ment  or  the  state>  and  less  upon  their  own  exertions.  With  the
increasing  complexity  of  our  civilization^  some  of  these  commis-
sions art  suitable,  proper  and  necessary,  and  if  conducted  with
due  regard  to  constitutional  rights,  are  valuable,  but  in  many
instances  they  are  distinctly  mischievous,  and  improperly  hamper
private  initiative.  They  create  an  enormous  roll  of  ofiBcers  and
employees  supported  at  public  expense.  In  certain  cases,  while
there  is  a  reasonable  excuse  for  their  exiatence,  the  advantage
flowing  from  the  exercise  of  their  functions  is  of  far  less  value
than  their  cost,  even  leaving  to  one  side  their  unfortunate  effect
upon  public  morale.  It  is  as  true  now  as  when  it  was  first  uttered
that  the  people  are  governed  best  who  are  governed  least.  This
country  has  not  grown  to  be  the  greatest,  most  powerful  and
happiest  in  the  world  through  the  activities  of  boards  or  bureaus,
but  only  through  the  efforts  and  genius  of  its  virile,  strong  and
intelligent  people,  with  the  assurance  given  by  the  constitution
that  they  shall  enjoy  the  results  of  their  labor.  We  have  made
this  marvelous  progress  by  respecting  the  rights  of  the  individual
recited  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  If  we  do  not  check
the  tendency  to  set  up  a  bureaucratic  government,  centering  in
Washington,  we  invite  disaster.  The  United  States  is  not,  as
was  asserted  of  the  late  Oerman  Empire,  an  entity  free  from
moral  or  other  restraints  over,  above  and  apart  from  the  people,
but  it  is  a  composite  of  the  people  themfielves.  Its  powers  are  not
unlimited.  The  Oovemment  possesses  only  those  from  which  the
people  parted  for  the  general  welfare,  and  its  activities  should
be  confined  within  the  narrow  limits  consistent  with  the  per-
formance of  proper  governmental  duties.  The  wise  men  who
wrote  the  constitution  did  not  intend  to  place  the  citizen  in  lead-
ing strings.  The  government  is  the  servant  of  the  people.  It  is
instituted  not  to  suppress,  but  to  render  certain  their  liberties.
