Letter From Gov. Hoffman

BU .l. : "":.. i Vr,j;,.. , 'lUMBFT, I AI.HANÏ, June ÜU, 1&71. ( Tothe Counoilof Sachcm af the Tmini.-uiy s- iv: I haVc i-'-nuiVcd your invitution to be present at the comittg F.iintli of .luly cclebration at Ttimiuany Hall I regret vtjry much that othorengagenicji.ts, enterein-" to beforo 1 reccived your invitution, put ít out of my pówer to oomply therewith. You do well in callin;,' attlmtion to tlie ict that agais n,,w. m on (ba grcat Fourth oí' July of 177U, the vital question ís impresse4 ul'" the American people wbether tliey will be governed by forcé en will goveru theitiselve. Üur recent civil strife led to gveot concentration of administrativa power in the Federal góvenuuentj but as tho war waá temporary and uut of the ordifláry course of eveiits, so tliis extniDidiiiiiry exertioii of power should have been temporary and proiuptly abandoned so soon as the war Cëased. In the revolutionary strugglea of uur forcfatliers, Gfeorge Washington was tor a time invested with powers almost, if not absulutely, dii.tatoiial. Thé moment actual war oeascil, this greatest of military chiefa gave up Kis commission, dtvested tiinseïf ctt nir ahd l'eft all po Utical qnestions to be ÉBtttted by tree and peaoei'ul delibemtnuu of tke peoplc. ïhe whole civilized world, its ïnunarchs, its staiésmen, its scholara, its people, lookcd with awuujionthe simple ■ grandeur of the Aiuetican helo. To day the world at large does roveience tohis nuiiiory as to no other name among fchoae who havo controlh d the politacal destin men. The human rar,. takes pridu i,i : sliall we, his own cmuitiyinen, surrender our faith in -his wisdom 'i Our great civil war ended six The deliberatiöns of oir'j)eopie are not vet fttee. l'owers have been lately eonferred, undfr a huv of Congress, ujjon the Ajieriean President, whieii ought not to be eáteusied to uny man, and wliieh no man is gyjod enough or wise énough to wield. At his own discretionhe may, un dfir this wicked law, Sussend in anv tion of the country - Noñh, South, Ëttal tr Wesi alJ the lawful righte of ite oitizens and yuw.n il i,y milharyione, subject to no restraint but that'ol' his own will- i power less liniited, less guarded, more absolute (lian that conferred upon President Lineoln Iñ tho tiuio of actual war. Tlie gvoiit political question now bcfore us is whethor, in the future, wc aro tp be th Bubjects of what is commonly calted a stnmg governmeiit, or shall continue to bu, as heretoforf a strong people. All poliücul power pertoins, of nglit,'to the people ; wliatever isconfcircri ofl tfiégoveïnmunt is so much taken neem tlimn. What m;my mencaLla trpDggovrnment(meiining one of pstended, aiüimited pow neoossarily iraplies a weákeñed people. The two - " a strong government " and a strong people ■- camiot exist together. This questiou of whether we shali make the government stiong or keep the people strong is one tuut underliesour party divL8ÍOH8, bat is at fimespreéerrtedmore bold- ■ pldiniy jjvosentea .tl ïuvolution ot 177ü. The advocates of a strong govrrnment lost. It was again sliarpiy presented in the contest vlir-!i brought Mtr. JeftriMiu iodo tfafl J-'n-sideney, -when also the advocates of a strong govoriinient were put down. It is aguin as sharply presented to us to-day, and wliatever questions of lesaer öl more temporary importanec may have divided the ))eople on i oo COSIOns, it is their duty now to consider above all tliiugs, whether the absorption of all power into the central government, which is gomg on ata íoartuL rate, is consistent withthe penxllUMllt welfare of the peoplc, or even with the permanent cndurance and strength of Uie governmant itself. lt has been proved that this great Un iou of ours cantiot bo torn nsumtor. It is olear, too, that the rights of States are rights within the Union, best protected by the peaceful remedies provided by the Gonstitution. If, hoivovcr, we abandon the wholisomo principies wliieh controHed in the constiuction ot our Union, a decay more fatal'than violenco must supi i . This vast continent can no inore be well govenied,in all things, by one central govi:ninii ut at Washington than was the .whoki of of líurope well governed f'roni Rome, in the days of the Koman empire. The resulta would