The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1917-08-07
VALIDITY Of DRAFT /:
ACT IS hSSA|lkO
CONTINUED from page one1

constitution would not permit send
ing the national militia abroad.
1.-THE constitution distinctly enumer'
ates the three, exclusive purposes for
which the militia may be called into
the service of the United States,
Wickersham wrote. These purposes
are: First, to execute the laws of the
union; second, to suppress insured
ton; and third, to repel invasion.
these three occasions, represent
ing necessities of strictly domestic
character, plainly indicate that the
services of the militia may be only
upon the soil of the United States or
it's territories"
Taylor also quotes several state
ments made by President Wilson in
public addresses, declaring that the
constitution does not permit the pres
ident to send the national militia out
of the United States. One of these
occurred in New York, in January,
1916, when President Wilson said:
"a believe it is the duty Of con.
qress to do very much more tor
the national guard than it has
ever done heretofore. believe
that that great army of our ma
tionai defense should be built up
and encouraged to the utmost;
but you know, gentlemen, that un-
der the constitution Of the United
States that national guard is un.
der the direction Of more than two
score states, that it is not per.
mitted to the national government
directly to have voice in its de.
velopment and organization, and
that only upon occasion OF imme-
date invasion has the president
of the United States the right to
ask those men to leave those re-
spective states"
Calls 1t Void. ,....
Taylor contends the draft army is
in reality merely the organized ma
tional militia. The law providing for
the draft is merely an extension and
amendment of the national defense
act of June 3, 1916, which is q law de-
timing the composition of the militia
and dividing them into three classes
national guards, naval militia and un
organized militia. The draft deals with
the unorganized militia.
Taylor says an effort was made by
inserting in the act of May IS, .1917,
certain cabalistic words which would
authorize the president by an execu.
tive order to convert the national mi
litia called forth as such by congress
into a part of the regular army of the
United States, and thus deprive them
of their constitutional exemption"
Taylor contends the congressional
order of July 10 attempting to con-
vert the militia into regulars is void.
He says:
"The short and conclusive answer
to all such pitiful and seditious non.
sense is two-fold: In the first place,
the cabalistic and scarcely gramma-
tical terms of the act, when properly
construed, do not clearly indicate that
the congress really intended to confer
upon the president power which the
constitution expressly forbids it to ex-
ercise itself; in the second place if
such is the purpose of that part of the
act, it is grossly unconstitutional, be-
cause. in the words of Attorney Cen
eral Wickersham, congress cannot by
it's own enactment enlarge the power
conferred upon it by the constitution,
and if this provision were construed
to authorize congress to use the or
ganized militia for any other than
the three purposes specified, it would
be unconstitutional