The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1935-09-05

in invalidating the NRA and othe,
important legislation enacted by thu
New Deal Congress, together will
developments, have tended to centel
attention on such fundamental issue.
as constitutional versus personal gov
eminent, state and local rights versa.
bureaucracy and democracy agains
autocracy. Just how far the discus
sions will go along abstract and fun
damental lines remains to be seen
One New Deal orator in the Middle
West during the 1884 campaign, il
answering charges that the Ameri
can fundamental law was being vic.
lated, replied that "you can't eat the
constitution" This wisecrack elicitec
so much unfavorable reaction that il
was not repeated. All of which in.
dicates that the American people are
still interested in their Constitution
in spite of the fact that there may
be more up-to-date economic issues.
An indication of the line which the
opposition to the New Dealers may
take in upholding a government OF
law, rather than government by
men may be found in a recent adj
dress made in Illinois to party work
ers by the fiery and outspoken Sena-
tor Dickinson, of Iowa, who has been
one of the most consistent critics of
the New Deal from the drop of the
hat. Senator Dickinson carries the
argument back to the days before the
adoption of the Constitution ard de-
clares that it was a personal govern
ment and the evils attendant upon
it which primarily led to the revolt
which brought about American indie
pendence. He adds:
at is worth remembering that the
complaints of the colonies were di-
rected not against parliament but at
the excuses committed by the kings
agents. Some of the grievances cited
in the Declaration of independence
have quite modern ring, as for eX-
ample:
"'He has called together legislative
bodies = = for the sole purpose of
fatiguing them into compliance with
his measures.
"'He has made judges dependent
upon his will alone for the tenure of
their offices.
"'He has enacted a multitude of
new offices and sent swarms of Off
GERS to harass our people and eat of
their substance.
"'He has combined with others to
subject US to a jurisdiction foreign to
our Constitution and unacknowledged
by our laws
Americas outstanding contribution
to the political philosophy of the world
has been in these restraining bounds
established for the executive power.
This has been accomplished, as l have
said, through the creation of an in
dependent judiciary, made part and
parcel of the Constitution itself. Only
thus could protection be provided
against ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of authority
by either the legislative or admins
trative branches of the government
each jealousy regarding itself as the
true agent of the popular will. In
deed, so we'll has this system worked
during 1873 years, it should be noted,
that but forty-eight laws passed by
Congress have been declared invalid
Four of these decisions have been
handed down during the present ad-
ministration; all relate to improper
delegations of power to the execu-
tive"
Here we have indicated for US one
line of attack which the into-New
Dealers will use in the campaign of
1886. Just how much time will be
given by the orators purely to up
to-the-minute affairs and how much
to fundamental issues remains to be
seen. There are indications, however,
that the farther we go along the more
attention will be paid to the latter.
The people of the United States still
have an overwhelming interest in
their Constitution.