The Short Constitution Part 26

4. What States adopted Const.i.tutions before the adoption and ratification of the Const.i.tution of the United States?

5. Can the people of the State of New York enact a law punishing a person for coining silver dollars? Why?

6. Can Congress pa.s.s a law Sting the punishment of a person for stealing a horse in the State of Michigan?

7. When was the State in which we live admitted to the Union?

8. Who framed the Const.i.tution of this State?

ADVANCED QUESTIONS

A. What is a const.i.tution?

B. Explain fully how a Const.i.tution of a State comes into, being.

C. Must a const.i.tution be in writing? If not, what may be its form?

D. State how the Const.i.tution of the United States may be amended.

E. In what way may the Const.i.tution of a State be amended?

F. Write briefly telling the advantages of a written const.i.tution.

G. State in writing the power of the courts in exercising their power and duty of defending the Const.i.tution. Give an ill.u.s.tration.

H. Write an explanation of the power and influence of the Const.i.tution of the United States in guiding the people in framing the Const.i.tutions of their States, and in what things the Const.i.tution of the States follow the Const.i.tution of the United States.

XXVIII. THE SUFFRAGE

The Significance Of The Nineteenth Amendment To The Const.i.tution

This meeting was at night. Some of the parents who had attended the talks from time to time had requested that the last meeting be held at night so that some of the busy fathers and mothers might come. The a.s.sembly room was crowded, and although extra chairs had been placed in the aisles, there were a number of people standing. The princ.i.p.al said that it was the largest crowd that he had ever seen in the room.(107)

First everybody arose and sang "The Star Spangled Banner", and when the meeting closed, the audience joined in singing "America".(108) The judge was greeted with loud applause. He said:

I am happy to-night. This meeting is an inspiration. It is a real community meeting, a real American meeting. If meetings like this were held once each week or once every two weeks in every school building in the United States I should not fear socialism or bolshevism or anarchy.

Such ideas cannot live in a community where the people really know each other. There are no cla.s.s lines here to-night. You are too close together.

I see a banker over there whom I have known for thirty years. He was brought up in this city, attended this school, and has spent his whole life here. His success in life came to him among old friends in the community where he was born. Near him I see a bricklayer. I have known him and respected him since boyhood. We played on the same baseball team when we were both younger and could run faster than we can now. He went to the Washington school. The children of these men are in this school now. In a few years they will be grown men and women doing the work that we shall have to give up soon.(109)

So with most of the people in this room to-night. They were born here, went to school here, and they have worked here all their lives. Some followed one occupation, some another. This was a matter of their own choice. Their children are now growing up, as they once grew up. Soon they will be selecting their life work. Soon they will be voting and performing other duties of citizenship. Soon you and I, fathers and mothers, will pa.s.s off the stage of life. Soon we shall be forgotten by all except the few who compose the family circle, who love us notwithstanding our faults.

For a few weeks I have been acting as teacher. I have been trying hard to bring into the minds and hearts of the pupils in this school something of the sacredness of human liberty, something of the cost of American liberty, the sacrifices, the struggles, the bloodshed, the heartaches, and heartbreaks which finally triumphed when our Const.i.tution was adopted. I have endeavored to explain that the Const.i.tution is not a mere skeleton or framework, defining the relation of the Nation and the States and providing for the election of officers to carry out the plans of the National government. I have repeatedly told the great truth that in America there is more freedom, justice, charity, and kindness than in any other Nation in the world. I have pointed out that in America we have in our Const.i.tution written guaranties of life, liberty, and property rights such as no other Nation in the history of the world ever had. We have found that this is a government by the people, that the people rule, that the few cannot rule unless the many refuse to perform their duties as citizens of this great republic. Oh! if we can only put in the hearts of the American people a realization of the _power_ and the _duty_ of the people!

To-night I wish to present briefly something of the manner in which the people express their power, the method by which the people disclose their wishes in public affairs. The Star Baseball Club, the Irving Literary Society, the City Teachers a.s.sociation, the Woman's Club, the Charity Guild, these are all mere organisations of people. _That is all that America is._ These organizations have written const.i.tutions. _So has America._ These organizations must have laws or rules of conduct, aside from their const.i.tutions. _So must America._ These societies must have a policy and transact business. _So must America._ In adopting laws or rules of conduct these societies secure an expression of the wishes of their members. These wishes are generally expressed by their votes, sometimes by ballot and sometimes orally in a meeting.

America secures an expression of the wishes of the people by their votes.

