The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-01-02

sion of national authority Tn the fields of necessary control" Agalnst consti- tutional authority in the, fields Of nec- al extension of such authority? No. To that there is no objection. 1t Is the admittedly unconstitutional extension that makes for apprehension; that is' structions" shall be found" When, If eyer. that sinister prophecy shall have come to pass. the.s will be no occasion to stand steadfastly Tor or inveigh against aconstitution that Will have become as dead as the laws or Modes and Persians.
 The Constitution as shuttiecock. It is pftiful to feel compelled to speak truth that Is bitter. We yield lent intentions. despite the ealculati ting Roosevelt. We hailed him. originally
 the Srny Sy sbs greed his party as represented in and con- trolled by the Senate. In common, we believe, with a vast majority of his fellow citizens we have regarded with pulsive indiscretions even to the most recent humiliating diplomatic episode [ and ridiculous attempt to enect py quasi-Impsrial decree change in es- tablished form of expression. Even his latest impatient demand for the prtvi- lege of regarding all officers Of the army and navy in time of peace as Tn a class with nis household servants and subject to .iishonorable discharge with out necessa trial or cause, but rom caprice or personal disfav2rs we LOOK lightly because of the belief which we will entertain, that even benumb- ed Congress will not endow the Presi- dent of a free people with a personal authority held by DO king. emperor or czar of any civilized nation. Until now 1t has seemed no more than patriotic dutu fn nUarInnk langPa and defiC1en- cies which might, after all, prove to have been Immaterial in connection with a zealols endeavor to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number.
 Yet stronger has been our sense of admiration and appreciation of the Secretary of State-an unquestionably great man, whose splendid service has never will have, full requital. Of all minds composing this restive admin istration, his at least was reckoned calm; apd yet, such apparently has been the effect of a glamour of almost royal honors rendered and accepted in foreign lands. supplemented by the impressions of regal splendor convey ed by the first of American Caesars to visit in suitable state his outlying provinces, that from the very lips of that sagacious man we receive the pro- nouncement. insulting to free peo- ple of empire. .
 It Is not a matter of rights of States, despite the fact that the Union was and is no more than a compact for mutual protection and helpfulness of sovereign bodies politic; all recognize the indubitable fact that changing conditions require elastic adjustment of governmental Jurisdiction. The question confronting the American people, following the defiance hurled by the President and Secretary of state is simply and solely whether the constitution is indeed the oulwark of
 our liberties depicted by the great Chief Justice or 3 mere FHuttlecock In inc game of politics to be tossed back and forth by new autocracy, itself surely doomed. in turn to be engulfed in the yawning abyss of anarchy. It Is inc fate not of an individual common wealth. but of the republic itself that trembles fin the balanca