation, or ouo too insignifloant to be noticed, Tho whole increase was in tho cities and towns And with the exception of somo of tho m-w States, the same census shows evei-ywhere in the repnblio au incroaso in the eities and towns altocether disproportionate to that ontsida of them What vrM be tho ultímate effect of this fact, if prolonged, upon our institutious I d? not venturo to predict. 1 meroly noto it as a fnet very striking in itself, and worthy of the profouudost consideration. I have thus, in a very iuiperfuot mannor I am aware, brought to your atleation somo of the causes, or at ioasi a üiioies, that aru at work teuding to oreato a supreme centrali;.d yovtrnuient over the ropublic. To thoss is to be added the I.NEVITABLE EFÍECTS OF TIIE LATE CIVIL WAK. in which the governmont nssumed power by all admitttd to be extaaordinaiy, aod to the exurcise of viroh the people DE cume habituated. ül' uourse ït will ba uiuleisiood iliat in enumerating these causes cominorcc. railroads, telegrapbs, htumturo, aud preai I luanitot 110 husuIh dispotit'ou tuwurds theftl 01 uny or either of ih m. Thtro is uo one so iusurdaBtobe ueir eucmy. Bat the best ui eartuly thi.iga niay havo ovil as woll as guod taudoacies, and it is but comsaon uriidunce whilo wo accept and enjoy tho good, to seok to avurt tbo yvil. That with tremendous power uil theso causus havo 01 erated and yet continue to 01 Cate uiij,ht , asily bc ahown by our history for the lust ton yeaia, and especially by a review of the coustitutionalamendnu-nlf and the logislalion of Congreas. But I f')rboar ti enter npon that field, Io9t it niight be deemed inappjoprlte to the occasion. I will only venturo a single romark that the interpretation plaoed by some oommentatorê upon the first seotion of the fourtconth artiele ot the amendmenta inakea the jnrisdietion of Oóngreaa supremo over all State legialatioa in evurvth ing that concerus Ufe, liberty, property, or the equal irotection of the laws ; in short, in ahnost evorything that is the subject of law. If this is tho true iuterpretaticn, oonsolidation already exists. EFFECT 01" CEXTRAHZATION. It remains to bo considered whether Che ooncentration of all power in the hands of the Federal Governmenfr tr oüld be iikely to preserve or imperii the existonco of the republic. To nry roind, nothing in he future looks more oertain than that it would not only imperii but nltiinately destroy it. I do not think it possible that " it could long endure under such a system. Whatever name might be given it - republio, monarchy, empire, or federation - its true name would be dospotisra. There never was a greater mistake than to suppose that a government of dospotic powers is alone able to govem a great extent of territory. Tho very revorse of the proposition is nearer tho truth. Tho very iQivgnitudo of a country, diversified in its intorests and in th.i habita, usages, custoras, and traditions of ita people, maken loual s.4f-goTcrnraents an indispensable necessity. Without onr system of States the Federal Governmont would never havo been our boast. And whenever thoy ahall oeaee te exist, or shall beconie but a name, tho foundations of the republic will have crumbiod away and the structure they suppoited will basten to its fall. I cannot represa a feeling of amazement when I see men whose ability and patriotism I eaanot deny straining overy nerve to extend tho jurisdiotion of the Congress over matters of tho merest looal ooncern in the States, as if it could possibly be either right or politie for the pure ly local law of a State to be made by the representativos of other St-ites. And I oan not but marvel tot tho blindness that does not perceive that a Congress with such powers would soon Beoime the mös oorrept body on earth, and fall to pieces from tiiat corruption. ■1 HE ELI MEXL' OÍ" SAFETY. But it is time to bring this discourse to a close. I havo endcavored to point ov.t some of the dangers that menaoe t!io duration of the repubüc, and to weigh their hnportanoe is l went along. How they are to be averted it would be prosumptuous in me to predict. To timo andexperience must be left the t:isk ot' providing rüoiedies for whatever evils may be found to exist. Our forefathers, in training the Constitution, wisely provided for its ameiidnient. They Inew that no woik of human hands is perfect ; they knew that what is attffioiënt for tho wants of one generation may from changod circumstances be inadequate to the wants of another. Theyfounded a government more perfect than tho world had ever known. They ordained it uot for themsolvce only, but their posterity also. Ta those who shotild come after them Khey left the task of making such alteraüons as experience should prove to be nocessary or wisdom coiumond. Horeüi c&nsists the prime element of safety as long as the governmeut shall endure. That tho CkjustHution will be further amended tlicre can be no doubt. If it Bhall happen in your day, soe to it that the rights of the States and the libertiea of the rjeopie be preserved. In the meantime cultívate your own literature, maintain your own institutions of learning, BUütain your own presa - in a word, "1)0 YOUKOWX 'J"I11NKIXU." Young gentlemen, within tho peaceful preoincts of this university, inseparably associated with the immoitul name o: Jefferson, in tho bosom of a eommonwcalth whose fame will enduro as long as genius liao m worUippur, l'rcciloui a discipU', or heroism an admirer, you have received your preparatory training for tho great trials of Jife. It is no pathway of ease that you are soon to tiead, but it may provo a highway of honor, if you tread it wcll. Without rash and overweoning oonlkUne, but with bravo hearta aso sttsadi' Bt iiiiuds, you should enter upon it. Let no vain repining over the past, no moibid disgust with the present, no miinanly fear of the future, unnerve your minds or palsy your eiforts. Go fortli resolved to contributo by your talents, your edueatiun, your industry, your cnergy, to the welfare and glory of your nativo htnd. Let this be your earnest and unvarying rulo of aotion, and whether fortuno shall grant or withhold honors and wo.ilth, you will liave in your dying honrs - what you will then prize more than honors and wealth - the in■ward consciousness of a well-spent life.