Evening journal., 1923-02-14
SEES MENACE
in ATTACK ON
CONSTITUTION
ocontlnned From First Page)

Ccontinued From First Page)
the demands Of greed for common
labor which. he declared will be
'gns!stant for admission 10 our coun-
try OF more and more people who
are not OF the race that made and
has defended and preserved our
Constitution" He continued that
these demands must he resisted, ad-
ding that TO "Americanize the peo-
pie we have. including ourselves, Is
itself a gigantic task"
Mr.. Richards address follows:
"The Constitution of the United
States did not spring into existence
spontaneously. It was the result OF
ideas and forces working throughout
a long period OF time. as must al
ways be true with respect to a great
and abiding institution.
"As Chief Justice Taft has said. II
was the first written Constitution
OF an independent nation, which,
after creating It's governmental or
ganizations and agencies by which
ii was TO be carried on. imposed on
those agencies effective limitations
OF their powers by creating machin-
cry for enforcing the limitations. II
recognizes the ultimate power as
residing in the people OF the United
states and in their name places re-
strictions upon themselves as to how
they may exercise their power
through their appointed or elected
agencies.
,,--,.. .. q ,,o,,. s.o,-arnrv, ental
conception among independent ma
tions. but It was not a new idea to
those who framed our Constitution.
They had been accustomed through
out their lives 10 live under colonial
governments which had exercised
their powers under royal charters.
Whenever these governments took
notion contrary 10 their charters,
the British government held such
action TO be void. These royal
charters were in writing.
1T was therefore. a perfectly nat
ural thing for the trainers OF our
Constitution TO conceive Of a form
of government the character OF
which should be prescribed in
written charter or Constitution and
which should impose on its crea-
tors, the people. certain formal re-
straints by which they. the people,
should be prevented from violating
the provisions of the charter OF
created by themselves.
Il desire to point out what have
Just described as the first novel fea-
ture of the Constitution, the novel |
ty consisting in ITS prescribed writ
ten form and its imposition of effec- |
lively enforcible limitations upon !
the power Of the people, who are at |
the same time recognized as the ulti-
mate source OF the power Of the gov
ernment.
"The next feature of the Consti-
tuition IS its federal character. The
Revolutionary War was fought and
won by the states that were created
out of the original colonies and these
states. after winning their indepen-
dence. continued for four years un-
der the Articles of Confederation
that preceded the Constitution with
generally unsatisfactory relations
among themselves until finally they
Joined in the effort to bring into
existence some more satisfactory un-
ifcation through which they could
express themselves by a single voice
10 the other nations of the world. I
They were not willing. however. to |
unity TO the extent of merging them /
selves into one government or los
Ing their several separate govern
mental entities. Therefore. they
a plan by which each state
retains its sovereignty and its right
10 local self government. but at the
same time a plan that creates out
Of the people Of all the states a ma
tion and a sovereignty able to func-
ton as a government entity and to
bind all its people as well as the
states ia its dealings and relation
ships with the other nations OF the
world. The source OF power OF the
federal government is the people I
Of all the states and does not re- /
side in the states themselves; and |
the source power in each state is ]
in the people Of the state
The third great feature OF the /
Constitution Is the purely represen-
tative character OF the government
NaNeAaAAeAANA ~ ~ " AAAAE AAAt AANAAAAeAAN
power Of the government resides in
the people. they are able TO exercise
that power only through representa-
tives.
The only particular feature Of the
Constitution to which l desire TO
direct your attention is the ma
chinery provided for it's amendemnt.
1t can be changed only by the con-
current action Of two-thirds of the
States. 1t is to be noted that it
cannot be changed by a direct vote
OF the people. Only the peoples
representatives can act 10 effectuate
this result. Il is clear that IL was
not the intention of those who made
our Constitution that IL should be
be changed as the result of popular
excitement, momentary whim or any
temporary popular concensus.
These four important character