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of local self-government, the fear of centralization, all of these forces made the people chary of conferring strong powers on the central authority. But gradually the farmer and the banker, the cotton grower and the manufacturer have found that their interests although located in different parts of the country, were closely intertwined. " "Business" has refused to be confined within bounds and has reached out to include whole sections and districts, located in more than one State. This expansion was hastened by the stock corporation, which by its immense capital made it possible to unite the branches of an entire industry. When finally the rise of swift and cheap transport facilities and means of communication generally, brought all sections of the people into the closest business relations with each other, the knell of State sovereignty was sounded and the supremacy of the union became inevitable. The Nation was first.

2. In the struggle just described, Congress has developed much greater powers than it exercised fifty or even thirty years ago. New problems have arisen which could not have been foreseen by the Fathers of the Constitution. New mechanical inventions have occurred revolutionizing the world of commerce and enormously increasing those aspects of business that come under the control of the national government. To meet these new needs Congress has extended its activity beyond the old limits until at the present time the legislative power of the Nation has reached a point that would have been regarded as dangerous, if not fatal, by the framers of the Constitution. Yet this concentration has been in response to a strong natural demand, and has resulted favorably to the welfare of the people.

3. Inside Congress a Few Men in Each House have Succeeded in Gaining Sufficient Power to Control Legislation. They have built up a clique or organization of leaders whose sway over the law-making bodies is well-nigh absolute. The average congressman, unless he belongs to the organization, is powerless. This peculiar legislative system, which is described in detail in the Chapter on The House of Representatives, is generally admitted to be dangerous and even harmful, but it has survived because it seemed to be the less of two evils. The alternative is stagnation. Concentration of power is necessary in order to carry out the party program. The people have held the majority party responsible for legislation, and that party in order to fulfill its pledges and strengthen its hold on popular favor has felt obliged to centralize.

4. But the greatest example of political concentration is seen in the executive office.1 Here our country has turned its back on the traditions of Revolutionary days and has created a one-man power of the strongest type. The President, who was intended to be merely an agent of the Congress, has become the leader of both legislative and executive branches. Such a change has not

1 See the Chapter on The President.

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been deliberately planned, but has come about through the same necessity for producing results and for getting work done that has affected the other parts of the government. The President to-day and the President of a century ago really belong to two distinct types of government, and though the text of the Constitution remains unchanged, yet the substance of the Presidential influence has increased beyond the worst fears of the Fathers. He is now the leader, if not the master, of the government.

The Theory of Checks and Balances.-The great changes just described have all been opposed to the spirit and intentions of the men who drafted our form of government. If there was one fear that animated all members of the Convention of 1787, it was the dread of highly concentrated power. As Englishmen they had long believed in the doctrine that government should be built up of Checks and Balances, that is, every authority, officer or legislative body should have some other authority which would check its power and prevent it from becoming absolute or despotic. One form of this doctrine is the theory of "Division of Powers." A brilliant French writer, in a book which was read and studied carefully by influential members of the Convention of 1787, declared that the division of government into the executive, legislative, and judicial departments was a necessary means of preserving the liberty of the citizens against oppression. His method of reasoning was simple. He asks, in what country is the freedom of the citizen best preserved? At the time of writing England was undoubtedly the freest country in the world. How is this freedom of the citizen secured in England? The author's answer was that the British government at that time separated sharply the executive power of the King from the legislative power of Parliament and the judicial power exercised by judges appointed for life. No other country at that time carried this division of powers as far as did Great Britain. Montesquieu therefore concluded that the division. of powers was the most effective means of preserving the liberty of the citizen from government despotism. The Fathers followed this theory faithfully in 1787. The three departments were separated as far as possible, and where their co-operation was necessary, they were set in balance as checks against each other. It will be noticed that the underlying motive of the Fathers was the fear of oppression. Briefly expressed it is: "Let us divide governmental power into minute particles, giving a small part to each authority so that none may become supreme or even dangerous."

Such in brief is the famous doctrine of Checks and Balances. It is a theory inspired by fear. This theory is now confronted by a new set of intensely practical conditions: namely,

I. The growth in volume of government business.

II. The rise of technical questions in government.

III. A popular demand for greater speed in government action. 1 1 Montesquieu The Spirit of the Laws.

IV. The large size and slowness of legislative bodies.

I. Growth of Government Business.-The rise of manufacturing industry and large transportation enterprises has immensely increased the duties of all branches of our government. Manufacturing has involved:

Government efforts to aid and protect the national industries in every legitimate way,

The rise of the factory system,

The development of commercial law, requiring uniformity,

The desire for equal opportunity for all manufacturers and shippers on the railways,

Need of technical education,

Rise of large cities,

Demand for better health protection both in factory and tenement house,

Use of child labor,

Growth of a distinct labor class with separate interests,

Rise of other class interests.

As we glance over this list the surprising fact appears that every one of the changes noted involves some necessity for government action. Many of them fall under the authority of the State and city governments, yet all influence directly or indirectly the national government also, so that its work has multiplied by great leaps and bounds in the last few decades until, at the present time, each Congress is inundated by an avalanche of over 30,000 bills, orders and resolutions. This great increase in the volume of public business means that a radical change must be made in the old methods of work and in our government machinery, in order to secure results.

