![handle is hein.beal/pssgcstn0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
THE PASSING OF THE CONSTITUTION
Our form of government may remain notwithstanding legisla-
tion or decision, but as long ago observed, it is with governments
as with religions, the form may survive the substance of the
faith.--Chief Justice Fuller.
SPEECH
OF
HON. JAMES M. BECK
OF PENNSYLVANIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ON THE INDUSTRIAL REcOVERY BILL
Thursday, May 25, 1933
Mr. BECK. Mr. Chairman and my colleagues of the
House, I say without affectation that I never rose to address
the House with a greater sense of responsibility than at this
moment. It is not that I flatter myself for one moment that
anything that I can say, or possibly anything that anyone
else can say, will influence a single vote, and that remark is
in no respect an imputation upon the sincerity, the candor,
or the patriotism of any Member of the House; but argu-
ments rarely change votes, as we all know. However, it does
seem to me important to make a record, if it is possible, of
what is a very critical hour in the history of the Republic,
so that future generations, if they turn back to the CONGRES-
SIONAL RECORD, may know that there were some Members of
the House, who at least protested against a transforma-
tion of that form of government, under which we had grown
surpassingly rich and powerful, into a new form of govern-
ment, which those who framed the Constitution, if they
could revisit the glimpses of the moon , would today be
unable to recognize.
As the shadows of evening are lengthening with us now,
the shadows of a lasting night are falling upon the old con-
stitutional edifice, which the genius of Washington, Frank-
lin, Madison, Hamilton, and Jefferson built with such sur-
passing wisdom. While Jefferson was not a member of the
Constitutional Convention, his ideal of liberty was one of its
inspirations, and it might be well to recall, as we consider the
nature of this bill, those noble words of his first inaugural,
which I may commend to the nominal disciples of Jefferson
here assembled, when he said that his ideal of a true republic
was a wise and frugal government, which would restrain
men from injuring each other, but otherwise leave them free
to pursue their own pursuits of liberty and industry, and
shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has
earned. [Applause.] I quote from memory, but with sub-
176780-9451](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.beal/pssgcstn0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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