The Washington times., 1937-02-13
RENDUM
DELAY SCORED
BY WRITER
New Deals Argument
For Court Change
Has Small Merit
By FRANKLIN G. sARTWELL


The excuse most often given for
President Roosevelt's proposal to
pack the Supreme Court with jus.
tees who will say that the law
is what he wants it to be, is that
too long a time would be required
to obtain ratification of an amend
ment to the Constitution giving
the Federal government power to
control such things as wages and
hours of employment.
That excuse is knocked into the
proverbial cooked hat" by study
OF the amendments to the Con-
stitution which have been adopted
and the length Of time required
to win for them the approval Of
the required number of States.
The New Dealers who are back
ing the proposal to change the
Constitution by the indirect
method of getting hand-picked
Supreme Court to interpret it as
the President wants it interpreted
resent any suggestion that if the
American people want to regulate
hours and wages through the Fed
eral government they should be
given an opportunity to vote on a
constitutional amendment to that
effect.
Cite Child Labor Trial
They say that this frank and
unequivocal method prescribed in
the Constitution would take too
long, that by the time such an
amendment could be ratified the
Roosevelt program would have
been baked by the rulings of the
Supreme Court which holds that
| the Constitution means what it
says.
And in proof" of their argu-
ment President Roosevelt and his
supporters cite the long trail down
which the child labor amendment
has travelled without being ratified.
/ The child labor amendment was
submitted by Congress on June 2,
1924, IL years ago.
In thus resting their case on
the plight of the child labor
amendment Mr.. Roosevelt and his
friends ignore entirely the fact
that every amendment to the Con-
stitution which has been adopted
has received the approval of the
public within "a months after it
was submitted.
Most Of the amendments were
adopted in much less time.
Ten in Recent Time
! OF the II amendments adopted
since the Bill of Rights, 10 have
been ratified in less time than has
elapsed since the Supreme Court
declared the National Industrial
Recovery Act was unconstitutional.
It was that decision that led
the President to his famous horse
and buggy" remark and the cir
cumventing of that decision is the
principal objective of the PreSi-
dents current move to get for him
self the power to appoint six new
justices to the court.
Something must be done about
wages and hours of employment
says thu President and his echos
say the same thing, but they
haven't moved a step along the
path prescribed by the Constitu-
ton to see if the people of the
United States feel the same way.
It would take too long, they say.
Well. the horse and buggy" de-
cision was handed down 81 months
ago.
The amendment to the Consti-
tuition repeating the prohibition
amendment was ratified by the
States only nine months after it
was submitted by Congress.
The lame duck" amendment
was ratified in 13 months after
submission. The highly contro.
verSial amendment giving women
the right to vote was before the
States only IA months before
ratification.
Election of Senators
The amendment taking from
State legislatures the power to
elect Senators and giving that
power to the people was ratified
IL months after it was submitted.
The proposal was regarded as
revolutionary when it was submit
ted and tremendous delay was ex.
pected.
The income tax amendment
went through in 20 months and
the prohibition amendment went
through in a.
Of the three So-called recon.
Struction amendments" submitted
after the War Between the States,
one went through in 10 months,
another in 13 months and another
in "a months, the latter requiring
longer than any amendment which
has been ratified up to the present
time, with the exception of the
Bill of Rights.
The record clearly shows that
the people of the United States
can amend their Constitution
speedily-if they want to.
This fact, coupled with the fact
that the much-vaunted "conges-
ton" in the Supreme Court has
been shown to be q myth, cuts
deeply into the devious arguments
which have been advanced to