Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-10-31

method of ratification by providing
that amendments, after being pro-
posed after one of the ays SET
forth in his resolution. shall be
voted upon, not by the state legis-
latures, but directly by the people OF
the several states. A majority or
the votes so cas- in a majority OF
the congressional districts, together
with a majority of all the votes cast
throughout the country, shall ratlt!'
LaFouette After the Courts
nat LaFollette of Wisconsin
is understood to favor the owen
| proposal, hut he has one of mis- oWn
in which he is even more deeply
interested. He is IN of the menu
bers of who are jealous
of the rights and prerogatives of
hat body and he is especially
aroused over what he regards as
an invasion of the powers OF the
legislative branch of the government
by the judiciary. He does not be-
lieve that the courts should be able
to nullify an act of congress by de-
claring it to be unconstitutional.
Accordingly he will urge an
amendment to the constitution
which will provide % that no
Judge of an inferior federal court
shall set aside a law of congress on
the ground that it is lnconstitution-
al, and CD that if the supreme court
of the United States shall assume
to declare any law of un-
constitutional, or by judicial inter-
probation shall assert a public policy
at variance with the statutory dec
laration of congress which alone I'M
der our system of government is
empowered to determine public pol
icies, the congress may by re-pass-
ing the law nullify the action of
the court.
The LaFollette amendment. which
IS said to have the backing OF the
American Federation of Labor and
generally regarded as even more
radical than the n fathered by
Senator Owen. AS the case now is.
the only checks upon the power of
congress are the presidential veto
and what amounts to a veto by the
courts. A veto by the President may
be over-ridden by a two-thirds vote
of congress-, but when the supreme
court has said that a law is uncon-
stitutional congress can do nothing
except undertake to bring about an
amendment to the constitution to
conform to the judicial decision.
enato Lar gillette would MAKE II
possible to override a decision OF
the court by a mere majority vote
not even as much of a vote as is
now required to pass a bill over the
Presidents disapproval.
That such a proposal will be cp-
posed bitterly goes without saying,
but il is not to be gainsaid that
there Is an appreciable sentiment in
the country favorable to some sort
Of a check upon the powers of the
courts.
The movement in this direction
dates back several years-back 70
the time when there was much
agitation over the referendum and
the recall and the late Theodore
Roosevelt came conspicuously to the
front as an advocate of the recall
of judicial decisions. Colonel Roose-
welt argued that there should be a
way of registering the will of the
people If the courts rendered de-
cisions which were contrary to the
wishes of a majority of the people.
Senator LaFollette is perhaps GO
ing only a step farther when he
/ holds that the will OF the people as
reflected in an act of congress shall
be supreme. even as against the
| opinion of the highest court of the
land that 1t is unconstitutional.