be, now as then, loss of oharacter and vigor in the people, and. aoonei or later, tho breaking down of the government itself. lhe Constitution ot the United States made a wiso distributiün ot powerS between the Federal and the State governments. The Federal govemment must f'ail to i'uliill its propor dutics it' it uiidertakes to discharge, in addition to itg own, Üie functions ot' the State governments. Having too much to do, it will do nothin; well. e have a shilling instance bt'fore our cycs to-duy in the case of imperial Frauce. In that great empire centralization lias been complete. Mimicipalitie3 and provinoea were governed tiom the capital, not by their own peaple. Ueueral and local atl'airs alike were administi.red by one oenl ral uuihority. For twenty years post all tliis centralized power has been in the hands ot' one strong, abli; man. On the suxfaoe ihings appcared to be gcöna tn smoothlv and prosperously ; so much so tlKit some Americana, not firm in thcir faith in our owri systëmof government. ba ve been weak enongfe to contrast our political condition uniavornlily witn that of Francs undor Napoleon. Xho real ■worth of tliis centralizad administration has ncuntly been put In t lit; test. 'When the day came for the FriHieli góvernment to exort its utmost strengtli it w.is lound to be weak and rotten, utterly incapublc of proteoting the poople from the m while thi' people, uhusod to solf-roliauuo, wefireeqüalJy incapableof dófendingth ;uiSülvüS. Contrast tile holplessness of Franco, in thia great crisis, with what we oapablcot'utthc outbreak nf our recuiit civil war. We had ahvays livcd ander whai was callcd a wuak central govciniiH'Ht, liiuited in its lowcrs, with iW duti 1 upon it. Beforq the war the niass of our péople never saw an official of the central govèrnmèn't éxrfeptin tho , of the vülftgé postmaster. '!'■ strong govenmaento of Eurojpe wieered at our central authority as Being uUr.rly helplesa for any great crisis. Our i-ivil warproved that ours was the govenoauent in the wortö. H was stronger becnust; it bad not, by abeorbiQg uil power into i koned the people. It bad not, by uudertaking to do everything for them, rendered the peöple inoapable of doing aaytbing for themselves. Ob il:c coniiavy, peoplfl hvisig.beei l H to govern themwlv in their severa) neigbborhoods, to take care of their local affairs for thrnisi!vcs. were perfeetly sclfv,-!i;uit whcn the tfenerftl trov. n.iTii'iit was Eoi ;i time, iitthc: iiist outbreakof the war, E Erom all communication with tlic country. Preparafions to meet the crisis wi ut on jnBt as promptly without the ordérs of the government. A conjmittee of uiti.. ns iu your ciiy raised somo millioua of money tor immediate wcpenditure _ in :. One distinguished oitaizrii oi' our State, the late -; worth, opened widö hia private purse and ;:t. on hi8 ■ of Pr0" visions, whioh bc shiw"'1'" WosWög0"i to moot what he knew would bo a pressing w-ant óf the govcrntucnt. . Whetl tho central authorities were againin freécommunication with the country they found thatjust what they would have ordered to be dono bad buen dono by the people without orders. To tho discomfiture of thoso who had snnered at its helplessness, our govérninent was found to be vcry ; Is sirength was real, not apparent ; its stveiigth had bi ei) VfèU preservad, For I bad been left to the guardiunsbip of tho people. All through the torrific contést the efïective wort of procuring reoruitsför tho tni] arm4? iVas döne by tho people thctnsolvcs, in their toWn tneéttjgs ar.d tliiough their local authorities. It i.s Tiiy belief that if af the otftbreak of our greut civil war we had boon living for any time uihI.t a st rongly centralized govornnu'ut, aud had Ëhat, with u great ihow pfstrength, as our only reliance, we shóuld' 1 to preservo tho Union. Thosc ainopg us r.