Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-04

sylvania you have made a beginning, but
only a beginning, in proper legislation and
administration on this subject; the law
must if necessary be strengthened and it
government can do but little in the matter
of child labor, though l earnestly hope that
that little will be permitted to be done by
Congress. The great bulk of the work,
however, must be left to the state legiS-
latures; and If our state legislatures would
act as drastically and yet wisely on this
subject of child labor as Pennsylvania has
acted within the present year as regards
the subjects l have enumerated above, the
gain would be literally incalculable; and
one of the most vital needs of modern
American life would at last be adequately
met
Wilson's Career.
So much for the state. Now for the ma
ton; and here I cannot do better than
base my theory of governmental action
upon the words and deeds of one of Penn
sylvania's greatest sons, Justice. James
Wilson. Wilson's career has been singu-
larly overlooked for many years. but l be-
lieve that more and more 1t is now being
adequately appreciated; and congratulate
your state upon the fact that Wilson'S
body is to be taken away from where 1t
now rests and brought back to lie, it
should, in Pennsylvania soil. He was a
signer Of the Declaration Of Independence.
He was one of the men who saw that the
revolution, in which he had served as a
soldier, would be utterly fruitless unless 1t
was followed by a close and permanent
union of the states; and in the constitu-
tional convention, and in securing the
adoption of the Constitution and expound-
ing what 1t meant, he rendered services
even greater than he rendered as a men,
Der of the Continental Congress, which de-
clared our Independence; for 1t was the
success Of the makers and preservers OF
the Union which justified our independ-
ence.
of Abraham Lincoln; and coupled with his
faith in the people he had what most of
the men who In his generation believed in
the people did not have; that is. the cour-
people amounted to nothing unless the rep
resentatives of the people assembled to-
gether in the national government were
given full and complete power to work on
before. Marshall the doctrine absolutely
essential not merely to the efficiency but to
the existence of this nation) that an in
herent power rested in the nation, outside
of the enumerated powers conferred upon
it by the Constitution, in all cases where
the object involved was beyond the power
of the several states and was a power or
dinarily exercised by sovereign nations.
In the Spirit Of Wilson.
In a remarkable letter in which he advo
Gated setting forth in early and clear fash
Ion the powers Of the national government
| he laid down the proposition that it SHOULD
be made clear that there were neither va
cancies nor interference between the limits
| of state and national jurisdiction, and thai
| both jurisdictions together composed only
one uniform and comprehensive system o.
government and laws; that is Whenever
the states can not act because the need t.
| be met is not one Of merely a single local
| ity, then the national government, repre-
senting all the people, should have com
| plete power to act. 1t was in the spirit o
| hot oh OFT nd Va oh npfn W.
! lieutenant, Hamilton, acted; and 1t was II
| the same spirit that Marshall construed tn,
| law.
1t is only by acting in this spirit that tn
national judges, legislators and executive
| can give satisfactory solution of/the grea
| question of the present day-the question
| Of providing on behalf Of the sovereign PEG
| pie the means which will enable the peopl
in effective form to assert their sovereign,
over the immense corporations of the day
Certain judicial decisions have done jus
! what Wilson feared; they have, as a matte
| Of fact. left vacancies, left blanks between
the limits Of possible state jurisdiction an
| the limits Of actual national jurisdiction
over the control OF the great business cor
porations. 1t is the narrow construction o
the powers of the national government
which In our democracy has proved tn
chief means of limiting the national powe
to cut out abuses. and which is now tn
chief bulwark of those great moneyed In
terests> which oppose and dread any at
tempt to place them under efficient gov
ernmental control.
Interpretation Of Constitution.
| Many legislative actions and many tudi