Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-31
By FIR E
]. HASKIN
The Haskin Letter :, :
TINKERING WITH THE CONSTITUTION

which congress can propose amend
man4s onlv when two-thirds of the
members Of both houses shall deem it
necessary. and ran call a constitutional
Convention only on the application OF
the legislatures of two-thlrds OF the1
several states. The constitution stlp-d
YIates that amendments So proposed
shall become effective only when rati-
fled by the legislatures OF three-fourths
Of The several states. or by conventions
IN three-fourths thereof, as the one
or the other mode of ratification may
be proposed by congress.
Senator Owen would change the
method of ratification by providing
that amendments, after being proposed
! after one of the way set forth IN his
resolution, shall be voted upon, not by
the state legislatures but directly by
| the people of the several states. A
majority Of the votes so cast In a
majority of the congressional districts,
to gether with a majority of all the
votes cast.throughout the country, shall
ratify.
Senator LaFollette of Wisconsin is
understood to favor the owen proposal,
Is even more deeply interested. He is
one of the members of congress who
are Jealous of the rights and preroga-
tives of that body and he is especially
aroused over what he regards as an
invasion of the powers of the legisla-
tive branch of the government by the
Judiciary. He does not believe that
the courts should be able to nullify an
act of congress by declaring 1T to be
unconstitutional.
Accordingly he will urge an amend
ment to the constitution which Will
provide "a that no judge of an inferior
federal court shall set aside a law of
congress on the ground that it is I'M
constitutional, and (2) that if the SUI
preme court Of the United States shall
assume to declare any law of congress
unconstitutional, or by judicial inter
probation shall assert a public policy
at variance with the statutory declara-
ton of congress, which alone under
our system of government is empow-
cred to determine public policies, the
congress may by re-passing the law
nufify the action of the court.
The LaFollette amendment, which is
said to have the backing of the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor, IS generally
regarded as even more radical than the
one fathered bv Senator Owen. AS the
case now is, the only checks upon the
powers of congress are the presidential
veto ard what amounts to a veto by
/ the courts. A veto by the president
may be over-ridden by a two-thlrds
vote of congress, but when the ST.
preme court has said that 4 law Is
Unconstitutional congress can do moth
ing except undertake to bring about
an amendment to the constitution 10
conform to the judicial decision.
Senator LaFollette would make it
possible to override q decision OF the
court by a mere moJorlty Fote-hot
ever as much of a vote as IS now re
CURED to pass a Dill over the pfesi-
dents disapproval.
That such a proposal Will be opposed
bitterly goes without saying, but 1t is
not to be gainsaid that there is an ap
.preciable sentiment in the country
favorable to some sort Of a cheek upon
the powers of the courts.
The movement in this direction
dates back several years-back to the
fine when there was much agitation
over the referendum and the recall and
the late Theodore Roosevelt came con
s~picuousIy to the front as an advocate
OF the recall of judicial decisions. Col
onel Roosevelt argued that there
should be a way of registering the viii
of the people if the courts rendered de-
~cisions which were contrary 10 the
wishes of a majority of the people.
senator LaFollette is perhaps gong
only n step farther when he old tina
ma will Of the people as reflected IL
an act of congress shall be supreme,
avon as against the opinion of the high
est court of the land that it is uncon-
stitutionaI.