The Washington herald., 1908-04-24
DEFENDS The STATES
RayneP Contends for COnSti-
tuition as Written.
VOICES THE DEMOCRATIC PAST
Demands that Further ERcrOaeh-
ment Upon Rights Reserved to
Commonwealth by Federal Char
ter he Respected-ROundIy scores
Secretary OF state Roots Doctrine.

sOlcinB the ancient principles OF the
Democratic party. Senator Rayner. of
Maryland, yesterday made a strong plea
in the Senate for the invlolabllity Of the
Constitution and the limitation which it
places upon Federal encroaehment on the
rights OF the States.
His remarks. Mr. Rayner said at the
outset. were not intended to be used as
campaign material, ard he hoped no such
use would be made Of them His motive
was simply to clear away. If he could,
the public misapprehension Of the attl-
tude Of those who uphold the doctrine Of
State rights.
I will, therefore. Mr. Rayner contin-
ued, now define what I mean by stats
rights Democracy. mean this. nothing
less and nothing more: I mean thar the
rights OF the states must be maintained
inviolate, as intended by the trainers Of
the Constitution; that there must be no
peryersion Of the delegated powers so as
to strike down the reservation to the
States, and that whatever rights the
States possess under the Constitution and
under the amendments must remain in
tact and uHimpaired until, il ever, the
Constitution should be changed by the
voice Of the people according 10 the
methods that it provides. and the struc-
ture OF our government should be divert
ed from its present conception and de-
sign.
Changes Come TnsidiousIy.
Unconsciously, he said, the country is
passing through a great clisis in const-
tutionaI history. As in all important gov
ernmental changes. the beginnings were
almost unnoticeable. But soIae day the
American people would awake to the
fact that the reserved rights Of the
States had been reduced to A minimum:
that the States have been "shorn OF their
sovereign functions and the whole
structure Of the Constitution has been
changed. Then, startled, they would
grope about for a way in which It all
could be undone. but 1t would be too late
The way to arrest a radical attack
upon our Institutions" he said, is not
to wait until the edi1ce is crumbling.
bat 10 guard its approaches and TO pro-
tect them at every point from the in
vader's touch. The Supreme Court of
the United States is not the forum with
In which TO make the contest for consti-
tuti0nal rights.
Taking it as a whole, not in frag-
ments, but as unit. I regard it in times
gone by, and even az the present hour.
as the bulwaTk Of the Constitution The
power to set aside an act Of Congress
by declaring its legislation unconstitu-
tional is one that was never intended
to be reposed in this tribunal by the
trainers of the instrument
Congress Should Decide.
"One thing 1 contend for is that if
there is to be any contest for constitu-
tional rights we should not enact legis-
lation here of doubtful validity to be re-
mitted TO the Supreme Court for its
determination. but here. upon the floor
of Congress, is the place to make the
contest, and while we are making it have
It fully understood, so that there can
be no mistake about what the contest
means"
The storm center Of the fight. Mr.
Rayner declared, is the interstate COM
merce clause Of the Constitution. Those
who object to the liberal Interpretation
of that clause now in vogue are told
that the Constitution grows and ex-
pands with the country, "and that when
the benighted authors OF that document
placed the commercial clause among its
principal provisions they failed 70 com,
prehend that commerce would eventually
comprise almost everything contained in
the vocabulary, and that the right 20
regulate 1t would mean the right to de.
stroy it. the right TO own the instru-
mentalities that convey it, to supervise
the labor that is engaged in its manu-
facture. 20 take jurisdiction over every
place where it is produced and handled
and the arbitrary right without restraint
or limit 20 control and circumscribe It
from the time that 1t makes its appear
ance as the raw material Of the earth
until JhG finished product is landed in
the place Of its ultimate destination"
Gives Instances I'm Point.
The Senator then proceeded TO give a
number of Illustrations intended to show
what the doctrine of State rights is and
how far the intention OF the Constitu-
ton had been perverted. to the injury
Continued on Page 2, Column B.
IT'S Not Only Safer, but More
Profitable TO keep your surplus money in