Evening star., 1951-09-17
President Seals
2Most Precious
U.S. Documents
Library Of Congress
Ceremony Marks
Constitution Day

Constitution Day
The Nations two most precious
documents, the Declaration of In
dependence and the Constitution,
were sealed today by President
Truman against possible physical
deterioration in centuries to come.
The ceremony, at the Library of
Congress, was marked by religious
earneStneSS.
The President, speaking to an
audience that crowded the great
staircase, expressed himself with
evident emotion in concluding
with an expression of hope that
These documents, which we are
today sealing against physical de-
cay. will always be remembered
and cherished, finding new life in
each new generation of Ameri-
cans"
The day chosen for the cere-
mony is the 164th anniversary of
the signing of the Constitution by
the members of the convention
meeting in the State House in
Philadelphia, as Senator Green,
Democrat, of Rhode Island
pointed out in an Introductory
talk. Senator Green presided by
virtue of his Craftsmanship of the
Joint Committee of Congress on
the Library.
Work Begun in 1947.
The preamble of the Constitu-
ton. the last page to undergo the
process, was sealed in helium gas
by Mr.. Truman, DR.. Luther H.
Evans, Librarian of Congress, and
Herbert Putnam, librarian emeri-
tuS.
The work on the sealing of the
six large sheets of parchment, the
one-page Declaration of Inde-
pendence and the four pages of
the Constitution plus the page
containing the letter of transmit I
tai. was begun in 1947.
All that was necessary for the
President and his helpers to do
today was to tighten four hand |
clamps on the preamble of the
Constitution, thus sealing it. Later
in the ceremony the President
went to the gilded shrine behind
him. Almost million pilgrims a
year visit the carefully guarded
shrine in the Library. The Presi-
dent locked the glass covered case
within the Shrine's tabernacle"
and gave the key to DR.. Evans. ,
Function In 1887 Recalled.
Chief Justice Vinson, whose po-
Sition makes him Americas No. /
authority on the Constitution,
gave a little talk on its difficulties
that accompanied its birth.
ut was far easier to decide"
he said. that the United States
should replace the loose fedora
ton of wholly independent States
under the Articles of Confedera-
ton, than it was to reconcile in (
one Union the differences that
existed.
There are those who would
reduce the Convention to a con-
f1ict between the large States and
those less populous. But it was (
far more complex. Madison saw
the clash between North and
South as the most significant.
Considering the forces pulling
the country apart, it is, indeed, a
wonder that the Constitution ever /
came into existence. It is diff /
cult today to appreciate that in
1877 complete disunion of the
States or three separate confed-
eracies seemed as likely possibil-
ties as United States"
Condor Speaks Briefly.
DR.. Edward U. Condor, who was !,
director of the National Bureau
of Standards when that agency |,
undertook the work of sealing the |
documents, spoke. briefly on the
undertaking.
DR.. Frederick Brown Harris,
chaplain of the Senate, in his
opening prayer asked Gods help
in facing "sterner odds" than those
that confronted the founding
fathers.
Now that they are sealed in the
glass cases, the 175-year-old |
Declaration of Independence and
the 164-year-old Constitution are
never again to be touched by
hands, nor air. harmful light, in
sects or smaller forms of life.
Helium, a gas that supports no
organic life, will surround the
parchmentS.
The preservation scheme was
developed by Libby Owen Ford
Glass Co. in cooperation with
the National Bureau of Standards.