New-York tribune., 1908-03-01
CONSTITUTION SAFE,
SAYS SECRETARY TAFT
POWER NOT TOO
MUCH EXPANDED.
National Regulation IN Some Direc-
tions Could Properly Increase
and Should.


gave arguments in proof Of his statements. that
the expansion of federal power had not gone be-
yond the limits set by the Constitution He
showed. indeed. by references to laws recently
enacted that Congress had remained far
within it's constitutional rights 10 broaden fed
eraI supervision over the relations between indi-
vidual states and between states and the federal
authority often to inperil the best interests
of the country
In touching the expansion Of federal power
by judicial decision Secretary Taft showed that
it had remained well within the limits set by
Chief Justice Marshall He spoke of some OF
the criticism which followed decisions by that
famous jurist being akin to the cry OF
ursupation which had recently arisen
AS an instance of expanded federal super
vision Mr. Taft spoke of the interstate COM
merce supervision so largely increased by recent
enactment. He contended. however. that this
expansion. which not in essence but in
scope was not only justified by present day
conditions, but within constitutional limits
OF all the commerce of the country when the
Constitution was drawn 40 per cent was within
the states individually. while % per cent was
Interstate. Now. however. he said. these figures
exactly reversed
Albert G. Macdonald the tOastmaster OF
the dinner which given in the Union
League Club. in Brooklyn. and when. in intro
ducng Mr. Taft. who the guest of honor.
he mentioned the Secretary's name. there was
deafening and long continued applause
SECRETARY TAFTS SPEECH.
Secretary Tafts speech was:
Gentlemen of the Brooklyn Bar Association.
I much appreciate your courtesy in inviting me
TO be here \ member OF your profession, and
for some eleven years judge in the state and
federal courts / have been for nearly a decade
now in sense, separated from the profession.
loved the discharge OF judicial duties. and
rich of rEf2zea
associations which always exist between Judges
and members of the bar who mutually respect
each other and who properly play the important
parts respectively assigned to them in the
prompt efficient and impartial administration
of justice. 1t is pleasant. therefore. to breathe
in again the social atmosphere of the bar I
/ think it too much to say that the training
that have and the maintenance of courtesy
| and self-restraint toward each other under
trying and nerve straining circumstances, in the
actual practice of our profession, MT us 10 ENJOY
social relation that Is known 10 no other OF
the learned professions Our business Is that
of negotiation and controversy on behalf of
others. that when business Is DONE and the
interests of our clients have ceased TO trouble
/ and association continues, there IS only
a residuum of good will and good fellowship. 10
I which yield with all the Zest OF those who
/ fOrSake work for recreation
! With this view of the purpose of the present
meeting. il is perhaps inconsistent in me. In re-
/ sponse 10 your kind request that say some
thing, to invite your attention 20 the more or
/ less solemn subject of The Constitution OF the
United States" When. however you ask man
to address YOU who been long out of the
I active
tOns as have you are quite likely 10 find him
taking refuge in the Constitution for the subject
matter of what he may say; and this is eS-
pecialIy the case if he has drifted out Of law into
sO-called craftsmanship for | think it Is
fairly good definition of constitutional lawyer
| TO say that he is one who has abandoned the
practice of his profession for politics
TOUCHES ON CENTRALIzATION-
We hear much in these days Of the change
which has come form Of government by
the increase of the national and the decrease
go undo he
are wanting those who regard this change
with exultation. and demand that tne cnange
shall go on and shall not so long greater
efficiency can be obtained in the exercise of gov
ernmental powers by the national government
on the other hand, there are those who. wh1le
they insist that there has been a usurpaton by
the federal government of power which the
I trainers OF the Constitution intended always %
remain with the states, insist that this is de-
StructiVe of the nicely adjusted and cOncurTently
working functions of the nation and the state
which have heretofore made this government so
successful and exceptional in the history of
the world
! classes of critics. / think. the whole. that
the division of power between the United states
and the states has been admirably maintained.
and that this has been possible because IT has
been ultimately left in most instances to the
decision of a tribunal less subject TO political
Influences than any other branch of our govern
ment and with opportunities Tor maintaining a
consistent view from the foundation of our gov
ernment to the present day greater tnan that
enioyed by any other authority in either state
national government 1t is quite true that
creased by amendment to the Constitution not
affirmativey. but by placing further restrictions
on the exercise by the state Of its admitted
power over certain subject matter.
EARLY DAYS OF SUPREME COURT
one of the most bitterly contested questions
which arose Immediately after the beginning OF
our government was the extent of the judicial
mower of the United States and OF the Supreme
Court II asserted the right to declare state
laws and federal laws in conflict with the fed
eral Constitution to be invalid. and for doing
the court was called "a thief of Jurisdiction oy
Thomas jefferson The mess that we should
have been in had power not existed in one
Supreme Court is indescrlhab The sattsfac-
| tory results that have followed tne exercise or
the jurisdiction thus assumed by the court fully
/ vindiCate its judgment and the construction
which it put upon its powers and duties under
the Constitution. The master mind of Marshall
in his thirty-Odd years Chief Justice estab-
Iished so far as judicial construction could
establish it, the view that the Constitution
adopted TO form a nation Marshall laid down
his office in the days of Jackson. who. though
he differed as to the extent OF national powers
with Marshall. strongly against dsuniOn
Z as Marshall could have been. and his appointee
Tawney. in the controversies which arose over
the fugitive slave law maintained $ strongly as
did Marshall the judicial power OF the United
States in all questions involving the assertion Of
the national authority under federal statutes
Then came the war the result of which merely
upheld the construction of the Constitution in
sisted upon by Marshall, and maintained by
Tawney. that were nation and could not
be disrupted at the Will Of any of its constituent
parts.
AMENDMENTS ENLARGED POWER
The Thirteenth Fourteenth and Fifteenth
amendments. which were restrictions upon state
action. depended chiefly for their enforcement b.
individuals whose rights were thus infringed in
the courts of the United States and TO this ex-
the judicial power of the United States was
enlarged
the judicial powers OF the United States as TAR
as IL might 90 50 IL has always imposed since
the original act. certain requirements for turis-