The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 POWER TO THE PEOPLE: THE MASK OF DESPOTISM 395the first 112 years precedingWorld War I surpluses were aproblem.I 8 What a lovely problem!This brings to mind the 1970 rowover federal-state revenue sharing.19 If the states are in need ofmore money and the Federal governmentis so overbu.rdened withcash that it can afford to givesome to the states, why not simplyreduce Federal taxes and allow thestates to raise their own funds?Under this scheme the moneywould be raised where it is spentand the public could keep a bettereye on how it was spent. Underrevenue-sharing the Federal governmentwill parcel out its favorssubject to the influence of politicalpressures far removed from thepeople who fill the till. This ishardly likely to contribute to carefultaxing and spending.The socialist proposal of Jeffersonthat Congress consider Federalsupport of education have ledmany to consider him as the fatherof publicly-supported education.Not until about sixty-five yearslater did Federal support of educationbecome a reality. In 1862 thefirst Morrill Act, known as theLand Grant Act, was passed providingfor the establishment andmaintenance of state colleges.Republican president, RutherfordB. Hayes (1877-1881), later proposedthat Federal grants be madefor public education."Whatever government canfairly do," wrote Hayes, "to promotefree popular education oughtto be done. Wherever general educationis found, peace, virtue, andsocial order prevail and civil andreligious liberty are secure."20Hayes was not a very reliableprophet, as the recent riots, turmoiland general breakdown of thelegal and social traditions of thecountry have proved. Events inthe 1930's in Germany, wherepublic education had long been atradition, also seem to show thateducation isn't the answer to allmen's problems.Republican presidents Arthur(1881-1885) and Harrison (1889­1893) continued pressing for Federalsupport. In 1890 the secondMorrill Act was passed granting$25,000 annually to each of theland grant colleges. In 1971 Congressappropriated 18 billion dollarsin aid to education. Socialistenterprises have a way of growingon you.In spite of all, socialist intrusionsby the end of the nineteenthcentury represented a minusculeportion of American endeavor. Thetwentieth century has been quitedifferent.The Federal government enteredthe field of social security underPresident Franklin Roosevelt. Socialsecurity was not an inventionof Roosevelt nor of his braintrust-