Evening star., 1939-03-04

| until 1887, when the Congress OF
the Confederation issued call for
the holding of a constitutional con-
vention in May.
We are familiar with the immortal
document which issued from that
convention; of the ratification of it
by sufficient States to give it effect:
of the action of the Confederation
Congress, which terminated its own
existence in calling on the First
Federal Congress to assemble on
March 4, 1889.
We know of the months delay
before quorum could be attained;
of the counting of the ballots unani-
mously cast for Gen. Washington:
of his notification; of his triumphal
journey from Mount Vernon to New
York, and of his Inauguration as
first President on April 80.
So ended the crisis. So, from
society of 13 republics was born a
Nation with the attributes of ma
tionality and the framework of per-
manence
I believe that it has been held
by the Supreme Court that the
authority of the Articles of Con-
federation ended on March 3, 1789.
Therefore the Constitution went
into effect next day.
Based on Representation.
That Constitution was based on
the theory of representative gov
ernment, two of the three branches
of its Government being chosen by
the people, directly in the case of
the House of Representatives, by
elected Legislatures in the case of
Senators and by elected electors
in the case of the President and
the Vice President 1t is true that
in many States the franchise was
greatly limited. yet the sardinal
principle of free choice by the body
polite prevailed. I emphasize the
words free choice" because until
very few years ago this funda-
mental, or perhaps I should call
it this theology of democracy, was
in the ascendant throughout the
world, and nation after nation was
broadening its practice of what the
American Constitution had estab-
ushed here so firmly and SO we'll.
The safety of the system of rep
resentative democracy is in the
last analysis based on two essen
tiols: first, that at frequent periods
the voters must choose new Cen
gress and new President, and, sec
ond, that this choice must be made
freely; that is to say, without any
undue force against or influence
over the voter in the expression
i of his personal and sincere opinion.
That after all is the greatest diff
ference between what we know as
democracy and those other forms
of government which, though they
seem new to us. are essentially
old-for they revert to those sys-
TENS of concentrated self-perpetuat-
ing power against which the repre-
sentative democratic system was sue
cessfully launched several centuries
ago.
Today, with many other democ-
racies, the United States will give
no encouragement to the belief that
our processes are outworn or that
we will approvingly watch the re-
turn of forms of government which
for 1000 years have proved their
tyranny and their instability alike.
Elections Positive Mandate.
With the direct control of the
free choosing of public servants by
a free electorate the Constitution
has proved that this type Of Gov
ernment cannot long remain in the
hands of those who seek personal
aggrandisement for selfish ends,
whether they act as individuals,
as classes or as groups. 1t is there
fore in the spirit of our system
that our elections are positive in
their mandate, rather than passive
in their acquiescence. Many other
nations envy us the enthusiasm, the
attacks, the wild overstatements, the
falsehood intermingled gayly with
the truth that marks our general
elections because they are promptly
followed by acquiescence in the re-
suit and a return to calmer waters
as soon as the ballots are counted.
We celebrate the completion of
the building of the constitutional
house. But one essential was lack
ing-for the house had to be made
habitable. And even in the period
Of the building, those who put stone
upon stone, those who voted to ac-
cept 1t from the hands of the build
ers knew that life within the house
needed other things for its inhabit-
ants. Without those things, indeed,
they could never be secure in their
tenure, happy in their toll and in
their rest.
Bill of Rights Added.
And so there came about that
tacit understanding that to the
Constitution would be adied a bill
of rights. Well and truly did the
First Congress of the United States
fulfill that first unwritten pledge;
and the personal guarantees thus
given to our individual citizens have
established, we trust for all time,
what has become as ingrained in
our American natures as the free
elective choice of our Representa-
tives itself.
In that bill of rights lies another
vast chasm between our representa-
tive democracy and those reversions
to personal rule which have char
acterized these recent years.
Jury trial-do the people of our
own land ever stop to compare that
blessed right of ours with some pro-
cesses of trial and punishment,
which of late have reincarnated the
Justice" of the Dark Ages? The
taking of private property without
due compensation-would we willing
ly abandon our security against