The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-10-12

| NEW lofkA, NtCt. 1ls--Au tnc SitcfNt recently delivered at Madison Square Garden by Senator La Toilette, in which he bitterly attacks the supreme court of the United States, he exhibits a Yoe- | full misconception of the constitution or he is guilty of willful misrepresentation of the court write Louis Marshall in the i New York Times. In the platform of his new sparty, supposed drafted by him. it is proclaimed
 We favor submitting to the people for their considerate judgment Q con stitntional amendment providing that congress may by re-enacting . measurs make it effective over judicial veto" |. By way of qualification he says: Since the question immediately be- fore the country in this campaign Is not the merits of these supposed amend ments, but only whether the people shall have the right to pass upon their merits. shall not at this point in my address discuss them further" He adds:
 'sThe only question raised in this cam paign on this subject is whether the people shall have the right to have such constitutional ainendnsen as that pro- posed submitted to them for their ac- ton. If they do not desire such an amendment. thep of course they will vote against it when 1t is submitted, and that will end the matter.n
 | Apparently the senator Is seeking to caonvey the idea that by some malign- influence the people are prevented from voting upon constitutional amendment of the character described which is to free them from pretended judicial despotism.
 In order to compass his ends. the senator totally disregards the limita- 1 mistakable terms, describes the pro cedure whereby it may be amended. Way To Amend Is Provided With all his iconoclastic zeal and his desire to make congress supreme and to | enable it to lord it over the executive ! and the judicial departments of the government. which are made coordinate under our organic law, he overlooks the fact that the Constitution cannot be amended by popular vote or by . referendum.
 In Article V of that instrument teher is precise definition as to how the Constitution may be amended: The congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem tt necessary, shall propose amendments to this Con- Htitution. or. on the application of He legislature of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for pro- posing amendments. which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution. when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other node of ratlfica- tion may be proposed by the congress" :"
 In other words. laying aside, for the purposes of this discussion, the provI- sion with regard to action by conven- tions. an amendment must be initiated by the action of two thirds of both houses Of congress and ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the sew eral states.
 From the very beginning of our gov. ernmcnt it has been understood. and it has been so adjudged, that ratification by the legislatures of three-fourths of 1 the states involves the action of the, de- Lucrative representative bodies that I make the laws for the people of the re- spective states, and that the Constitu- tion makes no provision for action upon such proposals by the people directly. | (Hawke vs. Smith, 25S U. S., 221 1; the National Prohibition Cases, 253 D. s. 350).
 From time to time there have been conflicts of justification between federal and state governments. Of late years there has been 6 tendency on the part of congress 10 .encroach upon the pow CTS of the states and to enlarge the scope of its own, legisIs tion ao as to trespass upon the sovereignty of the states.
 Like Imperial Rome If this tendency were to prevail the states would undoubtedly disappear from the horizon and our government would be entirely centralized at Wash ington. The history of the Roman Elm pire would be repeated. IL was con- trolled 10 it's uttermoDt boundaries from the seat of govrenment at Rome. As a consequence absolujsm prevailed, an army of 0fficeholders was create, lib- erty was destroyed and the world wit uessed the decline and fall of the most powerful government that it had known.
 In almost every instance that has arisen in late years where the supreme court has declared congressional legis- ation unconstitutional, it has been either where congress has sought to ab- sorb some of the constitutional powers of the states or where it has acted in opposition to clear and unambiguous commands of the Constitution.
 In spite of this essential limitation upon its Jurisdiction, congress, in it's eagerness for more power, has from time to time attempted to aTrogate tO Itself the police powers which, with the exception stated, are still a part of ex- elusive state sovereignty.
 The supreme court. in declaring such laws unconstitutional, has protected the states against the encroaehments of a central power. In so doing, that great tribunal has fulfilled it's function of safeguarding. an integral part of our governmental system.
 . An AErogatiOn Of Power
 Senator La Toilette desires that in such cases the action of the supreme court may be nullified by a vote of the congress that has acted in opposi- tion to the mandate of the Constitution.
 Why should congress have the power to say that it has no encroached upon the sovereignty of the states? What of the states which are sought to be stripped of their pOwersf What voice are they to have in defending their sovereignty against legislative aggres- sion! In other words, the senator's theory apparently is that if A is sued for trespsss upon B's property and the ut A I.