Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-12-19
GIVE US A CONSTITUTION,
NOT A BODY OF BYLAWS
The Revision Commission Has an oppor'
tunlty TO Do Great Public Service
II Il VIII Embrace II

l. Harrisburg is busying itself with
such matters as seem important to the
twenty-five ladies and gentlemen partici-
| pating in it.
A committee has deliberated upon the
wisdom of inserting in the fundamental
law a provision that all bills must be
punctuated before they are passed, The
case has been argued with the calmness
which should prevail in polite society.
The arguments for and against the propo-
sition have been serio Isly weighed and
the conclusion has been reached to let
! we'll enough alone. James Gay Gordon
carried the day when he said that if
! punctuation were made constitutionally
obligatory it might be possible ito hang
man on a parenthesis.'
! When Clifford Pinchot, the greatest con-
! stitutional expert among foresters, sug-
! gested that something be done to make
it impossible for the General Assembly
to kill bill by sending it to what is in
elegantly called "pickling committee
he was grieved to discover that there
really was limit to the consideration
Of triviahties beyond which his fellow
revisers would not pass.
Other evidence that the limit exists is
supplied by the refusal of the ladies and
gentlemen to set themselves up as eX-
perts in English composition. The sug-
gestion that the literary style Of the
constitution be improved was rejected
unanimously. We DO not assume that
this was because the revisers do not
appreciate literary excellence. It must
have been due to their belief that such
popularity as the constitution is to have
with the reading public must rest upon
the substance of it's thought rather tnan
upon the beauty of the form Of words in
which that thought is dressed.
It is reassuring to discover that the
guests at the Governors l1afFee-klstsch
are not planning to add to the number
of petty provisions in the constitution.
This is true in spite Of their lack Of
authority to do ANYTHING that is final.
Even the Governor himself admits that
their function is to engage in amiable
conversation and to report to the Cen
eral Assembly summary Of what was
said about the table. The guests are
fulfilling the first part Of their func-
tions admirably.
Nothing that they can or will do will
have binding force on any one. The
General Assembly will receive the re-
port and place it on file. Whether it
does anything else will depend entirely
on the discretion of the men--voters or
bosses-who give orders to the legis-
lators.
But the members of the commission
could Go something, if they chose, that
would command the attention Of every
thinking man and woman, not only in
Pennsylvania. but in every other state.
The constitution at present is a body
of bylaws, binding the Legislature and
the courts, preventing freedom of action
and fastening upon the processes of gov
ernment the hobbies placed there by dis
trust in the honesty and efficiency of
the men elected to Office.
! At least two-thirds of Article III,
! dealing with the powers and duties Of
| the General Assembly, is made up Of
matter that has no proper place in
| constitution. The rules of procedure in
| handling bills are laid down. 1t is pro-
! vided that every bill must be referred to
! committee and must be printed; that
every bill must be read at least three
times on different days in each house
| before the final vote; that 40 bill may be
| amended by reference to its title only,
! but that such part Of the law as is
amended must be re-enacted and pub
lished at length, and that the presiding
officer of each house shall. In the presence
of the house, sign all bills and resolu-
tions passed.
These are admirable provisions, but
they properly belong in the statutes and
not in the constitution. There is nothing
like them in the federal constitution,
vet these processes are substantially the
same as those by which laws are passed
in Washington. The federal constitution
confers .ertain powers on Congress and
then trusts it to exercise those powers
honestly and in the public interest.
The men who framed that document
had faith in democracy. 1t distributed
the governmental functions among the
legislative, executive and judicial derart-
ments and it empowered the legislative
body to make such detailed regulations
for the exercise Of these functions as II
saw fit.
The constitution of this state contains
not only a body Of bylaws for the
General Assembly, but it also contains
brief code of procedure for the courts
even to the extent Of providing specific.
ally for the chief clerks. The petty
magistrates in this city are constitu.
tional officers and, although their func-
tions can be better performed in other
courts, it is impossible for the Legisla.
ture to abolish them without an amend.
ment to the constitution.
Now, if the commissioners would sci
about the task of drafting state con
stitution with the federal constitution as
a model, discarding the form of the pres
ent document and turning their back!
upon its multiplicity Of contradictory
- oonfuaipo Y1poUiSiops fba,y oo,,Id i,