Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-09-01
AN AERoNAUTIc AMENDMENT.

All navigation has become a fixture. It is
bound to increase rather than diminish. And be.
eaausesSair craft must travel in a medium through
winch the marking of a channelis impossible, spe
cial regulations must be made with reference to il
in order TO provide for the safety and protect the
rights. alike filters and those on terra .frma. Ob-
viotsly, SO far as this country is concerned, all All
transit must be considered interstate. Necessarily
there must be some departure from the old theory
that title to a section of the eafth's surface carried
with It title to all the air above, to the outer limits
OF space, 1t space has any limits. The federal gov
eminent must be authorized to say under what CON
ditions men may fly, and what is the responsibility
OF the fier to the people over whom he passes. En-
inent lawyers who have studied the subject are OF
the opinion that the situation cannot be dealt with
adequately except by means OF an amendment 10
federal government powers whirh, when that dozen
nacnt was framed, no one supposed would rp-r be
required by any government.
1t IS possible that the situation n1sv be sI1a,in-
ned by an amendment, bu1 one proposed amend
menf which has come TO the artenrinn III The Her
aid IS SO detalled IN its prgwls1ons that instead o1 a
general constitutional pFyv1sion- II Is a sszrute n
ifseif, and, as such, Is matter iur crzren1 ~aegss3a-s
tIon rather than Tor CONSTITUTIONAL provision
We arg not SITE tina. II the legal authc1 Itses
were no SGT themselves TO the task they could not
fnd I'm tine present constitution the assignment of
sufficient POWERS To the federal government TO meet
the needs OF AVIATION. just as that document has met
the needs OF a good many other activities which
were not contemplated when the document was
framed.
When the constitution was written there was
not in all the world a railroad or a steamboat, a tele-
graph, or telephone wire or an electric light. The
interstate commerce over which congress was given
authority was carried on water in boats propelled
by wind or oars, and on land by means of horse
drawn vehicles. The trainers Of the constitution
had no conception of any other methods, vet under
the provisionsewhich they made we have found
means for the federal government to regulate each
one of the numerous activities as each has assumed
national scope.
The applicability OF. the constitution to condi-
tions which did not then exist has sometimes been
attributed to the possession by the fathers of some
miraculous power to see into the future, and to dis
Germ Developments in science, industry and COM
lnerce which were hidden from the eyes of the mul-
tltide. # there was anything miraculous about the
founders OF our government it was their recogni-
ton of their own limitations. With a self-restraint
seldom attained by their successors they did not at
tempt to put the world into a straight jacket. They
formulated certain principles sof right and Justice
and provided as best they could for the protection
OF the individual in whatever legitimate industry he
chose to engage. In matters Of transportation they
knew of nothing better than the OK cart and the
stage coach. But the principles which they laid
down, knowing only of those primitive vehicles,
were found to be equally applicable to the railroad
and the telegraph, Of which they knew nothing. 1t
may be. that in aeronautics we have an element
which the constitution will not fit. But il, that is
true it ought to be possible to confer the necessary
authority in a brief sentence, leaving the application
Of the principle to future congresses as need may
arise.