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THE SUN, NEWBERRY, S. C„ FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1938 Efforts to Change United States Constitution Have Been Less Than One Per Cent Successful By RAYMOND PITCAIRN 'HE American Con stitution is the most wonderful work ev er struck off at a given mo ment by the brain and pur pose of man . . “It will be the wonder and admiration of all future gen erations and the model of all future constitutions . . That’s what two of his tory’s most famous states men—William Gladstone and William Pitt — thought of America’s fundamental law, whose anniversary we cele brate on September 17. And throughout our history successive generations of Americans have agreed with them. But, sometimes, Americans have 'felt that the guaranties of government by the people and of liberty for all—which constitute the soul and substance of our Constitution — needed further strengthening. Thai is why they have, on rare occasion, written new articles into the famous charter. To date, as every school boy knows, 21 amendments havs been added to the Constitution as originally signed by George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison and others on that historic September 17 of the year 1787. 3,500 Amendments Proposed. But, as few Americans realize, more than 3,500 other amend ments have been offered in the halls of congress during the 151 years Which have elapsed since the' signing. All but the handful now incorporated in the docu ment were ignored or rejected— either in congress, itself, or by the people. And, as one glances at various of the rejected arti cles, he understands why. Many odd and startling things would have happened to this na tion had some of those ignored proposals been written into our Constitution. We might, for ex ample: Have 4,000 duly elected con gressmen trying to crowd into the house of representatives at Washington. Have four vice presidents striving valiantly to emerge from the obscurity traditional ly associated with that office. Be known today as “The United States of the World,” instead of the more limited “Unit ed States of America.’’ Choose our President by drawing a lucky sphere from a covered box of small balls. Extend the privilege of vot ing to all who had passed their twelfth birthday. Limit the right of feminine suffrage to spinsters and wid ows, ignoring married women. All these proposals, and many others, similarly startling, have been offered in congress during otu history, as Constitutional amendments. Few, if any, of the more curious ones emerged from committee or were submitted to the people. But the interesting fact is that at some time, some one felt serious enough about each of them to urge its adoption. Still more significant, however, is the fact that the American people and the great majority of their elected representatives de clined thus to mutilate the fa mous Constitution under whose provisions our nation has achieved greatness and our citi zens the highest standard of gen eral well-being in history. Individual congressmen, and zealots of various kinds, have been eager on many occasions to tinker with the Constitution. The people, however,-have consistent ly remained steadfast to its sound and liberal principles. Of nothing can America be more proud than the fact that despite vicissitudes and tempta tions, her citizens have thus guarded )be high ideals which the Declaration of Independence proclaimed and the Constitution established. '.i The Bill el Bights. This was evident in the first 10 amendments written into our Constitution—now known coUec- tively as the Bill of Rights. Like the Constitution itself their pur pose was toijstrengthen the politi cal power and guard the liberties of the ^eopy.'k In them were as sured to' all Anterioans our treas ured freedoih of religion, of speech and of the press; the right to trials by. jury,' and ' protection against such forms of oppression as imprisonment without legal process; cruel arid unusual pun ishment, or unreasonable search aad seizure. The 11 amendments later rati fied followed, in general, the same trend. Notable among them were those abolishing slavery and broadening the basis of cit- izenship and of Suffrage. One, which rriany telieved infringed the individual’s rights, was re pealed. Thus, out of more than 3,500 proposals, the American con- Nation-Wide Celebration of Basic Law's 151st Anniversary Recalls Many Odd and Startling Amendments That Have Been Proposed; Devotion of the People to Charter's Sound and Liberal Principles Is Reflected in Rejection of More Than 3,500 of These Proposals. ■ iiislisf fikk V The Constitutional Convention in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, September, 1787. (From the painting by J. D. Stearns) gress and the American people approved the few whose purpose was to make pur government more sound and more free. Nevertheless many of the re jected proposals are interesting, and carry their lesson. Virtually all of them reflected some line of political thought of the day—im portant at the time to sponsors and supporters; relegated today to the limbo of forgotten