President Grover Cleveland, as he appeared whenever he vetoed legislation, which was often.
In 1887, Texas was hit by one hell of a drought which ruined crops across a large swath of the state. The members of the United States Congress, as is their wont, insisted that something had to be done to help the parched Texans and thus drew up a bill appropriating $10,000 to purchase grain and seed for the farmers of the area, which they promptly sent down to a White House then occupied by Grover Cleveland.
Cleveland, however, promptly vetoed the bill. Why, you ask, would he do such a thing, especially when the legislation called for such a small amount of money (approximately less than $300,000 in 2012 dollars) to help such an obviously needy group of citizens? Did Cleveland hate Texas? Was he just a hard-hearted scrooge who enjoyed the tales of suffering coming out of the Lone Star State? Was he secretly shorting the stock of a seed company?
Nope, none of the above. Instead, in Cleveland's own words...
I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and duty of the general government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that, though the people support the government, the government should not support the people. The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow-citizens in misfortune. This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated. Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood.
In other words: "There are folks in our country who need help, and I'd like to help them. Indeed, I encourage everyone to help them. So don't go distorting my words and misunderstanding me: it's not that I don't want to lend them a hand. But I have neither the desire nor, more importantly, the authority, to employ a man with a gun to force you to help them. Besides, I have more faith in you, my fellowman, than to believe that, absent my goons putting a boot up your ass, you would not help a person in need."
My, how things have changed. As the East Coast of the United States begins to mop up after being hammered by Hurricane Sandy, government officials at all levels are tripping over each other to see who can promise the most local, state, and federal aid, all while trying to out-emote each other on the cable news stations. The current occupant of the White House, Barack Obama, has retired to his command center to "monitor the situation" and has pledged help to all who need it, while New Jersey Governor Chris Christie - an arch boogeyman free-marketeer in the eyes of the political left - has called for as much federal emergency aid as he can get.
Color the ghost of Grover Cleveland perplexed.
Of course, some - actually, many - will argue that only a large, centralized bureaucracy like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can adequately respond to natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy. And it is true that, in many instances, the federal government helped to create the very problem that now has people screaming for the government's help - for instance, by subsidizing insurance for fools who want to build their homes in flood zones (see, also, here).
So perhaps these folks are right that only FEMA can save us now, but (surprise!) I'm skeptical.
So perhaps these folks are right that only FEMA can save us now, but (surprise!) I'm skeptical.
Trouble is, the mindset required in order to advocate large government programs like FEMA (originally established during the Carter years to handle nuclear crises), Social Security, and Medicare can be summed up as follows: "Most humans, except me and the politicians I support, are too stupid and short-sighted to properly plan for the future and too cruel to help their fellow citizens through a rough patch."
I, obviously, do not share this dark view of humanity. Perhaps my optimism stems from my days as a child in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, where every week an offering was collected and earmarked for some medical aid mission to Zimbabwe, or for a house-building mission trip to Mexico, or to help poor Filipino folks build a school on Mindanao. There was, of course, subtle social and religious pressure to drop a few dollars or coins into the collection basket, but the church was never able to force anyone, under threat of violence, to chip in. My fellow parisioners - like people the world over - simply wanted to help, to know that they were doing a good thing, and given the opportunity, they seized it.
Moreover, private organizations (churches, mutual aid societies, and yes, even businesses) tend to have a better idea of what particular groups of needy people actually need and are faster in responding to those needs. Consider this 2009 paper by the economist Steven Horwitz, which details Wal-Mart's quick response in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. By now, the failures of government at all levels in the days before, during, and after Katrina have been well-documented. Less discussed, however, is the fact that Wal-Mart was on the ground in affected areas almost immediately with truckloads of supplies and, in some cases, even free prescription drugs - all long before FEMA and other government agencies got around to making an appearance. Here's video of Horwitz discussing this subject:
As I said, people want to help and will do so if given an opportunity. Unfortunately, government programs have a way of crowding out voluntary charity (as if there were any other kind), thereby chipping away ever so much at the experience of helping others, which is part of what human society so intricate and meaningful.
