Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1937-03-25
OUR CONSTITUTION

We live under a Constitution made
by the people,. 1t has served the cause
of human freedom and the advance
ment of human happiness as has no
other document in the history of the
world.
The constitutions of Italy, Germany
and Russia are subject to the iron will
of their dictatOrs. The Constitution
of the United States still is an actu-
atty. The Constitution should not be
changed by the Executive, by Con-
gress or by the Supreme Court. 1t
should not be changed in Washington.
1t should be changed only by the peO-
pie. From time to time the executive
and legislative, the political side, OF
government have disregarded CIR tram
pied under foot almost every guaran-
tee found in the bill of rights.
Under the federalist regime, free
speech, press and assembly suaran-
teed by law, men were thrown into
prison for criticism of public officials
and government. Under democi attic
government which followed, men were
arrested without warrant and denil d
council in violation of the cOnstitu-
ton. Under the Republican admin
stration which followed, men were
denied the right of trial by jury and
the right of free speech and free
press. In such instances the Supreme
Court of the United States has, in the
language of Madison proved in every
instance the guardians of these
rights
In every free government courts re-
moved from the turmoil and bitter
ness of politics are indispensable to
the rights and liberty of the citizen.
especially the citizen who has no
political influence. The experience of
all history demonstrates this and COM
mon sense supports it. Any plan that
proposes any redistribution of power
between the states and national gov
judicial tribunal without the fill au-
thority of the people should be re-
garded as mistake. If the people
make a mistake, like the 18th amend
ment, they will correct it.
Efforts of the Executive to take over
in some measure the law-making
power is not anything new, nor special
of any particular government. 1t is
an evil of long standing. 1t is one of
the dangerous demands of bureaucra-
cy made under pretension of public in
terest which nothing less than eternal
vigilance can restrain and apparently
no power can wholly prevent. Both
the old parties have their records on
this question. Neither of the old par
| ties has hesitated at different times to
disregard the guarantees OF the COnsti-
tuition or to denOunce the Supreme
Court when its decision failed to sus-
tain their course.
The characteristic of the German,
Italian and Russian constitutions to-
day is the latitude of power allowed
the rulers. The browning virtue OF
our constitution is the restraint and
the control it imposes upon the agents
and the representatives of, and the
liberty it allows to the people. Under
the former constitutions, the reoi lie
are subjects. Under our constitution,
they are masters. We are now con-
frOnted with the issue whether we
shall change our constitution, if at all,
by the established orderly, open way,
Il sure way to destructiOn-the way
proposed to permit the President to
change the personnel of our highest
court and, overnight, substitute fer an
independent judiciary one hand-pick ed
and in all probability subservient to
| the executive power.
The men who wrote the Constitution
of the United States and the People
of that time were probably neither
wiser nor more patriotic than the
statesmen and people of our own time.
They founded government which
was unique among the then govern
ments of the world. Popular sOver-
eighty was a new political and social
conception. Our gOvernmel emerged
out of background of generations
upon generations of people who had
! suffered at the hands of autOcratic
|
and settled by people who left the old
world and braved a wilderness to es-
cape oppression.
When the time came to form gov
eminent of their own, the founding
fathers were determined to so fashion
it that government could never serve
as an instrument of oppression. They
provided repreS ent alive government
and such things as liberty of speech
liberty of the press, religious free
dom, trial by jury, and local self-gov-
ernment-things which we of today
take for granted, if we think of them
at all, but things which were very
precious and dearly paid for in the
war of revolution.
So fresh in the minds of the found.
ers was the abuse of autOcratic execu-