ful, continued scrutiny, analysis, and debate, in both public and private life. This, it may be said, was because it was new, or because the people then were more interested than now in such matters, and had more time for political questions and for civic duties, and were not devoted to waxing powerful through wealth, nor distracted by the pursuit of pleasure and of the social distinctions of a day. But if this nation is to continue in its phenomenal progress, it can only be accomplished by following in the footsteps of those men of the past who not only gave it birth by the Constitution, but by a wonderful exposition of its principles and provisions so enlightened and inspired a grateful posterity that the most magnificent effort of constructive statesmanship has become a living and vital thing.

Properly to estimate legislation, the possession of qualifications for judgment is imperatively required. This depends largely upon acquaintance with the general principles upon which government is based. With such knowledge, a position can be taken correctly, safely, and honestly, and without passion, in case of difference for argument or disagreement. This is This is not only a right, but a duty as well, and the important result is that the voter can then intelligently voice and help enforce his opinion with the ballot. He can also determine for himself whether the law passed by his legislative representatives is constitutional or not. Above all things, he is bound hereditarily and by his personal interest, to resolve this question in order to safeguard the Constitution from enervating influences.

It is said to be the practice of certain patriotic societies to celebrate the seventeenth of September-the day on which the Constitution was signed by the members of the convention—as "Constitution Day." Why should not this excellent practice be made universal? Why should we not, as a people, give recognition to the anniversary of the most important day in our political history by placing it permanently in our calendar as a day of national observance? If we had a "Constitution Day" in our calendar of holidays, it would tend to fix in the minds of the American people the conviction that they cannot, with impunity either to themselves or to their descendants, neglect an instrument which safeguards their several kinds of liberty. The Fourth of July is set aside for celebrating the Declaration of Independence. The signing of that immortal declaration of rights and the adoption of the Constitution should ever be associated. The one begat the other; and since it is fitting that Independence Day should be kept, there is every reason to set apart a portion of time to study and reflect upon the fundamental principles of government which have made us great. There is a law for the observance of Flag Day, on which reverence is paid to the national emblem; likewise Labor Day, in recognition of the national potentiality; Columbus Day is observed in memory of the discoverer of America; Washington's Birthday is given over to the memory of the "Father of his Country"; Lincoln's Birthday is set apart in honor of the preserver of the Union; Thanksgiving Day is the time for thanksgiving to the Almighty for our

many blessings; and it is believed that there is as much room for a "Constitution Day" as for the other important holidays. It is thought that no one would deny the necessity for such a day or oppose legislation providing for it. The importance at the present time of having such a day is obvious.

Another way to inculcate reverence for the Constitution, besides setting apart a day for its commemoration, is to instruct the young in the sacred, vital, and elastic principles of our fundamental laws. This could be done by reading daily in our public schools and colleges and other institutions of learning passages from the Constitution, in a similar manner to the reading of the Bible. Some one has characterized the Bible as the Book that paved the way and made possible by evolution religious liberty. Since the reading of the Bible is held to be essential to the wellbeing of the people, and the Constitution is sometimes called the palladium of our liberty, no good reason is perceived why a document which has formed us into a mighty nation should not receive at least the same attention as is given to the Book of Books. There can be no doubt that the reverence for the Bible is the result of early teaching and study; and if the prevalent slight esteem for the Constitution is the result of inattention, there can be no better remedy evolved than to implant in the minds and hearts of the young the purposes and genius of our scheme of government.

The popular ignorance of the meaning of the Constitution is appalling. Enshrined in that document is all that

the average man holds most dear-al

though he is little aware of it. It contains the right of free speech, the right of peaceable assembly, the right of petition; it provides for religious liberty, for trial by jury, for immunity from unreasonable searches and seizures, for freedom of the press. In short, it gives guarantees which all freemen, if they would deserve the name, must not only reverence but vigorously support. The statement may be ventured that, outside of the legal fraternity, very few understand the spirit, intendment, scope, and practical workings, in its triumvirate provisions, of this fundamental law. The existence of this very ignorance, if not checked and eradicated from the body public, will make possible the attempts of designing persons to change it into a congeries of laws embodying mere police questions having to do with state, municipal, or local policies. The Constitution, in its several specific and general sections and paragraphs, is not addressed to the government or regulation of private or individual rights or to interference in local or state matters. It is a generic scheme of gov ernment, comprehensive in its provi sions, and relates to the control and operation of the activities committed to the federal government, as distinguished from those which flow out of the several necessities of individual communities throughout the states. An examination of the context of the Constitution and of the amendments will show that it was never originally ordained, nor has it through its amendments acquired the power, to regulate the individual in his personal, moral. religious, and other similar pursuits.

Some may say unthinkingly, and some have said with design, that such an ancient work as the Constitution has but an historic value; that it is to be regarded as antiquarian property and examined as such, merely as a curiosity; that it was sufficient when the country was in the formative stage, but not at its fruition; and that what is now needed is centralization of power. When this is the position taken, and when reference to the men of the past and their writings is derided by the young and the old, then indeed our form of government is in danger. There is as much, nay, more, reason today to do as our predecessors did in government in their day and age; for it is certain that by the instrumentality that creates, the creation must stand; and it were the height of folly to be blind to its virtue and worth.

