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Sunday Evening Forum, Tucson, AZ, January 15, 1967
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The original documents are located in Box D21, folder "Sunday Evening Forum, Tucson,
AZ, January 15, 1967" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File
at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box D21 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
ADDRESS BEFORE THE SUNDAY EVENING FORUM, TUCSON, ARIZ.
SUNDAY, JAN. 15, 1967 Mauldin
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
Jet me
Ralph "Udall Bunche
moe
IT IS A DISTINCT PLEASURE TO BE WITH YOU HERE TONIGHT
IT IS ALWAYS DELIGHTFUL TO BE IN ARIZONA, AND NOT JUST
BECAUSE I OCCASIONALLY HAVE SINUS TROUBLE. AFTER ALL,
IF SINUS RELIEF WERE THE ONLY ATTRACTION, I COULD ALWAYS
TAKE SOME OF THOSE PILLS THE TELEVISION COMMERCIAL SAYS
WILL POP A PERSON INTO A SUITCASE AND TRANSPORT HIM TO
ARIZONA WHERE HE CAN BREATHE AGAIN.
PAUSE
ant.
have an affection for
NO, I LOVE ARIZONA BECAUSE IT IS A BASTION OF THE
arizona
OLD WEST
# IS REMINISCENT OF THE DAY WHEN AMERICA WAS
AN UNCLUTTERED LAND WHOSE PEOPLE WERE FIERCELY INDEPENDENT
AND STROVE TO DO FOR THEMSELVES. IT IS A SYMBOL OF THAT
LIBRARY
-2-
PHILOSOPHY SO SIMPLY YET ELOQUENTLY EXPRESSED BY ABRAHAM
LINCOLN WHEN HE SAID: "GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO FOR THE
PEOPLE ONLY THAT WHICH THEY CANNOT DO FOR THEMSELVES, OR
CANNOT DO SO WELL FOR THEMSELVES IN THEIR SEPARATE AND
INDIVIDUAL CAPACITIES."
TODAY WE HAVE BIG GOVERNMENT. BIGNESS IN ITSELF IS
We have masswl problems - at home + abroad.
NOT BAD. THIS IS A BIG COUNTRY YOU DON T RUN IT ON A
This country
SHOESTRING. BUT THAT FORM OF BIG GOVERNMENT IS BAD WHICH
IS SO PATERNALISTIC THAT IT MAKES MORAL CRIPPLES OF ITS
CITIZENS--GIVES THEM CRUTCHES WHICH MAKE THEM DEPENDENT
UPON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR EVERYTHING. AND THAT
KIND OF BIG GOVERNMENT IS BAD WHICH CREATES LAYER UPON
FORD is LIBRARY
LAYER OF BUREAUCRACY SO THAT THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE IS
MUFFLED OR EVEN STILLED.
though to take from Fee Loferything have.
a govt lig enough to give Mo everything we want, is a goot by
Our Fraditions is thet 3
-3-
WE USED TO BE A PROUD PEOPLE. I THINK WE STILL ARE,
BUT WE HAVE STRAYED FROM THE PHILOSOPHY OF LINCOLN. IT
IS SO EASY TO BE LURED INTO DEPENDENCY, INTO BELIEVING
THAT ALL OF OUR PROBLEMS SHOULD BE TURNED OVER TO THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY IS A BURDEN.
HOW NATURAL IT IS SIMPLY TO AVOID IT AND LEAN ON SOMEONE
ELSE--BE IT ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL OR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
OUR EARLY GREAT LEADERS SPOKE FOR A PEOPLE WHO HAD
JUST BURST THE BONDS OF TYRANNY WHEN THEY WROTE OUR
FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. THEY WERE DEEPLY SENSITIVE TO THE
DANGERS OF TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT AND CAREFULLY PHRASED THIS
NATION'S DOCUMENT OF BASIC LAW SO AS TO GUARD AGAINST IT.
gathered Those
IS WHY THEY)CHOSE. A REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT
Haltsh
FOR THIS COUNTRY-BECAUSE IN A REPUBLIC LAWS ARE WRITTEN BY
-4-
AND ADMINISTERED BY MEN AND WOMEN ELECTED TO REPRESENT
ALL THE PEOPLE AND TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF ALL.
A REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT IS A LIMITED FORM OF
GOVERNMENT. THE WORD "REPUBLIC" IS DERIVED FROM THE
LATIN PHRASE, "RES PUBLICA," WHICH MEANS PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
THIS IN TURN MEANS THAT IN A REPUBLIC THE GOVERNMENT
SHOULD CONCERN ITSELF ONLY WITH THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS OF THE
NATION AND NOT INTRUDE INTO THE PERSONAL LIVES OF ITS
CITIZENS. ANOTHER WAY TO PUT IT IS THAT A REPUBLICAN
FORM OF GOVERNMENT IS SUPPOSED TO SAFEGUARD THE PERSONAL
LIBERTIES OF THE PEOPLE.
THE WISE MEN WHO WROTE OUR CONSTITUTION SELECTED THEIR
WORDS MOST CAREFULLY. THEY INTENDED THAT THE POWER OF THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BE LIMITED. THEY FORMULATED A DOCUMENT
LIBRARY
-5-
BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF RESTRAINT OF GOVERNMENT POWER AND
PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY.
IT WAS TO CARRY OUT THIS CONCEPT OF RESTRAINT OF POWER
THAT THE FRAMERS OF THE CONSTITUTION CAUTIOUSLY DELEGATED
THE POWERS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, carefully SPREAD THE POWER
AMONG THREE COORDINATE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT IN WHAT
AMOUNTED TO A DELICATE BALANCING ACT, AND, delicately SOUGHT TO ASSURE
THE STATES AND THEIR PEOPLE THE FREEDOM TO PROMOTE THEIR
OWN WELFARE WITH ONLY SUCH FEDERAL REGULATION AS MIGHT
SERVE THE BEST INTERESTS OF ALL THE PEOPLE.
OVER THE YEARS THERE HAS DEVELOPED, THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM
although it is not constitutionally ordained
IN AMERICAN GOVERNMENT THIS IS A GREAT STRENGTH. IT
UNDERGIRDS OUR REPUBLIC WE HAVE AVOIDED THE LOSS OF
FREEDOM THAT EXISTS IN ONE-PARTY GOVERNMENT! WE HAVE
BERALD FORD LIBRARY
such as the Sovet Ymin
-6-
AVOIDED THE CHAOS AND CONFUSION THAT RESULTS FROM MULTI
PARTY GOVERNMENT.
PERHAPS THE LATE WINSTON CHURCHILL BEST DESCRIBED THE
FUNCTIONING OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT WHEN HE
SAID: "DEMOCRACY IS THE WORST FORM OF GOVERNMENT EXCEPT
FOR ANY OTHER THAT HAS EVER BEEN TRIED."
OF COURSE DEMOCRACY AS A FORM OF GOVERNMENT HAS FLAWS.
NATURALLY, THE FUNCTIONING OF GOVERNMENT IN THIS GREAT
REPUBLIC OF OURS OFTEN LEAVES MUCH TO BE DESIRED. yet on The
basis famy valid comparison -america in 186 years has, given Propho more freedom, more opportunity
BUT THE CAREFUL BALANCE OF DECENTRALIZED, DIVIDED
POWER CONCEIVED BY THE FRAMERS OF OUR CONSTITUTION WAS
GERALD
THE SPRINGBOARD FOR DEVELOPMENT OF A NATION AND A PEOPLE
MIGHTIER THAN ANY OTHER ON EARTH. We should be proud it;
not embarranced by the record.
-7-
THE AMERICAN DREAM, THE AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY BECAME
REALITY BECAUSE THE WISE MEN WHO WROTE THE THEME FOR IT
WERE OPPOSED TO THE CONCEPT OF MASSIVE POWER IN THE HANDS
OF CENTRALIZED GOVERNMENT.
IT IS A MASTER FORMULA THAT IS CONTAINED IN OUR
CONSTITUTION, IF WE WILL ONLY FOLLOW IT. IT OFFERS
STABILITY AND A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STRONG ENOUGH TO LICK
PROBLEMS TOO BIG OR FAR-REACHING FOR INDIVIDUALS, PRIVATE
ORGANIZATIONS OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO SOLVE. YET IT SAFE-
GUARDS THE FREEDOM OF INDIVIDUAL AMERICAN CITIZENS AND
PROVIDES THEIR STATES AND LOCAL UNITS OF GOVERNMENT WITH
THE FLEXIBILITY THEY MUST HAVE TO TACKLE THOSE PROBLEMS
WHICH ARE MANIFESTLY THEIR OWN.
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE MASTER FORMULA? HAS IT BEEN
-8-
FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THE YEARS?