The votes of the people either in writing or printed are cast on election days fixed by laws enacted through the vote of the people. In no other way can the wishes of the people be made known. It, is through the ballot that the people exercise their powers. It is through the ballot that America is governed.(110)

I wonder if the people of America generally realize what a wonderful thing it is that a government as large as ours must depend entirely upon the wishes of the people expressed by their vote on election day. I wonder if they realize that in this way the people rule. On election day we see something of the equality of the people. If you go near the polling place, you will see the president of the bank, perhaps, or the president of the railroad walking side by side with the hodcarrier or the brakeman on the train. In the voting booth each has the same power in helping to shape the destiny of their country.

In a way this is a new method of government. Only in a country where there is a government by the people do we find such a thing as the right of all men regardless of property, race, or creed to exercise the same power in the ballot box.(111)

From the beginning America has led in granting the right of suffrage, the right to vote. In the early days in some of the States a man had to own a certain amount of property before he could vote, but this has not been true for more than fifty years. _Now a new day has come._ After a struggle for generations, the right to vote has been conferred upon all female citizens, regardless of property, social position, religion, or race. It has been a long struggle and now that victory has been won for equal suffrage, is there anyone who will still contend that in this country the people do not rule?

Who has conferred this great privilege upon the women of America? The voters of America decided that every State should grant this privilege.

The amendment to the Const.i.tution is as follows:

"_The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of s.e.x._"

The people did not vote directly upon this const.i.tutional amendment, but they voted for the members of the House and the members of the Senate who voted for the amendment and they voted for the members of the legislatures of the different States which ratified the amendment. Thus the responsibility rests with the people. This is true of course as to nearly all the laws enacted by State and Nation-the people do not vote directly upon them, but they select their agents, who, under the law, are authorized to act for them.

Under this amendment we have the written guaranty in the Const.i.tution that so far as men and women are concerned they shall have equal rights to vote.(112)

Perhaps you were not in favor of woman suffrage. Many good men and women were opposed to it. Many are still opposed to it. This is a good ill.u.s.tration of the way we do things in a democracy. We have different temperaments, different dispositions. We are reared in different surroundings. We have different interests. We look at life in different ways. Each of us has a right to his opinion and each of us has the right to express it by our vote. When we finally vote, a decision is made. If we belong to the majority, we find that our wish is carried out. If we are in the minority, we cheerfully follow what the majority of the people, what most of the people in America desire.

The thing that I wish to impress to-night is that to vote on election day is not only a right, it is a duty. Whether we were for woman suffrage or not it has come. It is settled. It brings into power twenty-seven million new voters. Each of these women, whether she desires it or not, must a.s.sume this new share of the responsibilities of government. It is a patriotic duty. At every election we must cast our votes. Before every election we must study the issues, the problems to be met. Unless we do that we are failing in patriotism and loyalty. Unless we vote we are not good citizens.

Now I must close. I hope that the talks I have given in this school have planted in the hearts of boys and girls, and possibly in the hearts of grown men and women, something of the simple truth of American life, something perhaps of the privileges of American citizenship and something of the duties that we all owe in return.

I have promised the princ.i.p.al of this school that next term I will again appear and present some new topics. I wish to talk to the boys and girls about authority and obedience, the source of authority and the duty of obedience. I wish also to talk about the making of laws, the origin of laws, how they are put in form and finally enacted by the people. I wish to talk about our public servants, because one of the important things for each citizen to know is that from the President of the United States down to the constable of the humblest village, all officers are mere servants of the people and that no officer in America is in his official capacity master of any man, woman, or child. I wish to impress as far as I am able the great truth expressed by Chief Justice Marshall when he said long years ago, "This is a government of laws and not of men."

ELEMENTARY QUESTIONS

1. Show the ways in which the United States is just like a small club?

2. Why must we always vote?

3. Why is it right that women should vote?

4. Show that this is more than a privilege: it is a duty.

5. Imagine some person saying that America is only for the rich. Review all the work that we have done, and show how it is just as fair to the poor man as to the rich.

ADVANCED QUESTIONS

A. Re-read the questions to chapters one and two. Note the difference in your answers.

B. Map out a program so that you can show to all critics of America the ways in which the Const.i.tution of the United States gives to all Americans the rights to LIFE, LIBERTY, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.

C. You can now answer fully the question, "Why is America the most free and most just Nation on the globe?"

D. What did Chief Justice Marshall mean when he said, "This is a government of laws, and not of men."