The Washington herald., 1907-10-04
Constitutional Interpretation.

In the course Of his speech at s.. Louis
President Roosevelt developed. at some
length the theory Of constitutional in
terpretation for which he has been as
severely criticised as if it were jim some
sense a personal invention Mr.. Roose-
welt shows that it differs in no essential
principle from the interpretative method
of applying the letter Of the Constitution
20 the manifold exigencies Of our national
life that was asserted in the early DAYS
Of the republic by John Marshall. whose
constructive genius saw in our govern
ment a living entity. not dead body of
statutes. The way in which Our national
Constitution is interpreted is, in fact. al-
most as much Of a fixture as the Ian
guage Of the Constitution Itself. so closely
interviewer is ii with what has been term
ed the extracOnstiruronaI portion Of our
Constitution 1t were idle. therefore 70
expect a return 70 a method Of c0nstitu-
tional Interpretation which has never ad-
vanced beyond the theoretical stage. for
strict construction has been nothing more
than a political raIIying cry at any time
in our history.
Mr.. Roosevelt clearly explains why this
is so. It is because the life Of the nation
in all its phases has been one Of change.
Of transformation amounting to revOlu-
ton, requiring the application of Old
principles 10 new conditions. Constiru-
tionaI power remains unchanged, as Sen
ator Knox said in his Yale address, but
the field Of its operations enlarges, or. as
Mr.. Roosevelt puts it, referring to the
control Of interstate commerce, the
change has been not in the Constitution.
but in the business of the people to which
il is 70 be applied The President is not
unaware Of the difficulties presented by
our dual form of government to the as
sumption by the Federal government of
the greater powers over corporations
which he thinks wise. but he believes that
the Constitution. Interpreted ia the liberal
spirit which has been the rule of the
Supreme Court from the beginning. per-
miJs the exercise of those powers If
not, then he is for the amendment Of the
Constitution. That has been his position
in this matter all along, and it is far
from justifying the allegations so freely
made that he purposes usurpation of pow
er or a Capitalization Of government un-
warranted by the Constitution.
As 10 Capitalization, Mr. Roosevelt
points out that it is essential to a policy
of supervision and control over central
lied commerce and industry. MY plea"
he says, 'is not 10 bring about a condi-
ton Of Capitalization. II is that the gov
ernment shall recognize a condition Of
Capitalization in a field where it already
exists. Capitalization has already taken
place in the world Of commerce and in
dustry." Can the policy Of government
regulation Of corporations be successfully
enforced when the corporations are ma
tionel in character and their regulators
the forty-six States Of the Union? Nj.
Roosevelt thinks not; his opponents ap-
pear, just now. inclined to believe that
the problem may be solved by the domes-
ucation of each corporation in every State
in which it operates. a plan which is not
without analogy in the organization of
such q concern as the Standard oil Com
pany. a number Of whose subsidiary com
panies carry on business in the States
which charter them. We haven't much
doubt, however, that, so far as the rail-