over and above them. He is proud of a common heritage and
loyal to common traditions. But he regards government as a
means, an instrumentality, neither a grantor of favors and gifts,
nor a master or god to be blindly worshipped and served. He
recognizes no national goal except as it is the consensus of the
goals that the citizens severally serve. He recognizes no national
purpose except as it is the consensus of the purposes for which
the citizens severally strive.

The free man will ask neither what his country can do for
him nor what he can do for his country. He will ask rather
"What can I and my compatriots do through government" to
help us discharge our individual responsibilities, to achieve our
several goals and purposes, and above all, to protect our free-
dom? And he will accompany this question with another: How
can we keep the government we create from becoming a Frank-
enstein that will destroy the very freedom we establish it to pro-
tect? Freedom is a rare and delicate plant. Our minds tell us,
and history confirms, that the great threat to freedom is the
concentration of power. Government is necessary to preserve our
freedom, it is an instrument through which we can exercise
our freedom; yet by concentrating power in political hands, it is
also a threat to freedom. Even though the men who wield this
power initially be of good will and even though they be not
corrupted by the power they exercise, the power will both attract
and form men of a different stamp.

How can we benefit from the promise of government while
avoiding the threat to freedom? Two broad principles embodied
in our Constitution give an answer that has preserved our free-
dom so far, though they have been violated repeatedly in prac-
tice while proclaimed as precept.

First, the scope of government must be limited. Its major func-
tion must be to protect our freedom both from the enemies out-
side our gates and from our fellow-citizens: to preserve law and
order, to enforce private contracts, to foster competitive markets.
Beyond this major function, government may enable us at times
to accomplish jointly what we would find it more difficult or
expensive to accomplish severally. However, any such use of gov-
ernment is fraught with danger. We should not and cannot
avoid using government in this way. But there should be a clear

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