II. The Technical Nature of Modern Public Questions.-Most of the government problems of to-day cannot be settled by a popular vote. Even though our voters were all university graduates we could not reasonably demand that they work out a plan of government regulation or control. The location of an Isthmian Canal, the reorganization of the army, the construction of a navy, the more rational development of our postal facilities, the planning of systems of irrigation, the regulation of corporate finance, the control of railway rates and the management of our colonial dependencies are national questions of prime importance that cannot be settled by simple common sense and patriotism. They require rather the careful study of trained specialists and experts. If we examine the public problems brought up for discussion in the President's message we find that they are not only industrial or commercial but also technical in character.

How does this fact influence our government? Unquestionably it causes a greater concentration of power, because it means the gathering of these technical problems into the hands of men with scientific training and skill whose function is to present their solu

tion in such form that legislative bodies and the public generally can say "yes" or "no." Such a method of handling public questions is impossible under the old system of divided powers and responsibilities. The modern plan involves strong leadership and the systematizing of public affairs to an extent that was unknown in the earlier decades of the Republic. Our government hitherto has resembled some large industry, like that of sugar refining for example. A large number of small, independent plants, with expensive methods of production, high prices and a limited demand form the first stage of development. Then comes a stronger demand, new and important mechanical processes are discovered and it becomes possible to apply these processes so profitably by manufacturing on a large scale that the price of the product falls rapidly. Furthermore the development of the industry leads to the opening up of new lands and it becomes necessary for the sugar refiner to enter into closer business relations with the beet growers. Eventually also the refining interests find it profitable to purchase large tracts of sugar cane land in the tropics and operate immense plantations. But with each of these stages in the development of the industry, the business becomes more complex and requires a greater use of skilled experts and specialists. Eventually the whole sugar industry is reorganized on a modern basis; those enterprises which are able to make use of the latest scientific researches and inventions survive, and those which fail to do so are gradually displaced by competition. In this process the industry has been centralized under the control or leadership of one or two large corporations because production on a large scale, the systematizing of methods and the development of valuable inventions can only be secured by concentrating the management and control of the business.

So with our government: The early stage of divided powers and checks and balances continued as long as the number of things to be done by the government was small and the nature of these tasks was simple, but as greater and more complicated problems began to present themselves the advantages of system, science and method increased until finally the government is being reorganized on a modern basis of efficiency. It is this greater effectiveness that justifies concentration.

III. The Demand for Quick Government.-An interesting change in the political psychology of the American people is the nervousness and impatience of delay that we now show towards public questions. Instead of the meditation and reflection on political problems that marked our early history as a nation we now think in sudden gasps, spasms and outbursts of emotion. Whether it be the hysterical outbreak of a lynching mob or the serious, earnest efforts of a city improvement club, we are inclined to rush matters, and we are impatient of obstacles, once it is known that an evil exists and demands a remedy. The age of oratory, eloquence and prolonged discussion has almost passed. The people want action,

immediate action. Doubtless it were better that more deliberation be exercised, that in the quaint phrase of a former State governor "celerity should be contempered with cunctation," but such is not the view of the people as a whole.

This demand for a quick government is after all an inevitable result of our surroundings. It is primarily due to modern means of communication, which enable us to speak five times where we formerly thought once. We see and communicate with more people, travel over a larger territory, are interested in a far broader scope of affairs and transact more business in one day than our forefathers could in a fortnight,—all because of better means of communication. The demand for speed feeds on itself. With each year a larger proportion of human energy is devoted to the saving of time. Modern business conditions are in this way breeding a "quick" man with swift mental processes, a wonderful capacity to see and grasp the opportunities of the moment, but with a corresponding intolerance of delay. Is it strange that this new type of man wants a government that will produce quick results? But a quick government means a concentrated government. Not only must the control of these urgent matters be placed in the central authority, but within the latter itself the executive and legislative work must be so arranged that affairs can be dispatched and decisions reached with the utmost celerity.

Such are the new and changed conditions which in the last thirty years have arisen to confront our government, our government which was founded on the old theory of checks and balances. Any one of these influences would have been enough of itself to cause some change in our political methods, but all combined have been irresistible; before them the whole fabric of divided powers has given way and a new system is taking its place.

But in all that has been said, it must be remembered that we Americans have not voluntarily given up the old doctrine of division of powers-we have not intentionally gone about to repeal that doctrine. The man who invented the steam engine and the trolly motor is responsible for it. A political theory is the result of conditions; a change of conditions brings a new theory. The passenger elevator has changed the architecture and "sky line" of our cities, the discovery of germs has given us a new preventive policy of public health; and so, gradually and insensibly without the blare of trumpet or the eloquence of orators our mechanical and industrial growth has created a new political philosophy. The keynote of this newer American government is Efficiency. Work must be done, problems attacked and solved, national policy planned and executed; the government must produce results for the people. We have always thought of government as a necessary evil. We have been patriotic, we have fought, bled, and died for our native land, but for the government itself we have always cherished the half-concealed feeling that the less it attempted, the better. Our

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