Deal, 1865–1940
DOCUMENT 53: President Calvin Coolidge’s Fourth Annual State of the Union Message, December 7, 1926
Calvin Coolidge delivered six State of the Union messages to Con- gress while president. With an adherence to a laissez-faire philosophy, Coolidge’s Fourth Annual message addressed the issue of states’ rights and federalism.
* * * Members of the Congress:
In reporting to the Congress the state of the Union, I find it impossible to characterize it other than one of general peace and prosperity. . . .
. . .
FEDERAL REGULATION
I am in favor of reducing, rather than expanding, Government bureaus which seek to regulate and control the business activities of the people.
Everyone is aware that abuses exist and will exist so long as we are limited by human imperfections. Unfortunately, human nature can not be changed by an act of the legislature. When practically the sole remedy for many evils lies in the necessity of the people looking out for them- selves and reforming their own abuses, they will find that they are re- lying on a false security if the Government assumes to hold out the promise that it is looking out for them and providing reforms for them.
The principle is preeminently applicable to the National Government. It is too much assumed that because an abuse exists it is the business of the National Government to provide a remedy. The presumption should be that it is the business of local and State governments. Such national action results in encroaching upon the salutary independence of the States and by undertaking to supersede their natural authority fills the
land with bureaus and departments which are undertaking to do what it is impossible for them to accomplish and brings our whole system of government into disrespect and disfavor. We ought to maintain high standards. We ought to punish wrongdoing. Society has not only the privilege but the absolute duty of protecting itself and its individuals.
But we can not accomplish this end by adopting a wrong method. Per- manent success lies in local, rather than national action. Unless the lo- cality rises to its own requirements, there is an almost irresistible impulse for the National Government to intervene. The States and the Nation should both realize that such action is to be adopted only as a last resort.
Source: Fred L. Israel, ed.,The State of the Union Messages of the Presidents, 1790–
1966(New York: Chelsea House, 1967), 3:2690, 2701–2702.
DOCUMENT 54: Herbert C. Hoover’s Fourth Annual State of the Union Message, December 6, 1932
Before he became president, Herbert Hoover had served as chair- man of the American Relief Committee in London, chairman of the Commission for Relief in Belgium, and U.S. food administrator during World War I. Under both Presidents Harding and Coolidge, Herbert Hoover displayed his talents as secretary of commerce. His one term as president came when the Great Depression began. In 1932, he de- livered to the Congress his fourth and last State of the Union message, part of which addressed the relationship between state and national governments.
* * * To the Senate and House of Representatives:
In accord with my constitutional duty, I transmit herewith to the Con- gress information upon the state of the Union together with recom- mendation of measures for consideration.
Our country is at peace. Our national defense has been maintained at a high state of effectiveness. . . .
In the face of widespread hardship our people have demonstrated daily a magnificent sense of humanity, of individual and community responsibility for the welfare of the less fortunate. They have grown in their conceptions and organization for cooperative action for the com- mon welfare.
In the provision against distress during this winter, the great private agencies of the country have been mobilized again; the generosity of our
people has again come into evidence to a degree in which all America may take pride. Likewise the local authorities and the States are engaged everywhere in supplemental measures of relief. The provisions made for loans from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, to States that have exhausted their own resources, guarantee that there should be no hunger or suffering from cold in the country. The large majority of States are showing a sturdy cooperation in the spirit of the Federal aid.
. . .
It seems to me appropriate upon this occasion to make certain general observations upon the principles which must dominate the solution of problems now pressing upon the Nation. Legislation in response to na- tional needs will be effective only if every such act conforms to a com- plete philosophy of the people’s purposes and destiny. Ours is a distinctive government with a unique history and background, con- sciously dedicated to specific ideals of liberty and to a faith in the in- violable sanctity of the individual human spirit. Furthermore, the continued existence and adequate functioning of our government in preservation of ordered liberty and stimulation of progress depends upon the maintenance of State, local, institutional, and individual sense of responsibility. We have builded a system of individualism peculiarly our own which must not be forgotten in any governmental acts, for from it have grown greater accomplishments than those of any other nation.
On the social and economic sides, the background of our American system and the motivation of progress is essentially that we should allow free play of social and economic forces as far as will not limit equality of opportunity and as will at the same time stimulate the initiative and enterprise of our people. In the maintenance of this balance the Federal Government can permit of no privilege to any person or group. It should act as a regulatory agent and not as a participant in economic and social life. The moment the Government participates, it becomes a competitor with the people. As a competitor it becomes at once a tyranny in what- ever direction it may touch. We have around us numerous such expe- riences, no one of which can be found to have justified itself except in cases where the people as a whole have met forces beyond their control, such as those of the Great War and the great depression, where the full powers of the Federal Government must be exerted to protect the people.
But even these must be limited to an emergency sense and must be promptly ended when these dangers are overcome. . . .
Source: Fred L. Israel, ed.,The State of the Union Messages of the Presidents, 1790–
1966(New York: Chelsea House, 1967), 3:2795, 2803.