The Short Constitution Part 35

i. The Articles could not be amended without the consent of all of the States. Several times one State defeated the amendment of the Articles.

44 The small States having only small areas and therefore less room for settlers, were afraid of any form of union government which gave the States proportional representation in Congress. These small States declared they would not ratify the Articles of Confederation until those States having large areas of western lands would agree to cede those lands to the Federal government. The seven States holding western lands agreed to cede their lands in January, 1781, and on March 1st, Maryland as the last State ratified the Articles of Confederation.

45 The various States chose a total of sixty-five delegates to attend the Federal convention at Philadelphia. Of these, fifty-five actually sat in the convention. Of the entire number, forty-two were present on the last day and thirty-nine signed the Const.i.tution.

Of the fifty-five who sat in the convention, twenty-five were from north of the Mason and Dixon Line, or from the northern States, and thirty were from the southern States. Of the thirty-nine signers, nineteen were from the North and twenty from the South. The three who refused to sign were Elbridge Gerry of Ma.s.sachusetts and Edmund Randolph and George Mason of Virginia. These three men thought the Const.i.tution gave too much power to the central government and did not leave enough to the States.

Eight of the men who signed the Const.i.tution were of foreign birth.

They were Alexander Hamilton, William Patterson, James Wilson, Robert Morris, James McHenry, Thomas Fitzsimons, William R. Davie, and Pierce Butler. You will notice that Hamilton, Wilson, Patterson, and Morris were among the most influential men in the convention.

Many of America's greatest men have been of foreign birth.

The oldest man in the convention was Benjamin Franklin who was eighty-one years of age. The youngest man was Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey who was only twenty-seven. Charles Pinckney was twenty-nine years old, and Alexander Hamilton was thirty. The average age of the entire members.h.i.+p in the convention was 43-2/5 years.

The members.h.i.+p in the convention included a remarkable group of men-in fact the most remarkable group of statesmen that ever a.s.sembled for the making of a const.i.tution. They had gained their experience in five different ways: colonial legislatures, State legislatures, State conventions, Continental Congresses, and in the Congress of the Confederation. Six of them had the honor of having signed the Declaration of Independence-Benjamin Franklin, James Wilson, Robert Morris, Roger Sherman, George Read, and George Clymer. Thirty delegates were college men and twenty-six had degrees.

46 A careful study of the debates in the Federal convention will reveal the following allusions to the government and inst.i.tutions of other countries. A total of two hundred and twenty-three allusions were made to the governments of Europe, the most important of which were the following: one hundred and thirty allusions were made to England, of which fifty were commendatory, and twenty-four were warnings; nineteen allusions were made to France, of which five were commendatory and three were warnings; Germany, or rather the German States, had seventeen allusions; Holland had twenty allusions; Greece had twenty-five; Rome had twenty-six. The two hundred and twenty-three allusions were made in such way as to indicate that the delegates were widely read in both government and history.

47 The Const.i.tution in Article VII says, "The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Const.i.tution between the States so ratifying the Same."

The first State to ratify was Delaware on December 7, 1787. New Hamps.h.i.+re, the ninth State, ratified on June 21, 1788, and Rhode Island, the last, on May 29, 1790.

48 Every right begets a duty. The more rights our government gives us, the more duties are imposed upon each one of us. In an absolute monarchy the people have very few rights and they also have very few duties to perform. In democracies like the United States the people have a right to partic.i.p.ate in government, they also have the duty of becoming intelligent and becoming acquainted with the various details of the administration of government. When people have a right to partic.i.p.ate in government, they have the duty of attending every election and casting an intelligent ballot. Where people have a right to make law, they must accept the duty of helping enforce law. Where people have freedom of religious belief and wors.h.i.+p, they must refrain from interfering in the belief of other people. Where they have freedom of speech and press, they must protect other people in that same right. Where people have the right of trial in a legally const.i.tuted court of law, they must refrain from mob rule or from lynch law. The greater the privileges given a people by law, the greater are their duties to see that law is always respected and carefully enforced.

49 The government of the United States is a dual government. There is a State government within each State, which is supreme over the affairs of that State alone. Then there is a Federal government which is supreme and sovereign throughout the entire United States in all those affairs which the Federal Const.i.tution gives to the control of the Federal government. The _police power_ of a State is commonly defined as the power of a State to control all of its domestic internal affairs. The Federal government is not permitted to interfere with the police powers of the States.