things. ''A great number of these dealt with the powers and organization of the legislative and executive branches of our federal govern ment. As we glance at them to day they seem not only as old- fashioned as the powdered wig, but as far from practicality as the Mississippi Bubble. How many, one wonders, of the hun dreds proposed in recent sessions of our congress will seem simi larly ridiculous to our great* grandchildren ? Would Bar Duelists. There was, for example, an early proposal to bar from mem bership in congress anyone who had engaged in a duel, either as a principal or a second. There was one making it man datory on congress to publish its proceedings at least once a year. Imagine having to force senators and representatives to publish their oratory in the Congressional Record. Just try to stop this costly bit of self-expression to day! There was one requiring a rep resentative for each 30,000 of a state’s population, which in round figures would give us 4,000 repre sentatives today. There was one to give each state an extra senator for each million of population over the 2,000,000 mark. Based on modem census figures this would give New York at least 12 senators, Pennsylvania 9, and Illinois 7. There was one to abolish the senate altogether—proposed, of course, by a member of the house of representatives. Many amendments have been offered to change the length of congressional terms. The first proposed limiting a representa tive’s service to one year. Later ones called variously for three, four and six year terms in the house. Others similarly proposed shortening service in the senate. The executive department, on recent count, has been the sub ject of nearly 900 proposed amendments. More than half of them were concerned with meth ods of election and terms of of- fice of the President. Several of the strangest of these would have had the Presi dent chosen by lot. One proposed that retiring senators take turns alphabetically in drawing balls from a box. Of these balls, one was stained a distinctive color. The senator drawing the colored ball would be President for a year. To make the plan work out properly it was further pro posed to limit the senatorial term to three years, thus retiring one- third of the members every 12 months. Elected by Lottery. Another “draw-the-ball” plan proposed allotting to each state as many balls as it had senators and representatives. Then each state was to nominate its candi date for President. On a cer tain day all the balls, properly marked, were to be placed in a .box, from which a member of congress would blindly draw one. The state whose name appeared on the ball drawn would see its favorite son installed as Chief Executive. Among the strange proposals affecting the selection of Presi dent were several offering a pl^n of alternating the office between incumbents from the North and South. These, as is apparent, represented efforts to heal the widening breach between the two sections in the dark days before the War Between the States. An other, similar in objective, would have created two Chief Execu tives, one from each of the two rival sections. Citizens who find it hard to remember the names of our vice presidents would suffer added dif ficulties had one amendment af fecting that office been adopted. This proposed three extra vice presidents. It was inspired, un doubtedly, by the observation that during many years of our history the office has been va cant after the incumbent as sumed the duties of a deceased Chief Executive. But some amendment-makers had exactly the opposite idea. They wanted to abolish the office of vice president altogether. An early legislator who held this point of view defended it with a statement still interesting to vot ers who watch our national con ventions with a sophisticated eye. "The man voted for as vice president,” he warned, “will be selected without any decisive view to his qualifications to ad minister the government. The of fice will generally be carried into the market to be exchanged for the votes of some large states for President, and the only cri terion which will be regarded as a qualification for the' office of vice president will be the tempo rary influence of the candidate over the election of his state.” Six-Year Presidential Term. Length of the Presidential term has been the subject of more than 200 proposed amendments. Of these, approximately 50 per cent JAMES MADISON "The Father of the Constitution.” sought to fix the term rigidly at six years. Others proposed terms of one year, three years, five years, seven years, and even eight years. Early in our history various proposals were offered for limit- - ing the number of terms a Pres ident could serve. The majority of those which left the term at four years stipulated that no man could serve more than two terms. Many others would have limited a President to a single term. It is interesting to note that this plan had been seriously discussed while the Constitution was being drafted by the federgd conven tion of 1787.. There have been proposals, too, . which would answer, by the proc ess of'ConstitUtionslr 8rteSdment, the burning