After securing the establishment by law of a "Constitution Day," the legislatures of the several states should call for the daily reading of the Constitution to the school children of America, and this effort should be supplemented by groups of men versed in the meaning of the Constitution, who would take upon themselves the task of expounding it in their respective communities. This would have a salutary effect in checking and preventing unscrupulous persons in their assaults upon the sacred principles of the Constitution, and at the same time would help to explain intelligently and successfully to the citizen the wonderful work of our forefathers who builded so well.

Last September the writer was invited by Mr. Louis A. Bowman, secretary of the Illinois Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, to attend a dinner to be given by the society at the Union League Club in Chicago, and to deliver an address on "The Constitution." The day appointed was the seventeenth of September, which is the anniversary of the date of the completion and signing of that immortal document by the constitutional convention which framed it. I accepted the invitation, and was delighted to learn of the intense interest manifested by the members of the society in the Constitution, and was very happily surprised to hear that over two years ago Mr. David L. Pierson, then Historian General of the national society of the Sons of the American Revolution, had suggested the wisdom of observing the anniversary of September 17th, 1787, and urged the President General of the society to call upon the compatriots of the Sons of the American Revolution fittingly to observe the day which gave birth to our republic and made possible the blessings of representative government for the first time in the history of the world.

The very wholesome suggestion of Mr. Pierson was concurred in, and for the past two years the President General of the Sons of the American Revolution has issued a proclamation, which is in part as follows: "Let there be a general display of the United States flag. Let the various departments of education in the states and municipali

ties be urged to open the morning session of all schools with exercises, reciting the story of the birth of the Constitution, and calling attention to the sacred rights and blessed privileges which every citizen enjoys under its protection. The President General has appointed a committee of 100 members of the Sons of the American Revolution to act as a national committee, urging governors of states and mayors of cities to issue proclamations for the observance of this day. This committee will co-operate with state and local committees, so that Constitution Day will have an honored place in our calendar of patriotic anniversaries."

I am also advised that the National

Security League, with its splendid organization, is making a vigorous campaign for the observance of Constitution Day, and that on September 11th. 1918, the following letter was sent out to all the branches of the League by the very efficient educational director, tember 17th, 1787, the federal ConstiDr. Robert M. McElroy: "On Septution of the United States was signed by 'the unanimous consent of the states then present' in the convention. It was to go into effect as soon as the conventions of nine states had expressed their approval. As we have long celebrated the signing of our Declaration of Independence, on July 4th, 1776, so it seems fitting at a time like this that we should mark the important event of the signing of our Constitution, by appropriate national exercises. In the

Declaration of Independence we announced to the world our determination to be free; in the Constitution we gave to the world a model of free government which has profoundly affected the constitutions and the political thinking of every nation. But there are still myriads, even of our own people, ignorant of the real meaning of our federal Constitution, and the safety of our nation is menaced by that ignorance. While our enemies are laboring to convince these people that our Constitution has outlived its usefulness, we should be laboring to show them its value. While our enemies strive to convince them that they can secure their highest interests only by repudiating that wonderful instrument, we should include in our campaign of patriotism through education a nationwide movement to prove to them that every worthy ambition can be realized under its liberal provisions or through the process of amendment. The executive committee of the National Security League has therefore appointed the undersigned committee, and we wish to suggest that, as president of a branch of the National Security League, you organize, for September 17th, a local celebration designed to teach the people of your community, especially the school children, to rejoice in their Constitution, to reverence its liberal provisions, and to follow with enthusiasm the world-wide course of its influence. We suggest that the schools be made the center of this celebration, so far as possible, and that every effort be made to employ the services of students of our Constitution, whether lawyers or laymen, in

this patriotic work. The National Security League is planning for a nationwide observance of the anniversary of the Constitution, and we hope that the branches, in their celebration of the signing, will prepare the way for this general movement."

It has occurred to me that it would be an excellent thing for the members of the National Association for Constitutional Government, and of other patriotic bodies, to co-operate with the Sons of the American Revolution and the National Security League in bringing about the general observance of the anniversary of September 17th, 1787, as "Constitution Day." It was recently said by an eminent American statesman: "People are influenced very much by the definite and concrete, and the spectacle of simultaneous and universal honor to the men who framed the Constitution will have a powerful effect upon millions of people who have not time or inclination to consider the political philosophy which underlies the Constitution." He added: "Since the Bolsheviki dispersed the constituent assembly of Russia by force of arms, I have thought a great many times what would have happened to us if an armed force had broken up and driven away our constitutional convention of 1787."

In a resolution adopted in Philadelphia at the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the Constitution of the United States, it was beautifully and appropriately recited that: "The adoption of the Constitution of the United States is the most important event in the history of the American people, and the instrument itself