New-York tribune., 1907-09-18
NEO-CALHOUNTSH.

There is a curious coudiness of thought IN ex-
Judge Alton B. Parker's address delivered yes
terday at the jamestown exposition, ana ha'
cioudiness is characteristic of nearly all the Ut
terances of neo-Calhounites. who. like MI Faf-
ker seek to combat what they call a reckless fed-
eralistic Interpretation of the Constitution Ihey
are for state rights opposed to federal rights.
and are greatly concerned lest the theoreucdi
balance between the two sets Of rights be
rudeIy disturbed by federal "usurpation. Iii
1904 Mr. Parker won the Democratic presiden-
tial nomination on a platform which suggested
that corporations chartered by the states
should be regulated By the states and he ana
other beIated followers of Calhoun appeared
to be anxious to have the Northern Securities
decision upset and the federal government
activities in regulating the railroads abrdeeo
or wholly abandoned.
Yet the new school of anti-federalists is not
willing to carry its doctrines to a logical coll-
Clusion When some of the states began lo
pass drastic railroad rate laws Mr.. Parker uie
Hon. George Harvey and the other Calhounites
hereabouts were not entirely dellghted at uie
assertion of state sovereignty therein mani
tested. They condoned, if they did not actually
anDlaud the appeal made by the railroads 10
the protecting power granted TO the federai
courts under the Fourteenth Amendment 10
the Constitution. Governors Conner ana 'lehi
were only attempting to apply CalhouiliSin
when they said that the state courts onsht 10
ha allowed 10 pass first on the validity Of state
rate laws and that those laws should IeIhdih
in force until they had been declared hlValiu
either bv the state courts or the Unhed States
Supreme Court. Mr.. Parker. as Calhounite'
WAS indeed, disposed 70 sympathize with the
Governors of Alabama and North Carolina. AS
no told the American Bar Association last
month '.attempts to despoil the states OF the
mowers and functions belonging 10 them have
s.crested Indignation" and the issue of an in
junction restraining the operation o1 the reg
"isIation Of a sovereign state seemed 10 some
doubtless. but the elimination of a series or
assaults bv the federal government upon the
state governments" Yet. as lawyer Mt
Parker had 10 admit that the Indignation OF
Alabama and North Carolina was misJudged-
for he said:
And vet we know that by the Fourteenth
Amendment the power has been conferred upon
the courts of the United States to set aside
state statutes. and state constitutions as well;
il they deprive any person of life. liberty ana
property without due process OF law
In the only clash of recent years between
state and federal claims the Calhounites have
splt into two camps and MIR. Parker and Mr..
Harvey dissenting from Governors Conner and
Glenn. have both upheld liberal construction
of the most federaistic clause in the whole fed
eral Constitution.
In his jamestown speech ex-Judge Parker re-
fers TO the law passed by the last Congress
regulating hours of labor and liabilities for in
jury on railroads engaged in interstate com
merce. He apparently considers this an in
fringement Of state rights, and fears that If
approved by the Supreme Court ii may vest
new powers in the federal government by grace
of judicial Interpretation. Yet how can any
hard and fast rule be laid down in such mat
ters: The Constitution has been subject from
the beginning to judicial construction and has
heen more than once adapted by such construc-
lion TO meet new problems. It is not a ltfeless
and inelastic instrument such as the strict con
str1lctionists have always liked to imagine It:
and what is there wrong in attempting to ap-
ply it 10 fit exigencies as they arise? The Con
stitrrion was made for man. not man for the
Constitution.
1t seems to us Illogical 10 criticise the demand
for change simply because 1t is a demand for
change. Each proposed change either by
amendment or by Interpretation. should stand
or fall on its own merits. It should he fought
as undesirable. If undesira bic. and welcomed If
il promises TO secure more fully the ends of
government TO obtain which the Constitution
was established. Do the Calhounites rs a body
want to have the Fourteenth Amendment re-
pealed. and will they join the state of Georgia
in seeking its annulment? Do they want to
prevent any effective regulation of interstate
commerce by federal authority? Do they want
to pxalt state power at every point and CORE
spondingly abridge federal power? They ought
to agree on programme and then try to carry
ii through by legislation or judicial interpreta
ton instead Of vaguely complaining about fed
eralistic activities as In themselves improper
and as lacking in reverence for the dignity and
authority of the Constitution
RFppO'S FIN