question: “What to do with our ex-Presidents?” Some-of those limiting the num- . ber of terms would have provided , that at the end of his final term the President should become a member-at-large of the senate, and ■ the vice president a mem- ber-at-Iarge of the house—both for life. Others suggested pen sioning our ex-Presidents for the remainder of thpir lives. . Proposed amendments affect- ,,-ing relationships between the fed--, eral government and the states have also been frequent. In fact, the first amendment ever offered —from the Massachusetts ' state ratifying convention -* proposed that: “It be specifically declared that all powers not delegated by the aforesaid Constitution are re served to the several states, to be by them exercised.” With the phrase, “or to the people,” in serted after the word ‘^states,” this proposal became-the Tenth amendment.' . v. The acquisition 'of hew territo ries and the admission of new states have also inspired many amendment-makers. - (• * r Thomas Jefferson, when Presi dent, was so doubtful of the con stitutionality of the Louisiana Purchase that he drew up a pro posed amendment to legalise the transaction. Other amefidm; • U. offered at various times cotnd have barred the acquisition of Florida, Hawaii," Alaska, and va rious non-contiguous lands" which now prosper under the American flag. . 7 ' At least one propo^W amend ment would have put the fed eral government into land specu lation on a giant scale, by em powering congfess to Byy poten tial farm lands, improve or de velop them, then sell them to cit izens, in an effort to promote farm ownership. But of all types of proposed amendments, those dealing with the relationship of the American citizen to his government, or in volving human rights, were by far the most numerous. More than three-quarters of the amendments actually ratified and added to our Constitution reflect these typically American con- cerns. The Bill of Rights introduced the first 10 such amendments. So inclusive, in fact, were their provisions, that many, years elapsed before others similar in nature appeared in appreciable numbers. Then, before the War Between the States, amendments on tiie slavery issue appeared. By 1865 more than 500. had been offered. Shortly after that war came a flood of amendments .to extend the franchise to women—a move ment ‘ which won eventual suc cess in the Nineteenth amend ment to our Constitution, ratified in 1920. People’s Power Increased. This amendment, like so many earlier adopted, increased the power of the people. In interest ing contrast, those which would have placed restrictions on the people made little progress. Pro posed amendments tq give the federal government authority over marriage fc or education, for example, have received scant en couragement from the public, al though hopefully and persistently pesented. Protests against such tendencies have even found ex pression in one amendment for bidding the granting of additional powers to the federal government —introduced in 19&2. , In contrast, however,, to the at- titude of pur legislators during earlier days of the Republic, the practice of offering amendments appears to be growing at Wash ington. More than 100 were pro posed in the - Seventy-fifth con gress which closed , it,"- sessions last June.. : ... ..- - But- that the nation- as- a whole foliowa .this -trend has not been i demonstrated, t -To - date, statisfi- ’ cians estimate, the score 'stands roughly-..at one constitutional - amendment ratified out of every .170 proposed.-> ; ..t . i < - •' To - all - true - Americans there seems sound reason- for the peo ple thus- to avoid -unwarranted tinkering with ‘their basic-law. Throughout the generations of our national existence, they real ize, IthaS’SCrVed the fcanSe of hu-' man freedom and broadened the 7 scope of human happiness as has ho other Written form Of govern ment in all history. C Western Newspaper Union. WHO'S NEWS THIS WEEK By LEMUEL F. PARTON EW YORK.—Policemen seem to have more social security than almost anybody else, if they behave themselves, and yet about 70 of _ , _ them have com- oeek Cause mitted suicide in For CopF Ndw York in the Despondency l ast t f ? w „ years ' Just why “a po liceman’s life is not a happy one” was not made clear by Gilbert and Sullivan, but members of the New York force are out to find out and do something about it. Thieir new and unique -“trouble clinic” has been investigating and prescribing. It lists eight reasons why policemen get in distress, and the list includes just eight brands of money trouble. The news today is that the department clinic has official sanction and is opening headquarters in the old World build ing. Patrolman Joseph J. Burkard of the traffic squad, an energet ic, resourceful self-starter, in the department 20 years, pio neers the new clinic, with the aid of a young patrolman who is a student of psychology at Co lumbia university. They brought in Dr. Menas S. Gregory, famous psychiatrist, and Dr. Carmyn J. Lombardo, also widely known as a specialist in men tal disturbance. The clinic already has handled 150 cases, some of them of extremely serious