Norwich bulletin., 1920-03-24
AROUSED ENTHUSIASM Al
 THE REPUBLICAN, STATE CONVENTION

several states 8 proposed constitu i tional amendment prohibiting the states from discriminating between its citizens in relation to the elective i franchise on account of sex, which has already been ratified by the legis- latures of nearly a sufficient number
 of states to make it a part of the
 United States Constitution although
 both of the great political parties had
 in the platforms of their last national
 conventions, favored the principle of
 woman suffrage but declared it to
 be a matter railing more properly
 within the jurisdiction of the states
 than a subject for an amendment to
 the Constitution of the United States.
 I was unable to support this amend
 ment because 1 considered it wiser
 public policy for the several states to
 prescribe the qualifications of their cWn electors. An amendment to the Constitution of the United States has recently been adopted which pro i nibits the manufacture, transporta ton or sale of intoxicating liquors within ] the jurisdiction of the United States. I was unable to support this amend ment because was of. the opinion {: that it was an infringement upon the
 reserved rights. of the states, and a violation of the principle of home rule. i If this amendment to the Constitution ] is sustained by the Supreme Court, l am unable to perceive any limit be- yond which the invasion of the rights 1: Of the states may not proceed.
 ] The Constitution of the United States provides for it's own amend i ment by a tive cthirds vote of both Houses of Congress when approved 1 by Hfae legislatures of three quarters
 of the states. The people have no i voice whatever in this process. No ! state constitution can be amended ! without the proposed amendment be- i ing submitted for the approval of the i electors of the state. The Consti-
 tution of the United States, however, can be amended by the vote of the l two legislative bodies referred to !! above without any reference to the people whatever This condition. i which may have been tolerable so long as amendments to the federal !, constitution were confined to subjects germane thereto becomes unbearapie 1 and undemocratic if the amendment i process is to be invoked for the pur- pose of imbedding in the Federal Constitution matters relating to the food, drink and intimate concerns ot the people in their daily Vacations
 With a view of providing a remedy for l the correction of this abuse. I intro
 
 report upon Senate Joint Resolution
 No fl by the Committee on the Judi
 ciary of the Senate. This resolution
 proposes to amend Article of the
 Constitution so that in the future
 Congress may propose amendments tc
 be ratified by the electors in three
 quarters of the states instead of bJ 4 legislatures. as now provided.
 In my address to the republican
 conventions of 1914 and 1916, I re 4 viewed, in so far as it could be done
 in the brief time which could be de.
 T voted to the task, the character an6 T defects of the present democratic ad
 ministratibn. It is my sad duty tt announce that it has neither improv. } led it's character nor remedied it: short conlings. It has, on the othel hand, gone from bad to worse. N :. [ president of the United States ha. : ever been so shielded from criticism . | by events as has the president of tn [ United States. Within a few month : after the ruinous tariff law which hi party enacted had gone into opera ) ton, the country was saved iron f complete disaster. which inevitabl. l impended, by the outbreak of tn great war During the entire period 0 T ttle Sxlr ineffcieneE incompetencyj . and extravagance of the grossest kind were overlooked by an indulgent an 2 ' patriotic people on the theory tha such criticism might afford aid 0 l comfort to the enemy. The President : as Commander in Chief of the arm g and navy of nation engaged in wa . for the salvation of civilization, as g stunned and exercised what was near f ly equivalent to 6 dictatorship. Il ] the minds and hearts of a patriot ] and united people, his person and hi Q words and deeds were Well-nigh sac l rosanct. Congress- in it's recognitio : of state of war had pldeged tn : entire resources of the country t r bring the war to a successful con : clusion. Whatever was demanded b : the executive or the heads of his de e partments was granted in it's entiret y almost without question. Men an a money and credit were furnishe : without stint A veritable orgy of ex f penditure ensued, based upon and ex e cused by the fact that we had enter : ed the war almost entirely. unprepar f ed. The condition of unpreparednes s was largely tho fault Of the presiden d For three years the alliss had con r ducting the war while the presider n was stating that we were too prou 7 to fight, that the causes Of the wa = were of no concern to us, that h # was unable to discern any differenC y between the purposes of the two sci = of belligerents that it was our dut n to be neutral even in thought. ths y there must be peace without victor l. and that America must lead her ow q life and keep clear of European CT