TODAY THE FORMULA IS TWISTED AND DISTORTED. UNDER ONE
OF OUR MAJOR PARTIES, THE POWER HAS SHIFTED STEADILY AND
INEXORABLY TO WASHINGTON. THIS HAS HAPPENED BECAUSE
POWER FLOWS WHERE THE MONEY IS. IT HAS HAPPENED BECAUSE
ONE OF OUR MAJOR PARTIES PREACHES THE PHILOSOPHY THAT THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CAN SOLVE ALL THE PROBLEMS OF THE
PEOPLE-BIG AND SMALL. THE POWER IS CONCENTRATED IN
WASHINGTON BECAUSE TOO MANY AMERICANS MISTAKENLY BELIEVE
THAT ONLY WASHINGTON CAN SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS, that all
wisdom resides on the Potomac
I THINK AMERICANS WHO LOOK TO WASHINGTON TO SOLVE ALL
OF THE COUNTRY'S PROBLEMS ARE WRONG. THEY ARE LOSING
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
SIGHT OF A GREAT TRUTH--THAT A CENTRAL GOVERNMENT WHICH
TAKES UNTO ITSELF THE BURDEN OF SOLVING ALL OF THE PEOPLE'S
-9-
PROBLEMS WILL INEVITABLY DESTROY INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE,
INVADE THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE AND RESTRICT THEIR PERSONAL
FREEDOM. THEY ARE OPENING THE DOORS TO THE VERY DANGERS
THE FRAMERS OF OUR CONSTITUTION SOUGHT TO AVOID.
ARE THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY WHICH ESPOUSES FEDERAL,
CENTRALIZED SOLUTIONS FOR ALL OF AMERICA'S PROBLEMS BAD
MEN? ARE THEY ACTING OUT OF MALICE? ARE THEY PART OF A
CONSPIRACY TO DESTROY THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF FREE GOVERNMENT
AND TO MAKE THE STATES AND CITIES MERE APPENDAGES OF
WASHINGTON? NOT AT ALL. I FEEL SURE THEY HAVE THE BEST
OF INTENTIONS. BUT I AM ALSO CERTAIN THEY ARE BADLY
MISTAKEN.
IN RECENT YEARS THE DISTORTION OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL
FORMULA WHICH GUIDES OUR AMERICAN REPUBLIC HAS BECOME
GERALD FORD LIBRERY
-10-
EVEN MORE SEVERELY DISTORTED. IT HAS BEEN SO PULLED
OUT OF SHAPE AS TO BECOME GROTESQUE.
THE REASON IS SIMPLE. IT IS WRAPPED AROUND THE MULTI-
TUDE OF FEDERAL GRANT-IN-AID PROGRAMS THAT HAVE BURGEONED
THROUGH THE YEARS AND THE FICTION THAT THE FEDERAL MONEY
WELL HAS NO BOTTOM.
IT HAS BECOME SO EASY FOR LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS
TO SAY, LET'S GO TO WASHINGTON FOR THE MONEY
BUT THEY FIND THAT THE MONEY LIES AT THE END OF A
LONG BUREAUCRATIC TUNNEL. THEY OFTEN RUN INTO ROADBLOCKS.
THEY BECOME SNARLED IN A CONFUSION OF RED TAPE. THEY
DISCOVER THAT MORE THAN ONE AGENCY MAKES GRANTS FOR CERTAIN
The spigots, The faucet and fantastic in Thermlas
KINDS OF PROJECTS. WHICH AGENCY DO THEY GO TO?, HOW MANY
OTHER CITIES ARE AHEAD OF THEM ON THE APPLICATION LIST?
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
a long, tedions, insperating line.
THEY HAVE TO GET INTO LINE.
IT IS BECOMING OBVIOUS EVEN TO LEADING MEMBERS OF THE
OTHER MAJOR PARTY THAT THE VARIOUS GRANT-IN-AID PROGRAMS
ARE WASTEFUL OF TIME, MONEY AND HUMAN RESOURCES, BEGINNING
WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE PROJECT APPLICATION TO THE
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND THE APPLICANTS HAVE TO RIDE TO
GET THE FUNDS.
Potomac planning advreates
SOME OF THEM M CONTEND THERE IS A LACK OF BOTH THE WILL
AND THE SKILL TO SOLVE AMERICA'S PROBLEMS AT THE STATE
AND LOCAL LEVEL, AND THAT WE MUST FORCE STATE AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS TO MODERNIZE.
States must per date
I CERTAINLY FAVOR THE MODERNIZING OF OUR STATE
&
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS WHEREVER SUCH ACTION IS NEEDED,
BUT AND The up datations MDs
GERALD
I
DON'T THINK THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD USE A WHIPLASH
-12-
TO BRING IT ABOUT.
