St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-02-03
CONSTITUTION rINKERERs.

The present congress is being flooded
with proposed amendments to the fed
eral constitution, fact in itself indica-
tive OF the popular dissatisfaction with
many of the provisions of that instru-
ment. 1t occurs to us, however, that
the constitution has already been suffi-
GENTLY patched, and the wisest thing
congress can now do is to call conven-
ton for thorough revision and general
remodeling of that instrument. The
existing constitution has lasted us one
hundred years, and has performed all
the service that its trainers could have
expected of it. The truth is, the coun-
try has grown away from the constitu-
ton so rapidly that it has become next
to impossible for any department of
the government to strictly observe
Its provisions, and at the same time
fulfill the pressing requirements of
the age in which we live. From time
TO time amendments have been made in
the vain nope of adapting the instru-
ment to the progressive spirit of the
times, until it is almost worn out with
tinkering. In fact, the country has
come to rely more upon the decisions of
the supreme court than upon the consti-
tuition itself for definition of the pow
ers of government; and thus in some
respects we are actually proceeding
without constitutional limitations other
than they are created by the supreme
court judges, who have to stretch their
powers in order to avert chaos. At the
time the constitution was framed il was
not In the range of mortal vision to
foresee the changes that have occurred
within our first century's history.
Steam and electricity have revolution
zed everything, and so far as the social
and industrial conditions of the country
to-day are concerned, the teachings of
the Koran would have Just as much an
pilcatlon to them as some of the pro-
visions of our federal constitution.
1t is apparent from the amendments
now before congress that the chapter on
the executive department needs re-
vision. There is growing desire on
the part of the people to limit the pres
idency to one term, with an equal in
clination to lengthen that term to six or
eight years. This change will have TO
be made before civil service reform is
ever made success. Then there is a
popular desire to change the manner of
electing the president-to abolish that
shadow of aristocracy known as the
electoral college and to elect the chief
magistrate by direct vote. The wis
dom of the presidential veto is also
questioned by those who are imbued
with the principles of pure democracy.
In their opinion there ought to be no
constitutional warrant for erecting the
one-man power in a republic. There
are others who admit the wisdom of the
veto power, yet insist that there should
be a division of the power, so that the
president could veto the Objectionable
features of bill and let the remainder.
or unobjectionable part, be enacted into
law. The exercise of this discretionary
executive power has a more particular
application TO the appropriation bills.
1t has become habit with congress to
tackon some questionable appropriation
to the general appropriation bill, and
thus cOerce the president into giving
his assent to it.
The chapter on the legislative depart
ment is about as much out of tune with
the times as that OH the executive. The
necessity for the senate, or upper branch
OF congress, is not so urgent as it was
before we got to spelling nation with a