Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-07-06

power Of the Russian socialist feder-
ated soviet republic belongs to tht
In periods between the convocatior
of the congress. to the all-Russist
central executive committee" In the
American Constitution you will hno
lthat Constitution describes the gov
eminent Of the United States OF
America, and that government has not
| supreme power. 1t has only such sps'
| cific powers as. by the consent of thu
! people. are written or clearly impli'd
| in that Constitution All other power
are reserved to the people. Our Con
| stitutiou will eventually say what
ever the majority of the psople wisI
| it to say. but not until the rights (
all the people have been deiib"ra'eh
considered. Then the courts will h'
| bound by the result. and their deci"
sions must be in accordance with the
result Herein is the safeguard OF
equal rights. for the whole people
are the ultimate source of the law
which no minority. however powerful,
can determine.
Under which kind of government is
| industrial democracy the more likely
to develop? Under which kind IF gov
eminent is the individual the less
likely to be exploited
Government Controls Press.
v. Paragraph "A of the Russian CON
stitution declares that For the pur-
pose of securing freedom of express
sion to the toiling masses. the Rus
sian socialist federated soviet repuh-
lie abolishes all dependence Of the
press upon capital" But that same
government may tomorrow hand over
the control of the press to any one
| 1t chooses. for ii is expressly de-
scribed as government with ST.
preme power.
The American Constitution. how
shall make
| law abridging the freedom of speech
| or of the press" Until majority,
| three fourths. of all the people OF
America vote to remove that clause.
| Congress. and the President. and ali
| the legislatures of the states may
pass resolutions If they please, de-
! signed to abridge freedom of speech
and of the press, but not one OF them
, will be law. Any citizen. however
p; humble. may appeal to the. courts for
! to those bodies You have used 4
power prohibited by the Constitution
| Therefore your resolution is binding
upon no one. 1t is not law
But the Constitution must of ne
| cessity provide for it's own defense
and in time of war the government
which stands for it's supremacy must
! punish as treason aid and comfort
given to its enemies. The right o!
| free speech justifies neither seditious
|
Guarantee Not Impressive.
VI Paragraph fifteen of the Rus
sian constitution declares that For
the purpose of enabling the workers
| to hold free meetings, the Russian
| socialist federated soviet republic Of
| fers to the working class and to the
and takes care of their heating and
lighting" This. however. does not
guarantee freedom of assembly, anu
| if it did. the power that grants the
right retains the right to withdraw ii
| whenever it pleases: for "All the cen
| soviets." The American Constitution
| takes this matter quite out of the
| power of the government by declar-
| ing: Congress shall make no law
abridging-the right Of the people
peaceably to assemble" This does
not mean that the government of the
| United States, of its grace. allows
| the people to hold peaceable meet
ings. 1t means that this right be-
! longs to the people. and that the
away, much surer guarantee. as
| even the dullest mind can see.
But this is not a grant of amnesty
! to secret conclaves of revolutionists
breeding sedition or plotting an over
throw of the government. The guar
antee extends, and was only meant
to extend, to peaceable. law abiding
assemblies of loyal citizens. To
| claim the protection of the Constitu-
| ton for. assemblies plotting its de
struction is unjustiiable upon an
reasonable basis. The natural right
| of self-defense belong as much 10 tn,
| government as to the individual --
Ordained by the People. w
The duty of the government, in
this respect, is stated in the first
clause of the Constitution, which de
clares: We the people of the United
States, in order to-insure domestic
tranquility. provide or the common
defense. promote the general welfare.
and secure the blessings of liberty
to ourselves and our posterity. do
| ordain and establish this Constitu-
ton" Assemblies whose aim is hos
, tile to these purposes are not peace
able" assemblies, and there is no
violation of constitutional rights
when such meetings are dispersed -
Our Constitution is not a rigid but
flexible document, open to change
as progress calls for change, always
responsive to the carefully considered
Will of the people; and under its lib
eral and elastic provisions the peo-
pie can secure industrial democracy
without violence, without bioodshed.
and without sacrificing tho results of