Evening star., 1937-06-05
By Mary.Carter Roberts.

tuition. BY Burton J. Hendrick
Boston: Little Brown & co.
OOKS on the Constitution have
u not been wanting in the past
year. They have, on, the
~ contrary, poured OF the
presses with persistence which only
a very genuine interest could explain.
Interest in the Constitutin, indeed,
aScalled on the eloquence Of all de-
grees; members OF the Cabinet have
written on 1t, eminent lawyers have
eiv1n their opinions, and a multitude
OF unknown pamphleteers besieges
reviewers desks everywhere, with
pathetic 1nsistence that in their
works is to be found uniquely the So
lutton Of our ills-these being their
works on the Constitution, Of course.
The document OF our liberties, i've
Vears ago, WAS lawyers rhetoric and
schoolboys' bane. Today the Con-
stftution unquestionably Is news.
This upsurgence Of concern would
SEEM to stem chiefly from the re-
Gently expressed Intention of the
President to alter substantially the
machinery Of our Government, par
tfcular,y the Supreme Court. For,
while books on the Constitution
were frequent occurrences before the
announcement Of that plan to the
public dndeed they figured consid-
erably in the literature Of the 1885
political campaign. as that plan did
u fuyc
to one since the plan became public
property. Most of them bear evi-
dencs Of rapid preparation, as would
be natural since most Of them were
written quickly to catch attention
before interest In the controversy
Waned. Most OF them, too, have
bsen written frankly from an i'm
pAsgtoned state OF mind; authors have
Been pro or con, and have made no
secret Of their allegiance.
Few, II any, to be sure, have dared
10 attack the written Constitution Of
ff1s Founding Fathers directly, but
more than Q few have made distinct
cases against 1t by obliquities, 50
that, In spite OF direct avowals OF
devotion, their genuine wish to alter,
II. not to reconstruct altogether has
been unmistakable. The conclusion
which one draws from q multitude
81 such works Is that the Consti-
sutton at present holds too strong
N authority over the voters mind
Tor politicians and reformers to at
Tempt frankly to tamper with it, but
that there is minority Of wtshful
thinkers among our leaders (out Of
pf1ce Is well IS tn) who view its
Venerable checks and balances with
m impatient eye. AZ against these.
ehere Is another group which holds
That the hexihility Of the document
has been too well proven in It's hun
6red and ffty yeas Of service to a
constantly changing Nation for 1t
10 need sudden and arbitrary re-
vision in the Light Of our present
ftmculties.
Mr.. HRtDRlCK In his present
work, belongs to the latter
school Of thought. but he differs from
ANY other recent writer on consh-
tuttond questions in An important
point; he Is not writing . book Of
advocacy Of anything here: he =
hot attempting to mold public opin-
acn or influence the eourse Of events.
ne Is writing, as his title declares.
~ biography" and he has pursued
ehe objective method. e far - 1t
has been possible throughout his
pArrative. Moreover, his book bears
hone Of those evidences OF hasty
Composition afore-referred to. 1t Is
/ monumental thing, With evidence
m scholarly research on every page.
n addition to that, it has q de-
Hehtful literary style, and that Is Z
Haality which has distinguished pre-
GoW few Of its predecessors on the
subject.
Mr.. Hendrick views the life" Of
The Constitution in the broadest
manner. It seems to him the
stream on which our whole national
existence has flowed, and its narration
necessitates the examination Of 4
vast number of issues, the delinea-
Aton Of successive states Of American
civilization, and the analysis Of
bcores Of statesmen. Issues, states
md men he treats As about equally
felevant. II he gives preponderance
% one OF the three, 1t Is to the last
named With . wisdom that can
Aot be too much commended, he es-
Inmates that the weight Of human
desires and personalities has had ~
much to do with the course Of gov
esnnent a. has consideration OF ab-
stract principles. His pages, there
fore. are thick with biographical
eketches, and in these sketches the
concern has been not with the ex-
ternas Of the subjects Life as much
As with his mentality and personal
ambitions. That the changing Of
personal ambitions brought q corre-
spending change OF attitude toward
1ome of our most revered public men,
he has demonstrated more than once.
One Of the conclusions implicit in his
work. indeed, would seem to be that
no constitution or form OF govern
mef is other than the men Who
administer it. This philosophic at
tdtude. OF course, adds immeasrably
to the agreeable reading quality OF
his work.
MH book begins with the meeting
at Mount Vernon, in 17s5, OF rep
resentatives OF Virginia and Mary
land to compose the even then prev
Alent difnculties OF interstate COM
merce." which words meant to the
delegates simply the navigation OF
the Potomac River. From this meet
ing grew the subsequent Annapolis
Convention, which resulted in the
great Philadelphia Convention, a,
which the Constitution was actually
3prmed. Yet Mr.. Hendrick does no,
put the genesis Of our National
Government finally at Mount Vernon
hitting though 1t is that Washing.
tons home should have been the