In meeting the constitutional requirement of informing the Congress upon the state of the Union, it is exceedingly gratifying to report that the general condition is one of progress and prosperity.  Here and there are comparatively small and apparently temporary difficulties needing adjustment and improved administrative methods, such as are always to be expected, but in the fundamentals of government and business the results demonstrate that we are going in the right direction.  The country does not appear to require radical departures from the policies already adopted so much as it needs a further extension of these policies and the improvement of details.  The age of perfection is still in the somewhat distant future, but it is more in danger of being retarded by mistaken Government activity than it is from lack of legislation.  We are by far the most likely to accomplish permanent good if we proceed with moderation.

In our country the people are sovereign and independent, and must accept the resulting responsibilities.  It is their duty to support themselves and support the Government.  That is the business of the Nation, whatever the charity of the Nation may require.  The functions which the Congress are to discharge are not those of local government but of National Government.  The greatest solicitude should be exercised to prevent any encroachment upon the rights of the States or their various political subdivisions.  Local self-government is one of our most precious possessions.  It is the greatest contributing factor to the stability strength liberty, and progress of the Nation.  It ought not to be in ringed by assault or undermined by purchase.  It ought not to abdicate its power through weakness or resign its authority through favor.  It does not at all follow that because abuses exist it is the concern of the Federal Government to attempt the r reform.

Society is in much more danger from encumbering the National Government beyond its wisdom to comprehend, or its ability to administer, than from leaving the local communities to bear their own burdens and remedy their own evils.  Our local habit and custom is so strong, our variety of race and creed is so great the Federal authority is so tenuous, that the area within which it can function successfully is very limited.  The wiser policy is to leave the localities, so far as we can, possessed of their own sources of revenue and charged with their own obligations.

GOVERNMENT ECONOMY

It is a fundamental principle of our country that the people are sovereign.  While they recognize the undeniable authority of the state, they have established as its instrument a Government of limited powers.  They hold inviolate in their own hands the jurisdiction over their own freedom and the ownership of their own property.  Neither of these can be impaired except by due process of law.  The wealth of our country is not public wealth, but private wealth.