THE CONFLICT OF ADMINISTRATIONS 147 



It is just here that the states come to play an increasingly important 

 part. They are in fact laboratories in which industrial and political 

 experiments can be worked out on such a scale as to determine the value 

 of the experiment. It means the relieving of the nation as a whole from 

 many of the pangs necessary in the growth of democracy. It means the 

 utilization of the best that comes from such experiments and the saving 

 to the government of the loss of time and disappointment in carrying 

 on large enterprises. The states have, as a consequence, an important 

 governmental function to carry out. They are not to be regarded as 

 mere administrative units, subject to the direction and domination of a 

 federal authority thousands of miles away, with no autonomy such as is 

 found in the case of the departments in France; but they are rather 

 constituent parts of the union, self-directive, and capable of maintain- 

 ing their own autonomy and of carrying on their own functions within 

 their own boundaries. To them we entrust our daily welfare, while to 

 the federal government are turned over our collective interests. Never- 

 theless, they are one and the same government, each a part of its frame, 

 working together, but separately organized. To substitute one for the 

 other is to violate the whole principle of the federal scheme. 



The conflict between the two is more apparent than real. The diffi- 

 culties of the situation have been materially exaggerated, and not 

 always without a purpose. In the early history of our nation many of 

 the believers in state's rights took that position because of their feeling 

 that the government would not then be in the hands of the people, but 

 would be only representative, and to-day that same feeling exists in the 

 demand that the federal authority be enlarged and the states reduced to 

 minimum power in order that again the authority of the people may be 

 hampered and limited. Much confusion of detail and of procedure 

 clouds the issue. Underlying it all, the principle of action, both in state 

 and federal government, is the same. The law is founded on the 

 common law of England, and there is to be discovered to the diligent 

 inquirer a greater uniformity than diversity. The extent of this uni- 

 formity is marvelous. From one state to another have been handed 

 on the principles of legislation and forms of government. In one 

 state is initiated some new phase of political organization, its propaga- 

 tion is carried on into another community, and little by little there 

 moves constantly over the land an increasing uniformity of legislation. 

 While it may be said that as a nation we are face to face with serious 

 industrial problems over which we have no central authority, neverthe- 

 less the nation has made some progress under present constitutional 

 provisions and the states are diligently seeking legislation from other 

 sources that will meet the difficulty. The danger is not from this 

 direction, nor is it likely to arise from our failure to solve the problem 

 in a fairly satisfactory way through the utilization of both state and 

 federal governments, but the danger, if from anywhere, is from a 