IF THE WILL AND SKILL TO SOLVE STATE AND LOCAL PROBLEMS
IS LACKING IN SOME AREAS, I SUBMIT IT IS BECAUSE THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS DRAINED THE PEOPLE IN THOSE AREAS
OF THEIR DESIRE TO EXERCISE SELF-RESPONSIBILITY. It should be
added-the sources 2 state + local tab revenue have been drained dry.
I SAID EARLIER THAT POWER FLOWS TO WHERE THE MONEY IS.
IF WE CAUSED SOME OF THE MONEY THAT FLOWS TO WASHINGTON
TO FLOW BACK TO ITS SOURCE THROUGH UNOBSTRUCTED CHANNELS,
THEN SOME OF THE POWER WILL FLOW BACK TO THE STATES AND
LOCAL COMMUNITIES, TOO. IF FEDERAL AID DOES NOT HAVE TO
TRICKLE DOWN THROUGH LAYER AFTER LAYER OF BUREAUCRACY,
MORE OF IT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR STATE AND LOCAL USE.
FORD
LIBRARY
NOT ONLY WILL THERE BE SAVINGS OF TIME, MONEY AND
PERSONNEL, BUT IT STANDS TO REASON THAT THE PEOPLE CLOSEST
-13-
TO STATE AND LOCAL PROBLEMS ARE BEST EQUIPPED TO SOLVE THEM.
WHAT I HAVE BEEN DESCRIBING FOR YOU IS THE REPUBLICAN
PLAN FOR SHARING FEDERAL REVENUE WITH THE STATES--A PLAN
THAT CALLS FOR PERCENTAGE TAX REBATES TO THE STATES.
THESE REVENUE SHARES WOULD GRADUALLY SUPPLANT THE FEDERAL
GRANTS-IN-AID SYSTEM WHICH NOW KEEPS GROWING LIKE TOPSY.
EVERY TIME ANOTHER PROBLEM BECOMES ACUTE, ANOTHER
FEDERAL GRANT-IN-AID PROGRAM IS ESTABLISHED AND A NEW
LAYER OF BUREAUCRACY IS LAID ON TOP OF ALL THE OTHERS.
THINK OF IT! THERE IS NO END TO IT. 2n 1960 - 2,200, 000/712 bellion
1967 - 2,800 118 billin,
NOT ONLY DOES CONGRESS KEEP ADDING NEW GRANT-IN-AID
PROGRAMS, BUT NOT ONE OF THE OLD PROGRAMS HAS BEEN
LEGISLATED OUT OF EXISTENCE.
-14-
WHAT DOES ALL THIS HAVE TO DO WITH PERSONAL LIBERTY,
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, THE
FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONSHIP AND THE DIVISION OF POWERS
SET FORTH IN THE CONSTITUTION?
EVERY NEW GRANT-IN-AID PROGRAM, EVERY INCREASE IN
APPROPRIATIONS FOR EXISTING GRANT-IN-AID PROGRAMS, CONSTITUTES
ANOTHER STEP TOWARD COMPLETE ABANDONMENT BY AMERICANS OF
RELIANCE ON INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP RESPONSIBILITY, THEIR
FAITH IN STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, AND THEIR BELIEF
IN PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS.
FEDERALIZED, CENTRALIZED SOLUTIONS ARE SUBSTITUTED
FOR LOCAL INITIATIVE AND LOCAL PROBLEM-SOLVING EFFORTS.
IN FACT, THE ENTIRE PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS IN AMERICA
TENDS TO BOG DOWN IN ONE HUGE BUREAUCRATIC MORASS.
-15-
THE MEN WHO FOUNDED OUR REPUBLIC DID NOT INTEND THAT
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD SHRIVEL AND DIE.
THEY WERE SELF-RELIANT INDIVIDUALS AND SAW OUR AMERICA
AS A LAND IN WHICH EACH MAN WAS GUARANTEED EQUALITY UNDER
THE LAW BUT OWED HIS LIVING TO NO ONE.
I BELIEVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NOW ARE APPROACHING A
CROSSROADS IN AMERICAN POLITICAL HISTORY. IT SEEMS TO
ME THEY ARE NEARING A FORK IN THE ROAD, A TURNING AWAY
FROM CENTRALISM, STATISM AND THE DICTATED FEDERAL SOLUTION
FILTERED DOWN THROUGH GOVERNMENT BUREAUS AND REGIONAL
OFFICES.
BECAUSE THE POLITICAL SIGNS NOW POINT IN NEW DIRECTIONS,
I FIRMLY BELIEVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL FULFILL A WISH
EXPRESSED BY BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AS THE CONSTITUTIONAL
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
-16-
CONVENTION FINISHED DRAFTING THE BASIC LAW INTENDED
TO GOVERN AND GUIDE THIS NATION.
