New Britain herald., 1925-12-02

additional obstacles in the way Of ratification Of future amendments and would make changes In the Constitution to meet changing cou- dttions very difficult, If not impos- siblc.
 The attitude toward constitu- 'ional amendments has taken pc culiar turn in lato years, Woodrow Wilson, in his Congressional Gov ornmcnl, said that mo impulse short of self-prcsorvation. no force less than the force of revolution, can nowadays be expected to move the cumbersome machinery Of Ar ticle F," Bryce. in his American Commonwealth" and pr. Goodnow. in his Social Reform" were Of substantially the same viewpoint.
 Their opinion was somewhat but treased by facts. From 1894, when the 12th amendment was adopted, until the abolition Of slavery In 1865, no amendment was made to the Constitution. although nearly 400 were offered in the House and Senate during this 60-ycar period. Yet 1t would be incorrect to say that during this time the Constitu- tion was not amended, as for prac- tlcal purposes it was much expand cd by the decisions of Justice Marshall of the Supreme court.
 The 18th, 14th and 18th amend- ments followed the Civil War and fregistered it's results; but following this nearly 40 years elapsed before another amendment was submitted 10 the states. The income tax amendment was submitted by Con- sress in 1909 and ratification was completed in February, 1913. Since that time three other amendments have been ratified; Direct election of Senators, 1913; Prohibition, 1919; and woman suffrage, 1920. One amendment, the prevention of child labor, was defeated in 1924, although theoretically still before the states.
 Yet the changes made by the last three amendments attached to the Constitution were no sudden inn pulse, but had been agitatod for years before finally resulting in be- l ing made part of the Constitution. The graduated income tax was first proposed in national party plat form by the Greenback party in 1880, and 1t was after the inValida- ton Of the income tax law of 1894 by th" Supreme court that pro- posala were made for constitu- tional amendment in the platforms of tn" Silver Republican and the Peoples parties in 1900.
 Tho direct election of Senators was first proposed in the platform Of the Peoples party in 1899. The prohibition and woman suffrage amendments were proposed in the first national platform of the Pro hibition party in 1872. These facts, by the way. will indicate 10 the reader how some Of our most dis cussed laws had their origin in the minds of those minorities affiliated with the minor parties, some Of which parties are no longer in eX- istcnce, For the major parties to borrow the thunder of the minor parties has been one of the peculi- aritics of American politics, and some observers say that the minor parties are of value in this respect. Oftnntimos they do not live long but very frequently they give birth 10 ideas that the major parties arc glad to adopt,
 ! Some important amendments - that is, they would have been inn portant if adopted -- have all but nigh boen forgotten.
 In considering the need for the Wadsworth Garrett amendment 1t is worth weighing the facts that since the adoption of the Constitu- ton more than 5000 amendments have been proposed in Congress; yet of this large number only 24-- l9 of which were accepted and , rejected - have commanded the required two-thlrds majorities in both houses About 20 additional amendments have been approved by one house but have failed in the other Tho comparatively small number of successful amendments to the Constitution is very striking when compared with the frequency of constitutional revision and changes in the states,
 Rut in spite of this Congress is expected 10 Vresile with the Wads- worth-Garrctt amendment 10 tin- ish during the coming Congress, and there is strong probability that 1t will pass. The lacking on of the prohibition amendment 10 the Constitution evidently has a great deal 10 do with tho sentiment for Oakirp # p,pro difficult to ,D,r.r, .