Evening star., 1937-08-25

4pl bllC ClulSyl-
vania Senator to outline the concep-
tion Of power which he and his asso-
ciates in the New Deal think is vested
In "the majority"
Because Mr.. Guffey's speech dealt
with the activities Of three Democratic
Senator's IN differing with the admin
tstration on the court packing bill,
the fact that the same address con-
tanned definition Of the way the
administration interprets majority
rule was quite generally overlooked.
Mr.. Guffey first quoted from a
speech by Chief Justice Hughes made
last June before the Amherst College
alumni, in which he said:
THE ruthlessness Of temporary
majority. if unchecked, will eventu-
ally lead to the entire overthrow Of
democratic institutions"
The Pennsylvania Senator professed
not to understand what was meant
by a temporary majority" and seemed
to think Mr.. Hughes was referring
to the 1896 majority as temporary"
What Mr.. Guffey doesn't know, Of
course, is that the phrase temporary
majority has been used for centuries
by English-speaking students of demo-
cratic institutions and that it means
changing majorities." This phrase Is
used to draw q distinction between
the acts of legislative body result
ing from one or more elections and
the fundamental charter of rights
contained in written constitution
like ours, which requires two thirds
OF both houses of Congress-and not
simple majority-aS well as three
fourths of the States, and again not
simple majority, to change the basic
supreme law of the land.
Protection Of Minorities.
The purpose OF the checks and bal
ances inaugurated by the founding
fathers was to protect minorities
against ruthless majorities." Other
wise overnight Congress composed
of majority of Protestants, for in
stance, could legislate Catholic schools
out Of existence. Heretofore Amer
ica's best check against the ruth
1essness" OF legislative majorities has
been Supreme Court which by its
decisions upheld the Bill Of Rights in
our Federal Constitution. When Lord
Macauley said to his American cor
respondent in 1857, Your Constitution
Is all sail and no anchor" he had In
mind the possible excesses of ruth
less majority who would some day
brush aside in tidal wave Of mistaken
zeal the Constitution itself. Ameri-
cans have for generations taken light
ly Lord Macauley's prophesy because
they felt the American Constitution
has had real anchor-the Supreme
Court.
Today United States Senator
speaking on behalf of the President
Of the United States attacks the in
tegrity Of the Supreme Court and pro-
poses that Senators who defended the
court be punished at the polls. In
deed, Mr.. Guffey goes step further
and contends that the right of ma
jority in Congress to be ruthless and
ride roughshod over minority rights
shall be placed before the Electorate.
He says:
Chief Justice Hughes has stated
and provided the issue for tomorrow.
For one accept that issue"
What Mr.. Guffey, who has been
chairman of the Democratic Senatorial
Campaign Committee, is saying in ef-
feet is that the administration, with
its enormous power to develop an
artificial majority through the po-
litical use of public funds nationally. |
as 1t did in Pennsylvania, is planning
to intrench itself in power and whittle
away all minority rights. This is |
fascism and not democracy.
Speech by Roosevelt.
The best evidence that can be cited |
that the Hughes conception of de-
mocracy is right and that the Guffey |
proposal of rule by ruthless ma
jority" is un-American Is to be found
in a speech delivered by Franklin D.
Roosevelt over a Nationwide radio
hook-up on March 2, 1880, when he
was Governor of New York:
The whole success of our de-
mocracy has been not that it is O
democracy wherein the will Of bare
majority Of the total inhabitants is
imposed upon the minority, but be-
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