AS HE LEFT CONSTITUTION HALL, FRANKLIN WAS ASKED:
"WHICH HAVE YOU GIVEN US--A MONARCHY OR A REPUBLIC?"
AND FRANKLIN REPLIED: "A REPUBLIC--IF WE CAN KEEP IT."
THIS IS THE OBLIGATION GIVEN TO ALL OF US. THIS IS
THE RESPONSIBILITY WE BEAR AND SHARE--TO KEEP AND PRESERVE
OUR REPUBLIC.
I SAY THAT WE MUST REDEDICATE OURSELVES TO THAT HIGH
PURPOSE. AND IT IS MY DEEP CONVICTION THAT YOU--ALL OF YOU--
WILL CAUSE THE LAMP OF LIBERTY TO BURN MORE BRIGHTLY EVERY-
WHERE BECAUSE YOU DARE TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED FOR AMERICA.
THANK YOU
GERALD LIBRARY
---END---
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY AT 8 P.M. SUNDAY, JAN. 15, 1967
ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH., BEFORE THE SUNDAY EVENING FORUM, TUCSON,ARIZ.
OUR REPUBLIC - A REVIEW AND PREVIEW
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is a distinct pleasure to be with you here tonight. It is always delightful
to be in Arizona, and not just because I occasionally have sinus trouble. After all,
if sinus relief were the only attraction, I could always take some of those pills
that the television commercial says will pop a person into a suitcase and transport
him to Arizona where he can breathe again.
No, I love Arizona because it is a bastion of the old West. It is reminiscent
of the day when America was an uncluttered land whose people were fiercely independent
and strove to do for themselves. It is a symbol of that philosophy so simply yet
eloquently expressed by Abraham Lincoln when he said: "Government should do for the
people only that which they cannot do for themselves, or cannot do 80 well for them-
selves in their separate and individual capacities."
Today we have Big Government. Bigness in itself is not bad. This is a big
country. You don't run it on a shoestring. But that form of Big Government is bad
which is so paternalistic that it makes moral cripples of its citizens--gives them
crutches which make them dependent upon the federal government for everything. And
that kind of Big Government is bad which creates layer upon layer of bureaucracy so
that the voice of the people is muffled or even stilled.
We used to be a proud people. I think we still are, but we have strayed
from the philosophy of Lincoln. It is so easy to be lured into dependency, into
believing that all of our problems should be turned over to the federal government.
Individual responsibility is a burden. How natural it is simply to avoid it and
lean on someone else--be it another individual or the federal government.
Our early great leaders spoke for a people who had just burst the bonds of
tyranny when they wrote our federal constitution. They were deeply sensitive to
the dangers of too much government and carefully phrased this Nation's document of
basic law so as to guard against it.
That is why they chose a republican form of government for this country--because
in a republic laws are written by and administered by men and women elected to
represent all the people and to protect the rights of all.
A republican form of government is a limited form of government. The word
"republic" is derived from the Latin phrase, "res publica," which means "public
FORD
affairs."
(MORE)
LIBRARY
-2-
This in turn means that in a republic the government should concern itself only
with the public affairs of the Nation and not intrude into the personal lives of
its citizens. Another way to put it is that a republican form of government is
supposed to safeguard the personal liberties of the people.
The wise men who wrote our Constitution selected their words most carefully.
They intended that the power of the federal government be limited. They formulated
a document based on the concept of restraint of government power and protection
of individual liberty.
It was to carry out this concept of restraint of power that the framers of
the Constitution cautiously delegated the powers of the federal government, spread
the power among three coordinate branches of government in what amounted to a
delicate balancing act, and sought to assure the states and their people the freedom
to promote their own welfare with only such federal regulation as might serve the
best interests of all the people.
Over the years there has developed the two-party system in American government.
This is a great strength. It undergirds our republic. We have avoided the loss
of freedom that exists in one-party government. We have avoided the chaos and
confusion that results from multi-party government.
Perhaps the late Winston Churchill best described the functioning of the
American system of government when he said: "Democracy is the worst form of
government except for any other that has ever been tried."
Of course democracy as a form of government has flaws. Naturally, the
functioning of government in this great republic of ours often leaves much to be
desired.
But the careful balance of decentralized, divided power conceived by the
framers of our Constitution was the springboard for development of a Nation and a
People mightier than any other on earth.
The American dream, the American success story became reality because the
wise men who wrote the theme for it were opposed to the concept of massive power
in the hands of centralized government.
