Evening star., 1929-12-20
HASTINGS SCORES
/ OUSTING OF Ware
Constitution Violated by
Senate, Member Says
in Radio Forum.
Ccontinued From Thirty-sixth page1

Continued From Thirty-sixth Page)
any appointment that he may make
to this great body?"
These questions. in fact, are quite
as logical as the one which was
actually voted upon when Mr.. Ware
was excluded, but they did not
shadow of good reasoning. The effect
Of this situation merely demonstrates
and emphasizes the mistake that was
made in excluding Mr.. Ware. 1t shows
that the Senate is treading upon dan
gerous ground when it takes upon it
self the responsibility for the charac-
ter, the mental capacity, or the good
reputation of the men that may be
sent to 1t by the sovereign States OF the
Union. The opinion prevails in certain
quarters that the Senate may enlarge
upon the qualifications of Senator as
stated in the Constitution: that while
the Senate has no authority to seat
person who does not have the qualifi-
cations, it can refuse to seat one who
does have them, although his election
was IN all particulars regular; that this
is the discretionary power OF the Sen
ate. I say there is no such discretion
ary power. and when the Senate uses
any such power it is using an arbitrary
power and is violating the plain pro-
vision of the Constitution.
Are the States of this Union to be
put in the position of submitting a
QUESTIONABLE to the Senate of the
United States before it goes to the
trouble and expense of electing one Of
its citizens as a representative in that
body? Are they to be told by the
Senate that the qualifications mentioned
in the Constitution are the Affirmative
or minimum qualifications, and that
the Senate reserves to itself, not only
the constitutional right to determine
the election of such members, but also
to pass upon his general fitness to rep
resent the State from which he comes?
No more dangerous doctrine than this
was ever suggested in democratic
form of government The people OF
England refused to abide by any such
doctrine as long ago as 1869.
George Greenville. in the House OF
Commons in the famous Wilkes case,
stated:
LET not your prejudices, let not
your just resentments against the con-
duct and character of the man, who
Is now the object of our deliberation,
prevail upon you to ground any part
of your proceedings upon such destruc-
tive and fatal principles. Consider
that precedents of this nature are gen.
orally begun In the nrSC instance
against the odious and the guilty, but
when once established, are easily ap-
piled to and made use of against the
Yferitorious and the innocent"
Object Of Senate.
In the Ware case the Senate was so
anxious to fix the salutary precedent
of refusing to seat q man who had
been a candidate for nomination on
q ticket to elect which q large sum of
money had been expended that it was
willing to fix . precedent that gives it
the authority to decide by majority
vote what manner of man State may
expect the Senate, to accept.
The Ware case has passed into his
tory, but the people of the country
may well take warning. AS soon as
the vote was taken, Mr.. Ware, suffer-
ing from a long illness, hobbled from
his seat, a seat 10 which he had every
reason to believe he had been legally
elected. It was O sorry spectacle
ambition crushed, health and vigor
gone. But individuals are Of but little
Importance. The passing of those Of
temporary importance gives us but little
concern The injustice to an individual
Is nothing when it is compared with