nature. The clinic Was established under the Patrolmen's Benevolent associa- . , J . tion, of which Mr. Idea Ftrst B u r k a r d was Tried Out elected president By Legion last y eaE - 14 “ said to have been his original idea,' suggested by sim ilar work by the American Legion, of which Mr. Burkard is a former New York county commander. He has been a genial mixer in the department for many years, vice president of the glee club and long active in the affairs of the P. B. A. A friend of this writer, gathering material for a book on New York, quoted to a young police lieutenant Inspector Williams’ remark that “There is more law on the end of a policeman’s night-stick than there is in a decision of the Supreme court.” “That’s bunk, and it always was,” said the lieutenant. “Col lege men are joining both the police and (fire departments. J. Edgar Hoover, and others, are helping to bring about a new conception of a policeman. The ‘flat-foot’ era is ending.” And then, said my friend, the lieutenant disclosed that he was a college graduate and engaged in an informal discussion of psychiatric training and methods in connection with police work. Would the cops have made their own psychological clinic in Inspector Williams’ day? • * • 'T'HE late Texas Guinan gave George Raft a pair of gold-plated garters. They brought him luck and he still wears them. The sleek, _ _ . slow-eyed young Tex Guinan Italian, alumnus Gave George of New York’s Gold Garters Hell’s Kitchen, has taken success in his easy dancing stride—he’s an ex-hoofer—but, like other moving picture stars, he’s beginning to look a-gift-horse in the mouth. He doesn’t like his role in Para mount’s “St. Louis Blues,” and the company suspends him. It is one more instance of increasing es thetic sensitivity in movieland. In and around Hell’s Kitchen, he was a professional light weight boxer, winning 25 fights, kayoed seven times. He was an outfielder for the Springfield (Mass.) minor league team for two, seasons. He did well enough, but it was a sideline of' impromptu hoofing and spoofing which paced him into the night clubs and the big Broadway shows. i He achieved a sinister, reptilian suggestion in his dancing which made him known fraternally up and down Broadway as “The Old Black- snake.” -He was just looking on at the Brown Derby in Hollywood when a prowling director seized him as a “type” and ruthlessly sloughed him into fame and fortune.' His 1937 earnings report waa $202,666, topped only by Cooper and Baxter, among the male stars. He owns 45 suits of clothes and a piece of Henry Armstrong. # Consolidated News Features. WNU Service. - ^ — Z •—l Light-Colored Paints Good light-colored outside paints contain white lead, pfteh'rhixed with smaller quantities of ' other pig- 'theritk: Colored pigments are added to the white to produce tinted paints, of used without the white to pro duce dark paints. It is generally- recognized that the dark paints give better service under the same weather and exposure conditions. SEEDS... A Stitched Sampler In Floss That's Gay California’s eucalyptus trees grew from a handful of Australian seeds. Seeds of kindness will similarly enrich our personal lives. —Bv WINIFRED WILLARD— L^IMPLE thing for him to send ^ from Australia by slow-sailing ship to his wife at home in Califor nia. Just a handful of seeds! Small thing to bother with. Big thing to reckon with in the *ong run. For this handful of seeds gave America all the glory of our eucalyptus, love ly in its silvery-blue-green foliage Its spicy fragrance always an nounces its presence. Nothing else smells like it. By the standard of the dollar, eucalyptus leaves, sap, bark and fiber turn themselves into good American money in the course of every year, for medicines, tonics, preparations that many thousands of us use without knowing how we got them. Any inventory of California's claims to pre-eminence—roses the year round, sun-kissed oranges, sun- made raisins—must reckon with the wealth of the eucalyptus and with the two people, unpretentious and unassuming, who laid that wealth in California’s lap—William Taylor, pioneer, preacher, practical man of affairs and his little home-making wife. She, too, looked into the fu ture, seeing what thes» seeds could become of beauty and blessing Then she did the practical things needed to make them grow. The seeds her husband sent her were worthless until she planted them I Growth of a Friendship Two travelers on happy holiday in Florida stopping to call on a friend. It was a qarefree, glad day under the palm trees beside the lovely lake in Winter Park. They wrote about it to one whose name was often on their lips that day. Return mail brought a handful of seeds and introduction to other friends away from home and restless for companionship. These seeds start ed to sprout. Passing days cultivat ed them .until a rare and lovely treasure of friendship grew that becomes more beautiful with the years. The auditor of an important edu cational group was a regular trav eler, Traveling grows monotonous but offers a chance generally to catch up on rest and to read a bit. This particular trip was tong. The auditor was