50 "No state allows its government to dictate to any one what church he shall attend or compels him to contribute to the support of any church, the establishment of state churches being everywhere forbidden. No person is disqualified from holding office or exercising legal rights because of his religious views, although a very few states make belief in the Deity a requisite for holding certain state offices."-Hart's _Actual American Government_, Sec.

13.

51 Const.i.tution of the United States, Amendment I.

52 Church and state are wholly separated in the United States. When a man takes office, no one asks him to what church he belongs, or what his faith is. If a man wants to believe in the religions of India or China, no officer of the National government has a right to interfere with him, providing he does not violate a law of the land.

Religious tolerance is a growth. The Puritans who founded New England, although they fled to America because of religious persecutions, did not practice religious tolerance in the New World.

53 "The witchcraft craze at Salem, Ma.s.sachusetts, in 1692, is commonly thought to have been the legitimate outgrowth of the gloomy religion of the Puritans. Nineteen persons were hanged or burned at the stake for having bewitched children. One was crushed to death under heavy weights because he would not confess that he was possessed of the devil. From the time of King John down to 1712, innocent lives were constantly sacrificed in England on this charge."-Thwaites's _The Colonies_, p. 190.

54 Const.i.tution of the United States, Amendment I.

55 The first ten amendments to the Const.i.tution of the United States are limitations on the powers of Congress, and these amendments do not is any way limit the powers of the several States. It is a fact, however, that practically all the States have incorporated these same amendments in their Const.i.tutions thereby placing the same limitations upon their legislatures. A State may change its Const.i.tution and thereby curtail freedom of speech and press as it may think necessary to protect its people, and some of the States have enacted laws forbidding anarchists to hold public meetings or to publish yellow journals in which they berate the government or instigate rebellion or sedition among the people. But the Federal government cannot pa.s.s any law abridging the freedom of speech or press except such as may be enacted under the war powers of the government when in actual war, such as was enacted in the Espionage Act of 1917.

56 Libel is defined as any statement printed, or written, or any picture or caricature that causes another person to be brought into hatred, contempt, or ridicule or to be shunned by his a.s.sociates.

Slander is any oral statement that causes another person to be brought into hatred, contempt, or ridicule, or to be shunned by his a.s.sociates. In order to const.i.tute either slander or libel the statement or utterance must be communicated to a third party.

"The right of citizens to pet.i.tion the government to remove abuse was won in Europe only after many hard conflicts. It is not conceded in some European governments today, and men in those countries who lead in reforms and advocate democratic measures are often thrown into prison, banished, or exiled. This amendment to the Const.i.tution was inserted to guard against the tyranny of officers, who might abuse the authority conferred upon them by the people."

57 Const.i.tution of the United States, 1st Amendment.

"The right of a.s.sembly is coupled with the guaranty of the right to pet.i.tion the government for a redress of grievances; but it is not to be understood as limited to that object. Without doubt a.s.semblages for social, political or religious purposes are protected by such against legislative prohibition unless attended with circ.u.mstances rendering the exercise of the right inimical to public peace, security or welfare."-Emlin McClain, quoted in the _Cyclopedia of American Government_, Vol. I, p. 85.

"The right to a.s.semble may be restricted so far as necessary to prevent its being exercised to promote unlawful purposes or in such manner as to result in public inconvenience."-_Cyclopedia of American Government_, Vol. I, p. 85.

"The provision to the amendment to the Federal Const.i.tution is a limitation only on the powers of the Federal Government and does not apply to the several states. The states have largely copied the same provision into their const.i.tutions."

"The right of pet.i.tion is important as recognizing a lawful occasion for the a.s.sembly of the people and in connection with the guaranty of freedom of speech and the press. The subject matter of a pet.i.tion cannot be made the basis for a prosecution for public or private libel if it is kept within the limits of the privilege accorded."-_Cyclopedia of American Government_, Vol. II, p. 675.

"Through the right of pet.i.tion the people have a means of informing their lawmakers of their wishes and of guiding public opinion."

"The rules of the national House of Representatives provide that members having pet.i.tions to present may deliver them to the clerk and the pet.i.tion, except such as, in the judgment of the speaker, are of an obscene or insulting character, shall be entered upon the journal."-Emlin McClain, quoted in the _Cyclopedia of American Government_, Vol. II, p. 675.