-ho aro ad vöbiitin gV.hat thoy cali a slíoftgér central governine'nt uit urgLng ;i pobcy which leads inovitably tu woaknesa. A disrogard of tho hcaltluul rules proscribudby thejounders of tho repuhlic must óñü In'déoay. What Vre di ed t insuro to our glorious Ufiïon.' luiig lifii &iid in.'spcrity is that we should fcoóp the peóplfe strong bylimiting the action of the governni(;nt to its simple eos luti.s. Th? govemmenl, top, í-ííl flu'ii bc Btrong iri Us sinrplicity and in itá secure roliance ujon afroo people. Undyv a system wliich seeks by one'cen1 : 1 1 ftgency tg leok affcr (verything in evëry part of ottr eXteiiclad cotöiixy noth-' iiif; will ever bo well looked after. Tho pubjie service mu.st neccssaiily become more and more corrupt ; for watchfulness over the countlesa host of subordínate officers becomes animpcüsildë task. One of tfie most effecüve Htteasiireü to-rliy toward' a mueh noeded tüvil sorvicc reionn Ould be to siinplil'y our tax l:uvs, both thosé which regúlate tho tariif and thoSC relating to the.internal revenue, and thereby reduce tho officors engaged in their enforecment to a nUnlbor that eau well be wached. It Ís right that tjic . nf céleDrá"tinglhé FourtÉ of Jüly should be kept' :i[, bv the Tammany Society, founded; air it was; for the purpose of resisting efforts made, soon after lts fonnntion, to divert' our goveminent fronl its truc principies and practicPi You will ct.'lobrate the day, I tem sure, not íis mere parten, but on Aiiiei'i::iii, cláiíAing syinpiith y vith and IVi)i:i all wlio li:ive t'nith in the Uonstitu" tion and [H-iile in the past history of oUi land, and all bo are rmdjf to guard the' American svitem of nvennnent aS Well t'ram ileeuy as from assault. It is essential, eipeomlly at this time, that our pcould be reuiinded at what oost our lui ;nvemraent was established, what vigilance on the part of irreat leaders it quired to preservo it from time to line, and that they should be reminded, also, that we have here, in fact, the guard ianship of the cause of popular freedom for the whole human race. No event co.uld oo.cur thot would be more disgraceful in tho history of man than that we, with our eminent advantagea and with this groat trust in our hands, should suffer tree government to be lost on this contind should imítate here the bad examples found in the Old World, making one man and his will supreme over the people and their righ's. Yv e should not omit, on this occasion, to reeall to our memory the illustrious adniiuibtrations of Jettbrson and Jackson, .who, when called at different poriods in our Uistory to the Presidoney, although 1h. lii-t Ives elothed with the extensivo powers legitimately belonging to that ofliee, and liaviiifi, each of them, an extraordinary degree of personal influnnee resuiting from the oonfldenoe :md attachment of tho people, abstained from taking advant ilm' tiuicol' to ei i largo their own pasreti, but, on the contrary, devoted ih. nis. lvis to restoring the proper limits upan both the executivc and legislativo Wdieh ' ■ in uinny respocts, overlooked aud disregarded by their predecessors. We shall bost do hynor to the memorv of these two great statesruen by ourseivos renéwing the work in which they wero so earnest, restraining unwise and improvidontlegislation, restoring thesimIjlicity and consequent purity in the adniinistration of Federal atlairs, coiubating tin ■ disposition of Congress to meddle with a il ai is outside of their j urisdiction, lesseniug the burdens of taxation, and putting the governnient once more on the safo track pointed out by tho chart left us by the wise founders ot the Kepubho. Tlm acceptance or non-acccptance of certata amendinents which have recently been mude a part of the Constitution of the United States is not a practical question. The civil status of the colored man is oUblished, and he is in actual possession of the right of sgffrage. The task bcfore us is to save the Constitution as a whole. To save it as it is requires our best efiorts. The question of the day ia whether wie are to livu onder a Constitution at all, which shall be construed by an impartial court, so as to limit and resiain, asit was intended todo, legislativo and executive power alike, or under a hollow forin of a Constitution, interpretad, according to the expediency of the hour, by Congress itself, such interpretation being enforced by an unrestrained Executive. The danger is imminent that we muy loso sight of the principies upon which this govcrnment is founded, and which constitute its vital forcé - principies which gave to the Eepublic great prospcrity before the war, and, in war, saved it trom dissolution. Vmv tmlv vours.