Evening star., 1947-02-21

of s Essotass sTRn Justice
sDpeme Court e ne
parochial school children in PUBLIC school
printed for its value as historical sketch)
No provision of the Constitution is
more closely tied to or given content by
its generating history than the religious
clause of the first amendment. It is at
once the refined product and the terse
summation of that history. The his
tory includes not only Madison's au-
thorship and the proceedings before
the First Congress, but also the long
and intensive struggle for religious
freedom in America, more especially in
Virginia, of which the amendment was
the direct elimination.
For Madison, as also for Jefferson, re-
ligious freedom was the crux OF the
struggle for freedom in general. Madi-
son was coauthor with George Mason
of the religious clause in Virginia S
great Declaration of Rights of 1776. He
is credited with changing it from a
mere statement of the principle of toll
erance to the first official legislative
announcement that freedom of con-
of the individual. He sought also to
have the declaration expressly con-
denim the existing Virginia establish
ment. But the forces supporting it
were then too strong.
Accordingly Madison yielded on this
phase but not for long. At once he re-
sumed the fight, continuing it before
succeeding legislative sessions. AS a
member of the General Assembly in
l779 he threw his full weight behind
Jefferson's historic Bill for Establishing
Religious Freedom That bill was a
prime phase of Jefferson's broad pro-
gram of democratic reform undertaken
on his return from the Continental Con-
gress in 1776 and submitted for the
General Assembly's consideration in
1779 as his proposed revised Virginia
code. With Jeffersons departure for
Europe in 1784, Madison became the
bills prime sponsor. Enactment failed
in successive legislatures from its in
PRODUCTION in June, 1779, until its
adoption in January, l786. But during
all this time the fight for religious free
dom moved forward in Virginia on var-
Gus fronts with growing intensity.
A Tax to Support Religion.
The climax came in the legislative
struggle of 1784-1785 over the assess
ment bill. This was nothing more nor
less than taxing measure for the sup
port of religion, designed to revive
the payment of tithes suspended since
1777. So long as it singled out par
ticular sect for preference it incurred
the active and general hostility Of dis
sentient groups 1t was broadened to
include them, with the result that some
subsidized temporarily in their opposition.
AS altered, the bill gave to each taxpayer
the privilege of designating which
church should receive his share of the
tax. In default of designation the legis-
lature applied it to pious uses. But what
is of the utmost significance here, in
its final form the bill left the taxpayer
the option of giving his tax to edu-
cation"
Madison was unyielding at all times
opposing with all his vigor the general
and nondiscriminatory as he had the
earlier particular and discriminatory
assessments proposed. The modified
Assessment Bill passed second reading
in December, 1874, and was all but en-
acted. Madison and his followers, how
ever, maneuvered deferment of final
consideration until November, 1785
And before the Assembly reconvened in
the fall he issued his historic Memorial
and Remonstrance.
The Memorial and Remonstrance."
This is Madisons complete, though
not his only. Interpretation of religious
liberty. 1t is a broadside attack upon
all forms Of establishment" of religion,
both general and particular, nondis-
criminatory or selective. Rejecting not
aDnly the many legislative conflicts over
the Assessment Bill and the Bill for
Establishing Religious Freedom but also,
for example, the struggles for religious
interpretations and the continued main
tenance of the globes, the Remonstrance
is at once the most concise and the
most accurate statement of the views
of the First Amendments author con-
corning what is IAN establishment of
religion" It behooves us in the
dimming distance of time not to lose
sight of what he and his coWorkers had
in mind when, by single sweeping
stroke of the pen, they forbade an
establishment of religion and secured
its free exercise.
The Remonstrance, stirring up storm
of popular protest, killed the Assessment
Bill. It collapsed in committee shortly
before Christmas, 1765. With this, the
way was cleared at last for enactment
of Jeffersons Bill for Establishing
Religious Freedom. Madison promptly
drove it through in January of 1786,
seven years from the time it was first
introduced. This dual victory substan-
TALLY ended the fight over establish
ments settling the issue against them.
Government and Religion.
The next year Madison became a
member of the Constitutional Conven-
tion. Its work done, he fought valiantly to
secure the ratification of it's great prod
uct in Virginia as elsewhere, and nowhere
else more effectively Madison was GER