It is a master formula that is contained in our Constitution, if we will only
follow it. It offers stability and a federal government strong enough to lick
problems too big or far-reaching for individuals, private organizations or local
government to solve. Yet it safeguards the freedom of individual American citizens
and provides their states and local units of government with the flexibility they
must have to tackle those problems which are manifestly their own.
(MORE)
- 3 -
What has happened to the master formula? Has it been followed throughout the
years?
Today the formula is twisted and distorted. Under one of our major parties,
the power has shifted steadily and inexorably to Washington. This has happened
because power flows where the money is. It has happened because one of our major
parties preaches the philosophy that the federal government can solve all the
problems of the people--big and small. The power is concentrated in Washington
because too many Americans mistakenly believe that only Washington can solve
their problems.
I think Americans who look to Washington to solve all of the country's
problems are wrong. They are losing sight of a great truth--that a central
government which takes únto itself the burden of solving all of the people's prob-
lems will inevitably destroy individual initiative, invade the lives of the
people and restrict their personal freedom. They are opening the doors to the very
dangers the framers of our Constitution sought to avoid.
Are the leaders of the party which espouses federal, centralized solutions
for all of America's problems bad men? Are they acting out of malice? Are they
part of a conspiracy to destroy the American system of free government and to make
the states and cities mere appendages of Washington? Not at all. I feel sure
they have the best of intentions. But I am also certain they are badly mistaken.
In recent years the distortion of the constitutional formula which guides
our American republic has become even more severely distorted. It has been so
pulled out of shape as to become grotesque.
The reason is simple. It is wrapped around the multitude of federal grant-
in-aid programs that have burgeoned through the years and the fiction that the
federal money well has no bottom.
It has become so easy for local and state governments to say, 'Let's go to
Washington for the money.'
But they find that the money lies at the end of a long bureaucratic tunnel.
They often run into roadblocks. They become snarled in a confusion of red tape.
They discover that more than one agency makes grants for certain kinds of projects.
Which agency do they go to? How many other cities are ahead of them on the
application list? They have to get into line.
It is becoming obvious even to leading members of the other major party that
the various grant-in-aid programs are wasteful of time, money and human resources,
(MORE)
- 4 -
beginning with the preparation of the project application to the Washington
merry-go-round the applicants have to ride to get the funds.
Some of them contend there is a lack of both the will and the skill to solve
America's problems at the state and local level, and that we must force state and
local governments to modernize.
I certainly favor the modernizing of our state and local governments wherever
such action is needed, but I don't think the federal government should use a whip-
lash to bring it about.
If the will and skill to solve state and local problems is lacking in some
areas, I submit it is because the federal government has drained the people in
those areas of their desire to exercise self-responsibility.
I said earlier that power flows to where the money is. If we caused some
of the money that flows to Washington to flow back to its source through unobstruct-
ed channels, then some of the power will flow back to the states and local com-
munities, too. If federal aid does not have to trickle down through layer after
layer of bureaucracy, more of it will be available for state and local use.
Not only will there be savings of time, money and personnel, but it stands to
reason that the people closest to state and local problems are best equipped to
solve them.
What I have been describing for you is the Republican plan for sharing federal
revenue with the states--a plan that calls for percentage tax rebates to the states.
These revenue shares would gradually supplant the federal grants-in-aid system
which now keeps growing like Topsy.
Every time another problem becomes acute, another federal grant-in-aid program
is established and a new layer of bureaucracy is laid on top of all the others.
Think of it! There is no end to it.
Not only does Congress keep adding new grant-in-aid programs, but not one of
the old programs has been legislated out of existence.
What does all this have to do with personal liberty, the responsibility of
state and local governments, the federal-state relationship and the division
of powers set forth in the Constitution?
Every new grant-in-aid program, every increase in appropriations for existing
grant-in-aid programs constitutes another step toward complete abandonment by
Americans of reliance on individual and group responsibility, their faith in state
and local governments, and their belief in private institutions.
(MORE)
-5-
Federalized, centralized solutions are substituted for local initiative and
local problem-solving efforts. In fact, the entire problem-solving process
in America tends to bog down in one huge bureaucratic morass.
The men who founded our republic did not intend that state and local govern-
ment should shrivel and die.
They were self-reliant individuals and saw our America as a land in which each
man was guaranteed equality under the law but owed his living to no one.
I believe the American people now are approaching a crossroads in American
political history. It seems to me they are nearing a fork in the road, a turning
away from centralism, statism and the dictated federal solution filtered down
through government bureaus and regional offices.
