The Washington herald., 1910-10-24
TINKERING THE CONSTITUTION
Needs of To-day Not Thoroughly
Covered I'm Century-OId Laws.

Covered I'm Century-oId Laws.
Milo Hastings in the New YORK American.
In Portugal just now they are having
an old-fashioned revolution embellished
with castle bombardments and disgusting
royal love affairs In the United States
we are having a more peaeeable and more
( deliberate but none the less important,
political regeneration.
The man who thinks the form OF gov
eminent selected in the year 1859 for
pioneer nation Of 100000 souls to be
perfectly adapted and wholly adequate
for the highly civilized and supercOm-
mercialized America of 1910 IS scarcely
less benighted politically than the royal
lists Of Portugal or Spain.
The latter are shackled by the fetish OF
hereditary kingship. the former by a
sentiment OF forefather worship which
end0Ws men OF the past with the super
/ human ability Of constructing a form OF
government adapted 20 social and eco
nomic conditions Of which they had no
! more conception than a Roman gladiator
had Of the aviation meet at Belmont
Park
There is a proper and a useful form Of
that patriotic sentiment which links the
constitution and the flag. and that is in a
reverence for the spirit Of liberty and
/ democracy which our constitutions, fed
/ eral, State, and municipal. were drafted
/ TO establish, and the true spirit Of which
( can be maintained only BY repeated re-
| adjustment Of the forms OF government
10 the changing needs Of a changing So
/ ciety.
Concrete images stick firmly in the
human mind. The wooden gOd-the an
! cient dOcument-the outgrown baby dress
throughout the length and breadth Of
( life dead forms cucumber while the spirit
/ eludes US
The men who manipulate the political
/ wires from mahogany furnished ofices
/ and sack the cash behind bronze doors
know this IS our weakness They and
I their hirelings hold aloft the idols OF
/ precedent and shout OF patriotism and
prate OF law and order. thus TO dispei our
I desire 10 re-eStabIish the rule OF the peo-
/ pie by reconsuucting the mechanism OF
| government.
/ The huge industrial corporations OF the
/ country are untiTing constitution tinkerS
/ when II comes 10 the readjusJment and
/ Improvement Of the methods and mech
I anism by which their corporate am
/ billions are attained. In fact. they en-
/ pl0y the most expert brains that universe
/ ties can train and money can hire for
/ the purpose Of keeping their corporate
machinery tinkered up 70 the highest pos
/ sibie efficiency.
But these same corporations paw other
/ brainy men. called politicians. editors.
and cartoonists. 10 oppose and decry the
I changing OF the mechanism OF the gov
I ernmental corporations which belong 10
the people, because they know that such
| readjustment 10 modern needs means eff
iciency. and that the private corporation
which exists for the profit OF the few
/ proSperS directly in proportion TO the In
] efficiency Of the public corporation. which
+ should serve the many.
Nine men out Of ten who have given
the matter any serious consideration viii
concede that the abolition Of the conven-
ton system and the establishment OF the
initiative, referendum recall. and other
related reforms are absolutely essential
for the present-day realization Of thu
Ideal o. democracy for which our original
constitutions we're established. Yet the
tNNNANNA''N Va AitN tlN pa y tbLlltttS toward
these reforms which propose nothing
more radical than a purer democracy,
has been that Of avoidance or suppress
sion, or. when forced 10 IT, haIf-hearted.
incomplete and evasive recognition.
A rational but real reorganization OF
the mechanism Of government. which op-
ponents OF progress call "tinkering the
| constitution" IS absolutely essential 10
prevent the continuation Of corporate en-
( slayemenL and our only hope Of perfect
ing and peTpetuating democracy
Washington. Hamilton, and Jefferson
| belonged to the constitution tinkering
class OF 1883. though they differed in the
detail OF their opinions.
William r. Hearst. la Toilette. and
men like them are to-day agreed as to the
need OF constitution tinkering. though
they may differ in their opinion as 10
the extent OF the needed changes.
King Manuel Joe Cannon. and Charlie
Murphy do not approve of tinkering con-
stirutions-they believe the practice to be
dangerous.