Milford chronicle., 1937-10-15
Mr.. Toastmaster, Members
of the Joint Societies,
and Guests:

and Guests:
II is a real privilege and a grea
honor u be asked TO address thi
splendid gathering of Wilmington
patriotic citizens on the One Hun
dred and Fiftieth Anniversary Of tn
most momentous event In the searcl
, of man for the basal principles o
his government. The Constitution o
the United States has so affected thu
destinies of nations and individual
as to make numerous the points o
view from which its wisdom may b.
approached. Its great compromise
may be outlined. the sublimated gen
ius of its checks and balances ma!
be praised, the Sacrifices and charac
ters of the fathers who framed l
may be extolled, Its vicissitudes II
war and In peace and among nations
and individuals may be retold or th'
struggles which gave 1t birth may b'
recalled to stimulate patriotic fervor
Indeed 1t was my purpose to call tt
your minds these last two phases
when the utterances of one In exait'
ed place seem to make IL imperative
to direct attention to the foundations
of government and to the fundamen-
tails of constitutional law. l am con-
strained to this course because the
time is now here when conceptions
of the Constitution subversive OF Its
foundations should be discussed and
doctrines alien to American tradi-
tions must be exposed If the free
dom of the individual and the order
of the group are to endure under a
fundamental law ordained by the
people for their goverance.
If my theme or its treatment tires
you then between mods blame my
good friend, John Hyatt, for on him
must fall the consequences of my
effort. May l, however. indulge the
hope that nothing may say Will
cross the line of fair and frank dis
cussion and If offense be taken to
anything may say believe me sin
ccre in the avowal Of non-partisan-
ship and earnest in the conviction
that the Constitution transcends
party.
Ideas are the expression of mans
nature and they In turn determine
his future. Man then makes his own
tools with which to mold his own
destiny both as an individual and as
a member of a group. His mind is
the spirit of curiosity and of knowl-
edge, of determinatioR-and of civil
cation. Now If 1t were not for these
impulses which have ever driven
him to improve the efficiency OF his
body and mind, to know more OF his
nature, to master better his body
and to control more fully the destiny
of his soul, there would be neither
religion, nor science, nor politics, the
three great spheres OF mans mental
effort and physical work.
In the early dawn there came to
the mind of man the consciousness
that he saw and felt something on
which he walked, something which
from above gave light and heat and
which looked and acted
like himself and drew him into asso-
citation. He began to wonder about
his earth, his sky and his kind; then
10 ponder about their nature and re-
Iation to him; and from the crude
of that wondering and OF
hat labored pondering came our re-
igion, which seeks to know God and
mans relation to Him and TO his
elbow man.
Science is but the material ex-
of the accumulation of un-
old centuries Of mans efforts to
improve the members of his body
md its relation with other bodies.
Tirst the wheel, and now the air
lane to lengthen his leg; then the
ever and now the control of atoms
o strengthen his arm and body, then
he tom tom beat on stretched skin
nd now the radio gives new ear
or sound and a new voice for
peech; then our eyes saw through |
lasses darkly and by lighted fag0t,
ow we see in the black of night /
through walls of living flesh or of |
cad stone, as well as look upon the |
microcosm and the planets
4 their orbits.
The spheres of politics and of law
re entered when science seeks to
end the Individual will to the COM
ION good. The machine Of govern
tent is a supreme invention of
ian; for 1t molds the worst OF ami
Ials in his brute and rude state into
le best of all beings when disci-
lined by social duties and makes
srtain the rule of justice under law
nd order.
Individual man very early realized
lat of himself he was not able to do
he wished In the urge of
IS nature to protect, improve and
arpetuate his life. The knowledge
this !nsuficieIcy 70 effect his ends
: his efforts alone. compelled him
resort to the aid of other men.
en- were thus drawn into groups
Id birth was then given to govern
ent for their common protection
Id their mutual and Individual I
'od.
1t is not because man is naturally
Their good or bad. but because he is {
sentially an animal, that some ex-
rnal restraint became necessary
iginally to control his animal In
nets and now is necessary to di-
ct his animal propensities. The or I
in then of government is not COM ,
ct; either Rousseau's contract OF
uals. or Hobbies covenant of sub I
,tion. Its justification is not alone e
g preservation or the welfare OF I
2 group. The genesis of govern e