Evening star., 1938-03-31

power by Pres
ident or by Congress that they wrote
into the fundamental charter of the
country-the Constitution-the fol-
lowing clause, known as Article One
Of the Bill Of Rights:
Congress shall make no law re-
specting the right of the people to
petition the Government for redress
of grievances"
1t will be noted that this right of
petition cannot be curtailed by any
act of Congress, and this means also
it cannot be diminished or taken away
by any act of the Chief Executive.
1t will be noted also that the language
Of the Constitution is broad enough to
cover any or all grievances"
The plain meaning of this consti-
tutional provision is that the American
people have the right by letter or by
telegram or by telephone or by any
other means at their disposal, includ-
ing personal visits, to seek to impress
on their agents-the Government
what it is the people desire the Gov
eminent to do.
Officials Are Hired Hands.
Fundamentally, the members of the
House of Representatives and the
Senate and even the President are so
to speak, hired hands" They are
the employees Of the people and they
get salary for doing the work dele
gated to them by the people. Election
does not mean that the members of
the Government can do as they please.
1t means that representatives are
selected as agents, but their masters
or bosses are the people, who, between
elections, can threaten to take away
votes at a subsequent election unless
their wishes are followed
Today the American people are in
the throes of business depression of
greater severity in the rapidity OF de-
cline In values than any depression in
American history, not excluding the
1929 drop. The cause of the depres-
sion is the unWillingness of the Roose-
welt administration to let the business
system function so that invested cap
ital can earn fair wage. Conse-
quently business is demoralized and
the whole economic system is fright
ened about taking any risks in invest
ing capital.
Business has importuned and petit
toned the President without result.
Business Is now petitioning Congress
for better deal. The simple fact is
Nd Nv i
get along together and that, If there
is to be economic recovery and restora-
tion Of Jobs, business and Congress
must get together and develop team
play.
AS a quarterback, Mr.. Roosevelt
has been one of the most expensive
players in the history of the govern
mental game. The national debt has
been increased nearly $4,000, 900, 900
under his regime and there is very
little to show for it today; in fact, in
f1ve years, an artificial stimulus, or
imitation, has been used which now
has collapsed and the debt OF billions
Is fastened around the necks of the |
taxpayers while unemployment is as
bad, il not worse, then ever.
Can Petition Congress.
What can the people do about it?
They can petition the Congress to
redress their grievances. They can
telegraph, write, telephone and urge
their Representatives and Senators to |
get together with business and start the |
wheels of our economic machine going. |
They can ask Congress to assert its
independence of Mr.. Roosevelt's at
tempts at domination. They can insist |
that Congress pass tax laws which |
encourage business, urging both
houses to abandon or postpone any
legislative proposals that would be
harmful to business right now.
The people still have the sacred |
right of petition in America, whereas,
in the dictatorial countries, it has
been taken away from the citizens
altogether. AS long as the right of
petition exists, the people can influence
the members of the House and Senate
and cause them to take away or at
least not grant any additional powers
to Mr.. Roosevelt.
The reorganization bill has much
merit in it, but, under Mr. Roosevelt's
regime, it raises grave doubts. Nat
urally, the President does not want
Congress to listen to the petitions of
the people. He wants to control