Because the political signs now point in New Directions, I firmly believe the
American people will fulfill a wish expressed by Benjamin Franklin as the consti-
tutional convention finished drafting the basic law intended to govern and guide
this Nation.
As he left Constitution Hall, Franklin was asked: "Which have you given us--
a monarchy or a republic?"
And Franklin replied: "A republic--if we can keep it."
This is the obligation given to all of US. This is the responsibility we
bear and share--to keep and preserve our republic.
I say that we must rededicate ourselves to that high purpose. And it is my
deep conviction that you--all of you--will cause the lamp of liberty to burn more
brightly everywhere because you dare to stand up and be counted for America.
Thank you.
##
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY AT 8 PcM, SUNDAY, JAN. 15, 1967
ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH., BEFORE THE SUNDAY EVENING FORUM, TUCSON, ARIZ.
OUR REPUBLIC - A REVIEW AND PREVIEW
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is a distinct pleasure to be with you here tonight. It is always delightful
to be in Arizona, and not just because I occasionally have sinus trouble. After all,
if sinus relief were the only attraction, I could always take some of those pills
that the television commercial says will pop a person into a suitcase and transport
him to Arizona where he can breathe again.
No, I love Arizona because it is a bastion of the old West. It is reminiscent
of the day when America was an uncluttered land whose people were fiercely independent
and strove to do for themselves. It is a symbol of that phd osophy so simply yet
eloquently expressed by Abraham Lincoln when he said: "Government should do for the
people only that which they cannot do for themselves, or cannot do so well for them-
selves in their separate and individual can sities."
Today we have Big Government. Bigness in itself is not bad. This is a big
country. You don't run it on a shoestring. But that form of Big Government is bad
which is so paternalistic that It makes moral cripples of its citizens--gives them
crutches which make them dependent Upon the federal government for everything. And
that kind of Big Government is bad which creates layer upon layer of bureaucracy so
that the voice of the people is muffled or even stilled.
We used to be a proud people. I think we still are, but we have strayed
from the philosophy of Lincoln. It is so easy to be lured into dependency, into
believing that all of our problems should be turmed over to the federal government.
Individual responsibility is a burden. How natural it is simply to avoid it and
lean on someone else--be it another individual or the federal government.
Our early great leaders spoke for a people who had just burst the bonds of
tyranny when they wrote our federal constitution. They were deeply sensitive to
the dangers of too much government and carefully phrased this Nation's document of
basic law so as to guard against it.
That is why they chose a republican form of government for this country--because
in a republic laws are written by and administered by men and women elected to
represent all the people and to protect the rights of all.
A republican form of government is a limited form of government. The word
"republic" is derived from the Latin phrase, "res publica," which means "public
affairs."
GERALET FORD LIBRARY
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This in turn means that in a republic the government should concern itself only
with the public affairs of the Nation and not intrude into the personal lives of
its citizens. Another way to put it is that a republican form of government is
supposed to safeguard the personal liberties of the people.
The wise men who wrote our Constitution selected their words most carefully.
They intended that the power of the federal government be limited. They formulated
a document based on the concept of restraint of government power and protection
of individual liberty.
It was to carry out this concept of restraint of power that the framers of
the Constitution cautiously delegated the powers of the federal government, spread
the power among three coordinate branches of government in what amounted to a
delicate balancing act, and sought to assure the states and their people the freedom
to promote their own welfare with only such federal regulation as might serve the
best interests of all the people.
Over the years there has developed the two-party system in American government.
This is a great strength. It undergirds our republic. We have avoided the loss
of freedom that exists in one-party government. We have avoided the chaos and
confusion that results from multi-party government.
Perhaps the late Winston Churchill best described the functioning of the
American system of government when he said: "Democracy is the worst form of
government except for any other that has ever been tried."
Of course democracy as a form of government has flaws. Naturally, the
functioning of government in this great republic of ours often leaves much to be
desired.
But the careful balance of decentralized, divided power conceived by the
framers of our Constitution was the springboard for development of a Nation and a
People mightier than any other on earth.
The American dream, the American success story became reality because the
wise men who wrote the theme for it were opposed to the concept of massive power
in the hands of centralized government.
It is a master formula that is contained in our Constitution, if we will only
follow it. It offers stability and a federal government strong enough to lick
problems too big or far-reaching for individuals, private organizations or local
government to solve, Yet it safeguards the freedom of individual American citizens
and provides their states and local units of government with the flexibility they
must have to tackle those problems which are manifestly their own.
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What has happened to the master formula? Has it been followed throughout the
years?
