Show efforts to fo change united states constitution have been less than one per cent successful dy by RAYMOND PITCAIRN C HE american conj act ution is ig the most wonderful work over ev struck oft off at a given moment by the brain and purpose of man i it will bo be the wonder and admiration of all future generations erat crat orations ions and the model of all future constitutions 11 what two of his torys most famous states men willlam william gladstone and william pitt thought of americas fundamental law whose anniversary we celebrate on september 17 and through throughout olAt our history successive siv L generations of americans have agreed with them but sometimes americans have felt that the guaranties guarantees guaran ties of government by the peoli 0 and of libert liberty y for all which constitute the soul and substance of our constitution needed further strengthening that Is why they have on rare occasion written now new articles into the famous charter to date as every schoolboy knows 21 amendments have been added to tho the constitution as originally signed by george washington benjamin franklin james madison and others on that historic september 17 of the year 1787 amendments proposed but as few americans realize moro more than other amendments have been offered in the halls of congress during the years which have elapsed since the signing all but the handful now incorporated in the document were ignored or rejected either in congress itself or by the people and as one glances at various of tho the rejected articles lie ho understands why many odd and startling things would have happened to this nation had some of those ignored proposals been written into our constitution we might tor for ex ample have duly elected congressmen trying to crowd into the house of representatives at washington have four vice presidents striving valiantly to emerge from the obscurity traditionally ly associated with that office he be known today as the united states of the world instead of the more limited united states of 0 america choose our president by drawing a lucky hicky sphere from a covered box of small balls extend the privilege of voting to all who had passed their twelfth birthday limit the right of feminine suffrage to spinsters spin and widows ignoring married women all these proposals and many others similarly startling have been off offered cred in congress during our history as constitutional amendments few if any of the more curious ones emerged from committee or were submitted to tho the people but the interesting tact fact is that at some time someone 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 declined thus to mutilate the famous constitution under whose provisions our nation has achieved greatness and our cati citizens the highest standard of general well being in history individual congressmen and zealots zealous of various kinds have been eager on many occasions to tinker with the constitution the people however have consistently remained steadfast to its sound and liberal principles of nothing can america ame rica be more proud than tho the f fact act that despite vicissitudes and temptations her citizens have thus guarded the high ideals which the th e declaration declarant arat ton of independence proclaimed and the constitution established the bill of rights this was evident in the first 10 amendments written into our constitution now known collectively as the bill of rights like the constitution itself their purpose po se was to strengthen the political power and guard the liberties of the people in them were assured to td all americans our treasured freedom of religion on of speech and of the press the right to trial by jury and protection ag against ainest such forms of oppression as imprisonment without legal process cruel and unusual punishment ish ment or unreasonable search and seizure the 11 amendments later ratified followed in general the same trend notable among them were those abolishing slavery and broadening the basis of citizenship iz and of suffrage one which many believed infringed the individuals rights was repealed thus out of more than proposals the american con nat bation ion wido celebration of OT basic basic laws laws it 1 I 1 st anniversary recalls many odda and startling amendments that havo have been proposed devotion of the people to charters sound an and d liberal principles Is reflected in rejection of more than of those proposals 7 1 11 1 4 Z 21 T constitutional convention in independence itaki september 1787 W roin the painting by J D stearns gross and the american people approved the few whose purpose was to make our government more sound and more tree free nevertheless many of the rejected proposals are Interest interesting ingi and carry their lesson virtually all of them reflected some line of political thought of the day important 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 government As wo we glance at them today 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 hundreds proposed in recent sessions of our congress will seem similarly ridiculous to our great grandchildren would bar duelists there was for example an early proposal to bar from membership in congress anyone who had engaged in a duel dual either as a principal or a second there was one making it mandatory 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 dayl there I 1 was one requiring a representative for each of a states population which in round figures would give us representatives senta tives today there was one to give each state an extra senator for each million of population over the mark based on modern census figures this would give new ew york at least 12 senators pennsylvania 9 and illinois 7 there was one to abolish the senate altogether proposed of course urse by a member ot of the house of representatives many amendments have been offered to change the length of congressional terms the first proposed limiting a representatives service to ono one year later ones called variously for three four and