Salt Lake Tribune | 1910-02-18 | Page 6 | The Root Amendment

s THE ROOT AMENDMENT. It is evident that Senator Root, in common with other first-class eonstitu-, eonstitu-, (ional lawyers, has doubt about the constitutionality con-stitutionality of tho establishment by Congress of postal savings banks. The point of unconstitutionality was. directly direct-ly mado against tho bill by Senator Rn.ynor a few days ago in his discussion discus-sion of it, in the Senate: and now Senator Sen-ator lioot proposes au amendment lo tho bill, which in his judgment will go far to euro thai, defect. Senator Root, and those who are with him in this, contend that in order to constitutionally constitution-ally junlity the creation of poslal savings sav-ings brinks, (heir establishment must be placed under tho borrowing clause of tho constitution'. Therefore, ho has offered an amendment, providing that the deposits made in these banks shall be invested in United States bonds. It is evident that unless the borrowing borrow-ing clause of the constitution will cover this objection mado lo the bill, there is despair of finding in that instrument any basis for its enactment. If Senator Sen-ator Boot ah1 others who hold wilh him should opposo the .bill because of the lack of authority in the constitution for its enactment, it is not likely that Ihc bill could pass. On the other hand, those who arc especially es-pecially urging tho bill, sco in this Boot amendment its defeat. For, ns thoy beliovo, the postal deposits would very soon be sufficient to tako up all tho bonds of tho United Stales, and there would be none of them left to servo as tho basis of national bank currency. Tt is inconceivable, of course, that Ihc Government should niako special issues of bonds in time of peace, morely to fake up tho savings sav-ings bank deposits, without, any need to borrow. Tho dilemma thus presented is a very serious one. It is not a question in the least of argument, or of academic hypothesis, hypo-thesis, but is a pressing, practical difficulty dif-ficulty that is almost certain to defeat the bill 1)3 showing, first, its probable unconstitutionally, and second, the impossibility of putting it into prac tical operation if it is passed with the Bool; amendment. Between these two horns of the dilemma, it is altogether likoly that tho postal savings bank proposition prop-osition will fail in the Senate. Tho proposition to onact such a statute stat-ute as this is entirety unprecedented in tho history of tho country, and if such a law should bo passed and its constitutionality consti-tutionality affirmed .by the United States Suproino Court, there would scorn to be no portion of the banking business into which the .Federal Government could not lawfully enter upon and con-'duct.