58 Const.i.tution of the United States, Amendment II.

"This right to keep and bear arms, although stated in connection with the militia, is held broad enough to cover the keeping and carrying of such weapons as are suitable for self-defense, or defense of the home. But the keeping of unusual weapons, or the carrying of unusual weapons in an unusual manner, as by having them concealed on the person, may be prohibited."-Bouvier's _Law Dictionary_, Vol. I, p. 165.

"This amendment, like the other eight amendments to the Federal Const.i.tution, does not apply to the States, and a State may legislate as it pleases regarding the carrying and using of arms.

Many states prevent the carrying of arms of any kind except with legal permission given through the proper officer for stated specific reasons."

"The amendment means no more than that this right shall not be infringed by Congress. Police protection of the people is left to the States."

59 One of the grievances of the colonists stated in the Declaration of Independence was the quartering of large bodies of armed troops in the colonies, but the guaranty found in the Federal Const.i.tution and in many State Const.i.tutions is that soldiers shall not in times of peace be quartered upon private persons. This guaranty has respect to the recognition of the right of every man not to be unwarrantably disturbed or intruded upon in his home. "Every man's house is his castle."

60 Const.i.tution of the United States, Amendment IV.

"One of the most serious grievances of the colonists was, the a.s.sertion and exercise of a prerogative of the crown to issue warrants for searching private premises in order to obtain evidence of political offenses. This had been the subject of controversy in England and was made the basis of a protest in Ma.s.sachusetts by James Otis against the Writs of a.s.sistance which were in effect, general warrants."-_Cyclopedia of American Government_, Vol. III, p.

654.

"The privilege contended for was that the privacy of the dwelling house should not be invaded by public officers without the consent of the owner save for the purpose of making an arrest, and then only by an officer of the law-who carried a warrant giving him such authority."-Emlin McClain, quoted in the _Cyclopedia of American Government_, Vol. III, p. 654.

The protection afforded by the const.i.tutional provision is against attempts made under the disguise of public process to pry into private affairs on mere suspicion that a crime has been committed or contemplated.

The principle of this guaranty is being violated if the postal authorities open sealed letters in the mail to discover whether improper use of the mail is being made. It is also violated by compelling the production of private papers of the defendant in a criminal prosecution.

A warrant is not always necessary to arrest an individual. For example, a police officer does not need a warrant in order to arrest a person who is violating a law in his presence, or a person whom he has good reason to think has committed a felony.-_Cyclopedia of American Government_, Vol. III, p. 655.

61 Const.i.tution of the United States, Amendment V.

"A _capital crime_ is such crime as the law declares punishable by death penalty."-Bouvier's _Law Dictionary_, Vol I, p. 284.

"An _infamous crime_ is such crime as the law declares punishable by imprisonment in a state prison."

A grand jury, or an indictment, or a presentment jury, or an inquest jury, is a jury (differing as to numbers in different States) for the purpose of investigating alleged crimes. If, upon investigation, the jury believes the accused person has either committed the act or has had a part in the crime, it will draw up a formal accusation in writing. This accusation is called an indictment and is presented to the court. In a few States a person may be brought to trial for violation of a law of the State upon information filed by the prosecuting attorney.

A _pet.i.t jury_, or _trial jury_, is a jury of twelve men selected by the court-according to a law determining the manner-to hear the accusation against the person charged along with the evidence submitted during the trial in court. After hearing the evidence and receiving from the judge instructions concerning the law governing the case, the jury will determine whether the accused person is guilty or not. The Federal government, and most of the States, require a unanimous verdict. If the jury disagrees they report such to the court (the judge) and they are dismissed and the case may be tried again with a different jury.

"Const.i.tutional guaranties of the right of trial for crime only on indictment by a grand jury, imply a common law grand jury of whose number at least twelve men concur in finding the indictment, but by provision in state const.i.tutions a smaller number of grand jurors than required by common law and concurrence of a smaller number than twelve in the finding of an indictment may be authorized."

"A grand jury affords a safeguard against the unwarranted ignominy of being put on public trial for an offense which there is no reasonable ground to believe the accused has committed."

"The grand jury is to investigate the cases of those who have been arrested and held under preliminary information on oath by private accusers; and it may also investigate cases of supposed crime of which it has knowledge or to which its attention may be called by the public prosecuting officer. Its proceedings are secret and its members are sworn not to subsequently divulge them."-McClain's _Const.i.tutional Law_.

62 Const.i.tution of the United States, Amendment V.