six year terms in th the house others similarly proposed shortening service in the senate the executive department on recent count has been the subject of nearly proposed amendment i more than half of them were concerned with methods of election and terms of of ice floe of the president several of the strangest of t these iese would have had the president 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 bull ball would bo be president for a year to make the plan work out properly it was further proposed to limit the senatorial term to three years thus retiring one third of the members every 12 months 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 no nominate minate its candidate for president on a certain day all the balls properly M 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 proposal S affecting the selection of president were several offering a plan of alternating the office between incumbents from the north and south these as is apparent represented represent sd efforts to heal the widening breach between the two sections in the dark days before tho the war between the states another similar in objective would have created two chief executives one from each anch of the two rival sections citizens who find it hard to remember the names of our vice presidents would suffer added difficulties had one amendment affecting that office been adopted this proposed three extra vice presidents it was inspired undoubtedly by the observation that during many years of our history the office has been vacant af after ter tho the incumbent as tho duties of a deceased chief executive but some amend amendment ment m makers akers 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 voters who v watch our national con mentions vent ions with a sophisticated eye the man voted tor for as vice president he warned will be selected without any decisive view to his qualifications to administer the government the office will generally be carried into the market to be exchanged for the votes of some large states for president and the only criterion which will be regarded as a qualification for the office of vice president will be the temporary 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 proposed amendments of these approximately 50 per cent M k k M nw aft JAMES MADISON the father of the constitution ution 11 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 limiting the number of terms a president 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 ts Is interesting to note that this plan had been seriously discussed while the constitution was being drafted by the federal convention of 1787 there have been proposals too which would answer by the process of constitutional amendment the burning question what to do with our ex presidents some of those limiting the number 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 large of the house both for life others suggested pensioning bur ex presidents for the remainder of their lives proposed amendments affecting relationships between the ferl federal government and the s tates 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 reserved to the several states to be by them exercised with the phrase or to the people inserted after the word states this proposal became the tenth amendment the acquisition of new territories and the admission of new states have also inspired many amendment makers thomas jefferson when president was so doubtful of the constitutionality of the louisiana purchase that he drew up a proposed amendment to legalize the transaction other amendments offered at various times could have barred the acquisition of florida hawaii alaska and various noncontiguous contiguous non lands which now prosper under the american flag flae at least one proposed amendo amend ment would have put the federal government into land speculation on a giant scale by empowering congress to buy potential farm lands improve or develop them then sell them to citizens in an eff effort ort to promote farm ownership but of all types of proposed amendments those dealing with the relationship of the american citizen to his government or involving human rights were by far the most nu numerous more than three quarters of the amendments actually ratified and added to our constitution reflect these typically american concerns 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 the slavery issue appeared red by 1865 more than had been offered off cred shortly after that wa war r came a flood of amendments to extend the franchise to women a movement which won eventual success in the nineteenth ment to our constitution rati ratified fled in 1920 peoples power increased this amendment like so many earlier adopted increased the power po of the people in interesting contrast those which would have placed restrictions on the people made little progress proposed amendments to give the federal government authority over marriage or education for example have received scant encouragement coura gement from the public although hopefully and persistently resented protests against such tendencies have even found expression in one amendment forbidding the granting of additional powers to the federal government introduced in 1932 in contrast however to the attitude of our legislators during earlier days ot of the republic the practice of offering amendments appears to be growing at washington more than were proposed in the seventy fifth congress which closed its sessions last june but that the nation as a whole follows this trend has not been demonstrated to date statisticians estimate the score stands roughly at one constitutional amendment ratified out of every proposed to all true americans there seems sound reason for the people thus to avoid unwarranted tinkering with their basic law throughout the generations of our ur national existence they realize ize it has served the cause of human freedom and broadened the scope of human happiness as has no other written form of government in all history 0 western news aper union |