The herald., 1898-11-16

amendment should connection with the
whole instrument whether it is and what its general
effect will be- This necesstaes study of the constitution
of which accessible to but comparatively few voters
Amendments many amount to patchwork and
require Interpretation from the courts before their harmony with
other provisions of constitution is established Where
whole constitution presented the people have better OF
forming intelligent opinion in regard to what they are doing
On principle the American people have shown ndsostion
to make frequent changes the fundamental law and especially
aversion to tnkerng with it. In the extreme Louisiana
has had six constitutional conventions and consu
ons and in the other Massachusetts, still has the constitution
with which she entered the union The action of other states
been intermediate between the two
The conservative and cautious spirit has been displayed
in regard to amending the national constitution That nsr
ment went into operation in 7S9 In l79 ten amendments
ratified all which constitute bill of rights in which the
original instrument deficient In lo4 the eleventh amend
ment ratified which simply forbds suits in the federal
courts against state by citizen of another state foreign
subject In 1904 another amendment adopted changing the
method OF choosing the president and by the cleo
tors.
For siXtyone years thereafter few amendments
suggested and ratified In 1865 amendment
made which prohibited slavery In 1865 another adopted
which declared principles relating to civil rights and the rehab
aton of the which had seeded from the union and in
1870 the fifteenth and last amendment ratified which
vdes that suffrage shall not be denied account of color
previous condition of sevitue The three latter amendments
made necessary by the civil war.
These very materially change the
of the original instrument their effect being enlarge
uar rights and afford better guarantees for their protection
All history demonstrates that monarce have been more
stable and enduring than republics When the American republic
launched the Europe that would
be wrecked the shoals of popular ckenes upon the
rocks of discomfort faction and disorder That has endured
and grown strength during experiment of than
tury be traced to the fact that the constitution has
maned unchanged fundamental principles that the people
have discontinued tnkeng and ng with it, and have only
assented amendments palpably necessary.
This stability has had wonderful influence 1t has devel
opd confidence throughout the civilized world in constitutional
government and the ability of intelligent and ruous
pie to govern themselves successfully There important
fact complimentary to this country and is that there is
written constitution existing in the world which
junior point of years. Our government parent
to all governments regulated by written constitution.
1t is that Britain has for centuries had socaled
constitution but has been written When const
tuition adopted there strictly constitutional
archy other than the British but today nearly all monache
Europe constitutional and there republics whose
constitutions similar Aside from Canada, all
America is governed by written constitutions