Evening star., 1924-08-10
Constitutional Amendments.

"A unique view or the proposed
amendment to the Constitution to en-
able Congress to limit, regulate and
prohibit child labor is taken by a man
Of Minneapolis, who has gone to the
trouble Of putting forth his objections
in a leaflet which he distributes from
the GOODNESS OF Brya1ts Pond, Me. The
latitude is significant. Were 1t further
South the hot weather might be at
tributed as a cause of this pronounce
ment. For 1t Is in truth one OF the
strangest views that have ever been
seriously-and certainly this must be
serious, as 1t has been put in type
taken of the procedure Of amending
the fundamental law Of the country.
Briefly stated, this protestant urges
that the child labor amendment is
''unpatriotic, disloyal and revolution
ary." 1t is revolutionary, he says, be.
cause no such power as that proposed
has ever before been given to Con-
gress, because it proposes to introduce
into the Constitution governmental
powers foreign to it, which would de-
prive the people Of the respective
States of the right OF local self govern
ment and transfer it to foreign hands.
The present protestant against the
amendment denies that the Constitu-
ton can be amended except along GER
tain limited lines. He agrees that the
Constitution itself gives the right to
three-fourths of the States. at the pro-
posal of two-thirds Of Congress. to ef
feet changes, but those changes can
extend only to needs for the Consti-
tuition as expressed in its preamble"
No amendment that violates the prin-
ciple OF absolute sovereignty in the
people Of the States in local self
government is within the right Of Con-
gress to propose or the States them
selves to ratify.
The author Of this pamphlet de.
clares that mo additional power was
given to Congress in any of the amend
mentS." Yet the seventeenth amend
ment gave Congress the power to i'm
pose an income tax upon the people.
despite the provision Of the original
Constitution that "all duties, imposts
and excises' shall be uniform through.
out the United States. Which clause
was the essential basis. OF the Supreme
Courts decision against the income
tax law 80 years ago. 1t was to over.
come that decision that the seven
teenth amendment was adopted. Again
there is the eighteenth amendment,
granting to- Congress the right to
enact laws prohibitive Of the manufac.
ture and traffic in intoxicants, a sub
ject not mentioned in the original
Constitution.
1t Is, Of course, the idlest folly to
propose that the Constitution cannot
be amended in any way to any extent,
with one exception, by reason Of es.
sential limitations comprised specin-
cally or inferentially in the funda-
mental law itself. When the Consti.
tuition makers in Article v provided
means for making amendments they
placed only two limitations upon the
nature and scope Of future changes.
One was that no amendment which
might be made prior to the year 1908
should in any manner affect the first
and fourth clauses Of section 8. Ar
ticle I, which related to temporary
provisions as to migration and direct
taxes in advance of a census: The
other, and the only specific. positive
and permanent Limitation, was that
mo State without its consent shall be
deprived Of its equal suffrage in the
Senate"