Milford chronicle., 1926-09-24
CONSTITUTION NOW
.SHACKLES LIBERTY,
DELAWAREAN SAYS
continued from first pageJ

nit ourselves to drift back to the
former condition of mankind?
1--WE must not go backward. we
must go forward guided by the eX-
nerience of the past. The human
mind is not infallible. It's. judgment
never becomes final. It's findings are
always subject to change. Neither
our constitution nor our laws are
binding upon the future as the last
word in government. The coming
combinations of our civilization Will
create new governmental needs
Time and circumstance will not be
stayed.
Grafton to follow go forward to meet
the demands of time, let us urge and
nrav that governmental action be
taken in the light of the spirit OF
our Constitution to the end that IN
dividual liberty and individual re-
snonsibility may not perish from the
earth.
RaDs Shacl1les of Freedom
The speaker, although he did not
at anv time name the Prohibition
amendment, made it clear that ne
had this particular enactment IN
mind. .-...
After he had pictured the four
months deliberation in secret Oh the
first constitutional Convention, he
dramatically contrasted their phllo-
SONNY with the efforts of those who
are changing the Constitution.
"There are those" he said, who
from their acts at least, indicate
that our system of government is all
wrong. They would narrow the lree-
dom of the individual and broaden
the domain of law. They would not
wait for local sentiment to grow by
force of it's own conviction, OUT
would standardize the whole Amer
lean people by the measure OF a
vardstick created by a central pow
er. ,,o
"Such people call themselves pro
gressives, not realizing that thelr
theories are as old as the Pharoahs'
They would carry us back TO the
methods tried and found wanting
throughout all the history OF man
kind. The real progressives IN gov
ernment are those who follow our
fathers in giving to the indivldua!
the greatest possible liberty ana
freedom commensurate with the
equal liberty and freedom on the part
of others. This is the spirit Oh the
Constitution. 1t was established by
tbe formation of our government
and has stood the test of l39 years,
vet our impatient and intolerant and
progressive reformers would cast all
this aside and set his desire agalnst
all experience. They have no talth
in the individual among their fel-
low-men. They doubt not that their
man-made law should properly SUI
persede God1made law. They are
mite convinced that mems character
can be made from without better
than from within. When direct Con-
stitutional power to carry their
views into effect is exhausted they
would use indirectly the taxing pow
er, the postal power and the inter-
state Commerce power.
"When these are exhausted tney
would bribe the States by oHerlng
them the peoples own money to as
sist in the health, education and
TRANSPORTATION in the States, proVld-
ed the States and the people IN the
States would abdicate their sover-
eign Judgment to the judgment Oh
the central government.
Sees Peril in Bureaucracy
The American people have sat by
not only to permit but to encourage
this centralizing. They have shown
a willingness that government may
socialize the affairs of men and as
sumo those personal responsibilities
that no right-thinking man would
surrender to any one. They have
seen the power and responsibilities
of State encroached upon. They have
seen local self-government diminish
and their personal affairs invaded.
They have seen a Federal govern
ment change from a simple govern
ment meeting our constitutional
needs into a fountain of law with an
army of agents and employees to
carry the laws into effect. They have
seen the development of bureaucra-
cy with power to make individuals
cringe before their regulations. They
have seen Washington assume the
responsibilities of the parent, Of the
teacher and of the preacher. They
have seen the spirit of the Const1-
tuition reversed. They have seen gov
ernment assume the rights and re-
sponsibilities of individuals and have
not resisted. They have seen the
American people appear to be will
ing that their duties and RESPONSE
bilities be assumed by government.
Have we grown soft? Are we de-
veloping an American wish-bone in
stead of an American backbone? Are
we afraid of ourselves and ask for
guardian? Then indeed is the spirit
of the Constitution gone. American
ism is gone, and we are on the way
of all nations where wealth accumu-.
lates and men decay. May God for
bid.
at is for us here today to dedi-
cate ourselves to the spirit Of the
Constitution. Let us here resolve IN
favor of the individual man. Let us
cry out for American manhood. To
those who would start reform by
law, let us reply that right reform
does not begin with legislation, it
ends with legislation. TO those who
would make American character by
a governmental fiat, let US reply that
character is made in the hearts and
minds of men.
LET us set ourselves to the task
of showing to the American man
and to the American woman that
theirs is a heritage of individual lib
ertv and individual freedom carry