Evening star., 1937-02-13

The foregoing lnformatlOn mas peen
communicated officially to the press by
persons in a position to know the facts
. Of administration policy.
No comment has been made as to
whether the President believes the rule
which requires three-fourths OF the
States to ratify constitutional
amendment should be modified and
the matter left to majority or some
other number.
AS to the point that it takes too
much time to obtain an amendment to
the Federal Constitution, Mr.. Roose-
velt has mistaken impression. 1t
never takes long if the American peo-
pie are rather substantially in favor of
q change, but it does take long If the
people have serious division Of opin-
Ion on proposal.
Average Time 1h Years.
This correspondent has just made
} research to determine how long it does
take for the American people to ap-
prove an amendment to the Constitu-
ton. The average length Of time re-
quired to ratify the last nine amend
ments-that is from the 18th to the
21st inclusive-was one year and four
and half months.
If Mr.. Roosevelt had laid the mat
ter of changing the Constitution so as
to compel retirement of justices at
70 or rs before the country in May,
1885, when he had a two-thirds ma
.jority in both Houses, the amendment
would now have been in the Constitu-
ton and the American people would
have sanctioned it.
The delay usually arises in getting
Congress to act, that Is for two-thirds
Of both Houses to agree to submit the
amendment for ratification. After
that, the period needed for ratification
varies, but here Is the elapsed time of
the four amendments adopted in the
last 20 years:
The eighteenth amendment (prohi-
bition) was ratified in 13 months.
Nineteenth amendment (woman
suffrage) was ratified in Is months.
Twentieth amendment C'lame duck"
xeform) was ratified in II months.
Twenty-first amendment (prohibi-
tion repeaD about 91a months.
Thus it will be seen that when the
American people authorize two-thirds
of their representatives In Congress
nowadays to approve an amendment
for submission it does not take much
time for the people to act provided
they believe in the amendment.
Child Labor an Exception.
The child labor amendment which
was submitted by Congress has failed
Of ratification thus far and is the ex-
ception which proves the rule. Opinion
on the child labor question is divided
between those who think the States
should deal with the reform through
State laws and those who want Con-
gress to have control of what Amer
tca's children can or cannot do. Also,
the age limit Of 18 Is considered too
high and the amendment probably
would now be part of the ConStitu-
tion if it had been better phrased,
especially since many persons of IT
and 18 are really adults in physical
stature and mentality and contribute
materially to the support of their
parents. If the amendment were to
prohibit child labor under 16 instead
Of 18 years, it would have won more
support in the State Legislatures.
When there is virtual unanimity of
opinion as there was on prohibition
repeal, which went through in 91a
months after being submitted, delays
do not arise. 1t may be doubted
whether Mr.. Roosevelt would have
any difficulty persuading the many
Legislatures now controlled by Demo-
Gratis to call referendum elections to
vote promptly on the proposal for
compulsory retirement of justices at
fixed limit rather than to permit
life tenure.
Roosevelt Has Power.
The Democrats not only have con-
trol of most all of the Legislatures
but Democratic Governors occupy
positions of vantage to help the
President in more than three-fourths
Of the States. AS for Congress, Mr..
Roosevelt controls both houses of
Congress by two-thirds vote-a rare
power among Presidents in American
history.
What will become more important
as the debate on the Presidents plan
to pack" the Supreme Court proceeds
is why the administration said moth
ing to the American people about this
scheme to tamper with the Supreme
Court, even though secret plan to
do something about the present mem
bership of the court was Matched at
the White House more than a year
and half ago.
One Democratic Senator says the
reason given in the inner councils of
the administration was a fear of
making an issue of the Supreme
Court in the campaign. In many
respects this was sound judgment
because where rival personalities are
involved in presidential race and
} where State and national elections
are held on the same day, public
opinion on a specific case cannot be
clearly measured.
To put the issue before the Amer
lean people on some other occasion
than in presidential election is the
usual course when q fundamental
change in the American system Of
Government is at stake. BY propos-
Ing constitutional amendment now,
such q referendum vote can quickly
be obtained. To attempt to get
around the Constitution by an act of
Congress can only mean the develop
.ment Of bitter controversy with
scars that will not heal for genera
tions to come as other Presidents dis
pleased with court decisions simply
prevail on their party followers to
enlarge the size Of the court to permit
the appointment Of friendly judges.
fCnrvrfoht