Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-09-16

- American history Is at hnnu. II hnOX,
Johnson and Borah refuse to regard its
meaning. so much the worse for their sense
of values. If the mass of the American
people is fearful lest the league of nations
be destroyed in tho making. let the record of
the past he consulted. There are stimulus
and rCfrPshmcnt in the chronicle.
There is also a very human picture of
grOundIcss fears, futil" forecasts. cantankcr
Gus protests. selfish roralcitrancy, ingPnu
Gus doubts. unwarrantcd convictions, absurd
political Spats, high dCalism. practical com
mon sense. constructive foresight. varied
passions, varied moodS, public interest. pub
lie apathy--in short, the whole COnglomcra
tor of sentiments and motives which the
present American scene reveals.
Out of the chaos came order. That which
has happened can happen.
TTIIE constitutional convention which sat
L in tho building across the street from
the site of the future offices of this news
paper started operations with policy which
would make present day liberals gasp. The
sessions were secret
Details of what took place in the State
House from May p to September II. 1857.
have never been completely known. Gaps in
the story have. however. been filled in from
time to time. We now know that the scS
sions were continually on the point of break
ing up. Two of the New York delegates.
Lansing and Yates. did actually go home.
Only the certain conviction that the amor
phous articles Of confederation were wreck
ing the nation rendered any reconciliation
of opposing interests possible. The line up
Of the states shifted constantly.
ON one point all the little commemorative
would band stoutly together against the big.
On another geographical lines would be
tightly drawn. and the North and South
would be engaged in their historic contest.
The principles of federalism and state rights
struggled for supremacy. In the end
no side won the exclusive mastery. 1t was
compromise, adjustment. convenient approx
imation of policies which held the stage when
the final curtain was rung down.
TT HAS beer said that the heart of the con-
l. stitution was the Virginia plan proposed
by Edmund Randolph. In n sense it was
the basis, but the subsequent notifications
were so far reaching that no single state
can claim to have been the dominant factor
in the drama. Virginia represented federal
ism, New Jersey states rights principles.
Connecticut played for while the role of
compromiser. Pennsylvania sided at times
with the strong central government party.
On the slavery question it took part in q
new grouping.
The ultimate cOhcrrncy may be ascribed
to three great compromises. The champions
OF a vigorous central authority and its oppo-
npnts were rcconcipd when the powers
delegated to the President We're offset by
his limited term Of Office and by COM
plicated system of checks and balances by
Congress and the states.
THE second compromise settled the battle
l. between the large and small states
bv basing the membership of the House of
Representatives on population, while accord :
ing to each state an equal number of sen =
ators.
The virtue of these two adjustments has
remained unQuestioncd The slavery ques
| tion was naturally the most difficult of all
the subjects before the convention War
alone finally disposed of it. Yet the com =
promise reached did suffice for generations
1t was agreed that the slave trade should
| be abolished after 1905, that in apportioning
| the representation of the slave states a
negro should count as three ffths of a
| person and that neither Congress nor the
| President should be empowered to interfere
| with slavery in the states.
| When these three ma jor difficulties were
| out of the way constructive work upon the
constitution made steady progress Franklin
| viewed the result a whole sanely and
without illusions. lie had expected. he said
no better constitution. lie was not sure
| that it was not the best. He hoped that
each member who still had objections would
do likewise-doubt a little of his own in
fallibility and sign the document.
When the important bill of rights
amendments were adopted in 1791 they wer,
not of stripe to ruin the original pact
They strengthened it.
DERsoNAL predictions count for Who'll,
l. lot in reading object lessons from
history. Violent opponents of the leagu
of nations may insist that the internationu
pact is only calamitous set of articles O
| confederation. Burdens of proof are upol
them. The exasperatng feature is that tim
alone will reveal the full truth.
Meanwhile, for Americans of another com
pIexion, retrospect of Constitution Day i
food for rejoicing.
| -----------=
The cheerful Mexican bandits havin
received ransom money from Americans wi
| llV NOV tbn .