The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1916-02-23
Revising the Constitution.

Proposing amendments to the Constitution OF the
United States has become favorite pastime with
considerable number of people, and they all send
these amendments to Congress. Capt. Hobson, no
longer member of Congress, proposes another plan
for changing the organic law of the land. The Cap
tain made speech in New York the other day in
which he said: I'VE don't have to get majority of
Congress The sisterhood of States controls the
organic law of the country The legislatures of two
thirds of the States can call constitutional
ton and can proceed to revise the whole Constitution
of the United States, if they determine"
Capt Hobson is quite right. The legislatures of
twothrds of the States propose constitutional
convention and will be called not for amend
ment but for any that may be proposed With so
many people ready to revise the Constitution, the Cap
tains plan might be good one to settle this vexed
question There were more than one hundred resolu-
tons introduced in the last Congress to amend the
Constitution and there have been than $500
since the Constitution adopted. There have al
ready been about half hundred such resolutions in
troduced in the Sixtyfou Congress. The scope of
these proposed amendments is. considerable. They
are for woman suffrage for the repeal of the 18th
and 18th Amendments, for prohibition, for new pow
ers Of taxation, for the increase of the powers Of
Congress and the decrease of the powers Of the
Executive and the Judiciary and even for the more
equable distribution of wealth by taking from those
who have accumulated property and giving it to those
who have accumulated nothing.
If Captain Hobson's plan should be followed al
these amendments and probably would be dump
ed into the hopper to be ground out by the conven
! ton 1t could make over the whole fabric of the
organic law, make entirely new Constitution, ever
! eliminating that clause in the present Constitution
which forever gives equal representation of the States
big and little, in the United States Senate
| 1t might be fair way of trying out this mooted
question to how many people are dissatisfied with
the present Constitution, especially if the result oil
the national convention shall be submitted to the
State conventions elected by the people, to ratif,
| the Constitution.
| 1t has always been simple matter for the croak
ers to make noise enough for all the people but thu
| farmer who contracted to supply the summer hote
with fifty dozen frogs legs day, found there wer,
not as many frogs as there was noise So it may b,
regarding the demand for changing the Constitution
| New York had experience of that kind last wear
Yielding to the demand of a large number of peopI
| the legislature called constitutional convention
which, after several months work. submitted a re
vised constitution, only TO have the people reject
! by an overwhelming majority. So it would probable
1 be with revised Federal Constitution 1t is no
difficult to combine the dissatisfied on demands TO
change in the organic the statutory law but it i
another question to combine them on a vote for tn
revised law. Then the Prohibtonists the single IA,
| advocates, the distributors of wealth and all tn
other advocates OF change would have to combin