Today the formula is twisted and distorted. Under one of our major parties,
the power has shifted steadily and inexorably to Washington. This has happened
because power flows where the money is. It has happened because one of our major
parties preaches the philosophy that the federal government can solve all the
problems of the people--big and small. The power is concentrated in Washington
because too many Americans mistakenly believe that only Washington can solve
their problems.
I think Americans who look to Washington to solve all of the country's
problems are wrong. They are losing sight of a great truth--that a central
government which takes unto itself the burden of solving all of the people's prob-
lems will inevitably destroy individual initiative, invade the lives of the
people and restrict their personal freedom. They are opening the doors to the very
dangers the framers of our Constitution sought to avoid.
Are the leaders of the party which espouses federal, centralized solutions
for all of America's problems bad men? Are they acting out of malice? Are they
part of a conspiracy to destroy the American system of free government and to make
the states and cities mere appendages of Washington? Not at all. I feel sure
they have the best of intentions. But I am also certain they are badly mistaken.
In recent years the distortion of the constitutional formula which guides
our American republic has become even more severely distorted. It has been so
pulled out of shape as to become grotesque.
The reason is simple. It is wrapped around the multitude of federal grant-
in-aid programs that have burgeoned through the years and the fiction that the
federal money well has no bottom.
It has become 80 easy for local and state governments to say, 'Let's go to
Washington for the money.'
But they find that the money lies at the end of a long bureaucratic tunnel.
They often run into roadblocks. They become snarled in a confusion of red tape.
They discover that more than one agency makes grants for certain kinds of projects.
Which agency do they go to? How many other cities are ahead of them on the
application list? They have to get into line.
It is becoming obvious even to leading members of the other major party that
the various grant-in-aid programs are wasteful of time, money and human resources,
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beginning with the preparation of the project application to the Washington
merry-go-round the applicants have to ride to get the funds.
Some of them contend there is a lack of both the will and the skill to solve
America's problems at the state and local level, and that we must force state and
local governments to modernize.
I certainly favor the modernizing of our state and local governments wherever
such action is needed, but I don't think the federal government should use a whip-
lash to bring it about.
If the will and skill to solve state and local problems is lacking in some
areas, I submit it is because the federal government has drained the people in
those areas of their desire to exercise self-responsibility
I said earlier that power flows to where the money is. If we caused some
of the money that flows to Washington to flow back to its source through unobstruct-
ed channels, then some of the power will flow back to the states and local com-
munities, too. If federal aid does not have to trickle down through layer after
layer of bureaucracy, more of it will be available for state and local use.
Not only will there be savings of time, money and personnel, but it stands to
reason that the people closest to state and local problems are best equipped to
solve them.
What I have been describing for you is the Republican plan for sharing federal
revenue with the states--a plan that calls for percentage tax rebates to the states.
These revenue shares would gradually supplant the federal grants-in-aid system
which now keeps growing like Topsy.
Every time another problem becomes acute, another federal grant-in-aid program
is established and a new layer of bureaucracy is laid on top of all the others.
Think of it! There is no end to it.
Not only does Congress keep adding new grant-in-aid programs, but not one of
the old programs has been legislated out of existence.
What does all this have to do with personal liberty, the responsibility of
state and local governments, the federal-state relationship and the division
of powers set forth in the Constitution?
Every new grant-in-aid program, every increase in appropriations for existing
grant-in-aid programs consticutes another step toward complete abandonment by
Americans of reliance on individual and group responsibility, their faith in state
and local governments, and their belief in private institutions.
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Federalized, centralized solutions are substituted for local initiative and
local problem-solving efforts. In fact, the entire problem-solving process
in America tends to bog down in one huge bureaucratic morass.
The men who founded our republic did not intend that state and local govern-
ment should shrivel and die.
They were self-reliant individuals and saw our America as a land in which each
man was guaranteed equality under the law but owed his living to no one.
I believe the American people now are approaching a crossroads in American
political history. It seems to me they are nearing a fork in the road, a turning
away from centralism, statism and the dictated federal solution filtered down
through government bureaus and regional offices.
Because the political signs now point in New Directions, I firmly believe the
American people will fulfill a wish expressed by Benjamin Franklin as the consti-
tutional convention finished drafting the basic law intended to govern and guide
this Nation.
As he left Constitution Hall, Franklin was asked: "Which have you given us--
a monarchy or a republic?"
And Franklin replied: "A republic--if we can keep it."
This is the obligation given to all of US. This is the responsibility we
bear and share--to keep and preserve our republic.
I say that we must rededicate ourselves to that high purpose. And it is my
deep conviction that you--all of you--will cause the lamp of liberty to burn more
brightly everywhere because you dare to stand up and be counted for America.
Thank you.
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