weary of figures and of balances that did n#* easily bal ance. She wanted to sleep away some of the hours on the train. Across the aisle was a little old lady, a stranger. She did not seem to have any promising seeds in ber hands. She was nervous and rest less, a bit fearful. She seemed eager for companionship. It developed that she carried a heavy persona) load and greatly needed a human safety valve. Most of us do. So the seasoned traveler put away her desire to doze and gave herself up to listening while the little lady talked. It was not much to do. But it cost its price. % Seeds must have time to grow. And there is never any way to know ahead which seeds will pay to plant, which will grow and make our gar dens of life its loveliest. We have to take chances on them same as on everything else. These special seeds which the traveler sowed in a sec tion of the sleeping car grew to friendship that abided until that wistful little body who wasn’t quite accustomed to trains and traveling, slipped away across the Final Riv er. Now tangibles are not the only values. Sometimes’ they are not valuable at a}l. But from the little lady to the traveler who wanted to doze and pass the time but who was willing instead to be friendly and helpful, there came a gorgeous dia mond “because you were so good tor me that day.” Little thing, big thing, either view you take. Adventure in Companionship Queer things—seeds! Sometimes we don’t recognize them. Take that luncheon at Washington’s Mayflow er hotel one spring Saturday. There were 300 guests. The First Lady was to tell us her ideal of women in politics. At my right was » friend. The seat at the left was vacant. No sign of a seed. Then a pleasant voice asked permission to sit beside me. There was the seed unseen before, already sprouting The days and weeks that followed saw it grow through comfortable companionship and congenial fel lowship, becoming a real adventure along the allyring lanes of friend ship. > . , However sophisticated ye are, however far we shy away from show of sentijnent, it yet remains that every forest oak was once with- m the tiny compass of the acorn. That sounds old-fashioned but is as modern as today. Life continues to grow great results from seeds so small that often we fail to see or to believe how they can be impor tant to our purpose^, When our spirits are negative, we sometimes cast these seeds away, losing what "light .become very precious to us. Not every handful of seeds produces a glory of eucalyptus. Not every train acquaintance pays the score yrith. a gleaming diamond* „ That would put the whole business on too low a level. But every seed holds unpredictable possibilities. Copyright.—WNU Scrvlc* Com* in the evening Come in the morning £-me when you’re looked Com* without warnir - Pattern 6128. Want some color interest for your room? Then embroider this cheery sampler. It is in easy cross stitch with the flowers in other simple stitches. Pattern 6128 contains a transfer pattern of a panel 11% by 15 inches; color chart and key; materials needed; illustrations of stitches. To obtain this pattern, send 15 cents in stamps or coins (coins preferred) to The Sewing Circle, Household Arts Dept., 259 W. 14th St., New York City. Please write your name, ad dress and pattern number plainly. Tar&tife Kecijae oji the Waeh'—^ COCONUT CAKE 1 cup of butter ‘,i teaspoon soda IVi cups sugar 2 teaspoons baking 3 egg yolks powder 1 cup coconut teaspoon salt 3 cups cake flour 1 cup orange juice ‘,4 teaspoon vanilla 3 egg whites 1 teaspoon orange extract Cream shortening thoroughly. Add sugar gradually. Add well beaten egg yolks, then coconut. Sift flour; measure, add soda, bak ing powder, and salt, and sift three times. Add to first mixture altemntely with orange juice. Add extracts. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites last. Bake in two nine- inch layer cake pans 30 minutes at 375 degrees. Frost with boiled frosting. , Mother Knew! HereS an unsolicited letter just received from Miss B. L* who knows whereof she speaks. Read and remember it! “My mother has used Winter- smith’s from childhood. Last sum mer I was having chills and fever and tried all sorts of different medicines. None seemed to do me any good, so mother sent for some Wmtersmith’s Tonic, and soon I was up and well. I think there’s nothing like it and mother says the same. 1 sure recommend this Tonic to anyone who suffers from Malaria.” If you have Malaria, take that letter to heart. Get a bottle of Wintersmith’s from your druggist, and TRY it That’s all we ask. Power a Blessing Power, when employed to re lieve the oppressed and to punish the oppressor, becomes a great blessing.—Swift. HANDY Home Uu* MOROLINE KYI SNOW-WHITE PETROLEUM JELLY Live With Care Be not careless in deeds, nor confused in words, nor rambling in thought.—Marcus Aurelius. SMALL SIZE 60c LARGE SIZE $1.20 ^ J l-W-inf WNU—7 36-38 | CLASSIFIED | ADVERTISING aaa Have yt»u any thing around the house you would like to trade or sell? Try a classified ad. The cost is only-a few cents and there are probably a lot of folks looking for just whatever it is you no longer have use for.