The Short Constitution Part 23

For taking away our charters, abolis.h.i.+ng our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our government;

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun, with circ.u.mstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilised nation.

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, s.e.xes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have pet.i.tioned for redress, in the most b.u.mble terms; our repeated pet.i.tions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Now, if there be those who are not satisfied under the present government of America, let them reflect. Let them compare their rights to-day with the rights of the people subjected to the repeated "injuries and usurpations" so eloquently recited by those who founded this government, who adopted our Const.i.tution which will forever bar any power from exercising "a design to reduce them (the people) to absolute despotism".

Read through this catalog of wrongs endured by the people of the colonies.

Then read through the guaranties of the Const.i.tution. You will find that in large part the guaranties of the Const.i.tution were inspired by the wrongs recited by the people when they proclaimed their independence.(94)

I said that this recital is dramatic. It is also pathetic. Listen: "_In every stage of these oppressions we have pet.i.tioned for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated pet.i.tions have been answered only by repeated injury._" Is it any wonder that the Const.i.tution of the United States should provide that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging ...

the right ... to pet.i.tion the Government for a redress of grievances"?

Is it any wonder that we find in the Const.i.tution guaranties of freedom of wors.h.i.+p, freedom of speech and of the press, the right of the people to bear arms, the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, and papers, the right to a speedy jury trial when accused of crime, and the right to a trial in the district where the offense was committed instead of being sent beyond the seas? When we read of the wrongs endured by the people under the government by a king we can readily understand why the people put into their Const.i.tution a guaranty that a person no matter how poor shall have an attorney to defend him, shall have his witnesses brought into court at government expense, that excessive bail shall not be required, and cruel and unusual punishments shall not be inflicted, that slavery is forever abolished on American soil, that the property of every person, rich or poor is sacred, and that even the government of the United States cannot take it for public use without just compensation, that every person shall have equal protection of the law, and if wrongfully imprisoned he can secure his release by writ of habeas corpus. You can readily see that all these guaranties of the Const.i.tution and many others which we have been studying were intended to give protection to the people from wrongs which the people had suffered throughout the world under the different forms of government existing before America was born.

From the stirring story related by the people in the Declaration of Independence of the injustice which they had to suffer under a king, you can see how carefully future generations of people upon American soil were guarded by the Const.i.tution against the wrongs which our forefathers had endured.

ELEMENTARY QUESTIONS

1. When was the Declaration of Independence signed?

2. How long did the colonists of America continue under government by a king?

3. How did it happen to be drawn up?

4. Compare each sentence of this quotation (pages 167, 168) with the guaranties that you have discussed in cla.s.s.

ADVANCED QUESTIONS

A. Discuss in detail the reasons for the coming of the American colonists.

B. Discuss in detail the contrasts noted in Note 2. Review the previous study with reference to our Declaration of Independence.

C. Write a paper comparing the solution found in the Const.i.tution with the grievances noted in the Declaration.

D. Discuss a method by which this might be brought to the attention of the Socialists, Anarchists, and Bolsheviki who are criticising our government to-day.

XXIV. SHALL ANY PART BE REPEALED

What Provisions Would You Have Taken Out Of The Const.i.tution

We have discussed the main personal guaranties of the Const.i.tution. There is a large part of the Const.i.tution which we have not yet considered. Not because I do not regard it as important-it is all important-but because the personal guaranties are of the highest importance. They const.i.tute a Bill of Rights, a bill of individual rights, of your rights and my rights.

These rights are clearly defined and carefully guarded.

I heard a man say the other day that the Const.i.tution ought to be abolished, that it was an obstacle to human progress.(95) He did not say why. That is the trouble with a lot of people in this world; they are ever ready to destroy, but are never ready to aid in building up. Their purpose is destruction, not construction. You will hear a great deal of complaint about the Const.i.tution. I have heard complaint about the Const.i.tution.

This is our Const.i.tution. We are directly interested in defending it against all attacks if it is a good thing for us. If it is a bad thing we are all interested in having it repealed. And of course you now fully understand that the people have the power to repeal every line of the Const.i.tution if they want to.(96)

So this morning I wish to submit to you a fair question. _What is there in the Const.i.tution that you think should be taken out of the Const.i.tution?

What is there that should be repealed?_ I do not ask you to answer that question now. I want you to think it over carefully. Go over each and every word of the Const.i.tution carefully. Talk it over with your father and your mother. Talk it over with your friends, the boys and girls who are studying this subject with you, and some day present to your teacher or to me a statement of the part of the Const.i.tution that you think ought to be repealed. Of course, to come to a just conclusion on this question you must not only look at the language of the Const.i.tution but you must take into consideration the purpose of each provision of the Const.i.tution.

That is why we have been studying the Const.i.tution in detail. That is why we have considered in a general way something of the problems of the human race under the past governments of the world. It is after all a simple question-what is good for the people, and what is not good for the people.

What is good for _all_ the people-not for any special cla.s.s. The Const.i.tution has been in existence, most of it, for considerably more than a hundred years. During that more than one hundred years what a wonderful development there has been in this country, development not alone in property and in wealth, because after all that is not the main thing, but development in human opportunity! What a wonderful expansion there has been of human rights! What a splendid example we have had of the maintenance and protection of human liberty! What wonderful legislation has been enacted by the people during those years to make life easier for the average man!(97)

Consider all these things and then say frankly whether or not any provision of the Const.i.tution should be taken out. In other words, would the repeal of any single personal guaranty, which we have been considering in these lessons, help men, women, and children? Would it make life easier? Would human liberty be better protected? Would the objects of government, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, be more effective?

The Const.i.tution is a sacred doc.u.ment, but there is nothing more sacred than the right to life and liberty and happiness. Therefore do not hesitate to deal fearlessly with the Const.i.tution, but deal with it reverently. It was intended as an aid to humanity. If it does not serve that purpose it should be abolished. If any provision of the Const.i.tution is not an aid to humanity in America let us repeal that provision. Be fearless; be also cautious. Be careful in any change to avoid the ills which we have, that we do not invite other and more grievous ills that we know not of.

The American people owe to themselves, to their children, and to their country, the solemn duty to give earnest consideration to our Const.i.tution. They owe the solemn duty, if the Const.i.tution is serving a great purpose for the people of America, to defend it against all those who may attack. They owe the duty to uphold it and to guard it. It is a sacred trust and this trust cannot be executed except through intelligence, earnestness, patriotism, and loyalty.

Therefore, if there be defects in the Const.i.tution, pick them out and let us unite in removing them, because the cause of humanity is greater than the cause of fidelity to any law or const.i.tution ever enacted by the people.

ELEMENTARY QUESTIONS

1. Why are we interested in the Const.i.tution?

2. Why should we defend it from all attacks?

3. In what way can we best defend the Const.i.tution?

4. Why should we wish to modify it?

5. Just how can the Const.i.tution be modified?

6. What should be the spirit in which we should enter upon the consideration of amendments to the Const.i.tution?

7. Just what should be the argument for any changes?

8. Make a list of some of the modifications you think should be made.

9. Arrange a debate on each one of these.

ADVANCED QUESTIONS