Evening star., 1924-06-07
"THE CONS T1TUTIoN. .
BY D0N TYLER
Franklin High sche> L. Los Angeles
Caiif.

BY D0N TYLER
Franklin High sche> L. Los Angeles
| Calf.
As travelled across tn > continent e
Washington I realized as never oetor
that we are living today in a beau
tifuI land stretching from >the snow
of the north to the summer lands o
! the far south. sweeping fra nm tn'
I Atlantic to the western wate rs o
the Pacific, a land OF peace an'
freedom
But we are apt to forget what it \
tn at has given us this great heritage.
Wes have been free so ltng that free
doma is unnoted and hardly priced
Place and order have preserved the
oppo rtunity for useful and happy
lives, have preserved safe and con-
tented. homes, freedom of religion,
freedou N Of thought, fre 1, sdsm ,nd Of
womanA Aood, the right to rule tine con-
duct Of ones life so long MAT we
forget whence these blessings come
They como by a system of gov
ernment maintained by the re so lutte
system of government fails. is A'e-
stroyed. Something else will corn e
We cannot ,tell what it will be, b1
in the words of EIihu Root. this WI
Of government which has preserved
our peace, order and security, op-
portunity and prosperity, this will
no longer prptect US"
~ II \
Some of us do not realize that not
many years Sgo mems limbs were
beaten and broken and their faces
branded with hot irons because they
chose to think as individuals, that
men were shipped into slavery be-
cause they, contested the Godliness of
self styled superior. Against such
abuses these immortal words Of the
Declaration Of Independence were
written which declare that all men
have certain inalienabIe rights to
| trt ed among men. The Declaration
Joined issue with all the theories of
goNernm ent since the world began.
The theories of all the monarchies
and ancient republics were that the
state was the main thing, that the
king could do no wrong and that the
rights of the individual were derived
from the state: that the Declaration
men are created equal, the inalien-
able Fights are those of the indi-
vidual and that tine state is organized
to secure these ends.
but a. thousand nODiS 6ClarallOnS
of principles have been made and
/, passed into the mists of Oblivion with
no effect. For no mere declaration
Of principles can be effective unless
| upheld by certain practical. specific
| and definite rules to give lift to those
principles.
So under the loose and meaningless
Articles Of Confederation the govern
ment of thirteen states had failed
miserabiy. ,Nhere had been unlimited
trade, but Congress had not the power
to regulate it nor even the power to
supply funds through taxation nec-
essary for it's own preservation. The
value of the American dollar was
anarchy staIked through. the land and
everywhere people-clamored to return
to British rule.
y * \
These were the conditions when
that intrepid little group Of hfty-five
men walked into that Philadelphia
meeting house in the spring Of 1887
to- give us this, our Com Institution, our
government.
They did. indeed, answer the pray er
| Of George Washington in his opening
address when he said: Let us raise
a standard to which the wise and
honest c.n repair; the event is in the
Never before and think never
since has such q group Of snen met in
this world as that group that framed
our Constitution. These nHen had be-
working Of free sef-goverpmept dur