About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

12 Wis. L. Rev. 313 (1936-1937)
Some Recent Proposals for Constitutional Amendment

handle is hein.journals/wlr12 and id is 327 raw text is: SOME RECENT PROPOSALS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT JANE PERRY CLARK The overwhelmingly important issue of the times is whether power exists in government to meet and cope with the growth and the concentration of economic power. Since the Supreme Court weeded out the roots of federal authority in regard to the Railroad Retirement Act, the N.I.R.A., the A.A.A., and the Guffey Coal Act,' it has become clearly apparent that the federal government has no power to control certain social and economic difficulties. Until the effect of the New York minimum wage decision was changed and it was decided that states do have power to enact minimum wage legis- lation,2 states were also effectively prevented from certain types of social and economic regulation. As a result, those who realize the necessity for such control have come to believe that the Constitution must be re-interpreted by .a liberal court in accordance with present- day needs, or must be amended to make it more clearly responsive to those needs. Those who advocate the reinterpretation theory main- tain that a narrow view is a perversion of the intention of the fathers, who were in favor of a broad national power to act for the general welfare of the people. All that is necessary, in this view, is to return to the concept of the fathers.3 Those who disagree with this insist that even if the courts, by one means or another, are persuaded to use judicial self-restraint in interpretation of the Constitution, neverthe- less, courts are always subject to the winds of political change and new uncertainties may always be substituted for present ones. The advocates of constitutional amendment furthermore see the necessity for clearer definition of the functions and responsibilities of govern- ment than is provided by the present constitutional phraseology. 1 Railroad Retirement Board v. Alton Ry. Co., 295 U. S. 330, 55 Sup. Ct. 8 (1935) ; A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U. S. 495, 55 Sup. Ct. 837 (1935); United States v. Butler, 297 U. S. 1, 56 Sup. Ct. 312 (1936) ; Carter v. Carter Coal Co., 298 U. S. 238, 56 Sup. Ct. 855 (1936). 2Morehead, Warden v. Tipaldo, 298 U. S. 587, 56 Sup. Ct. 918 (1936); West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 57 Sup. Ct. 578 (1937) (in substance overruling the holding of unconstitutionality in the Tipaldo case). 'Cf., for example, Corwin, The Commerce Power versus States Rights (1936) passim; Brant, Storm Over the Constitution (1936) passim; Wallace, Whose Con- stitution (1936) passim; Beard, The Kind of a Constitution Its Makers In- tended, Roosevelt Record, April 25, 1936, p. 3. et. seq.; Acheson, Address before Maryland State Bar Association, Atlantic City, N. J. July 4, 1936; Corwin, President and Court, a Crucial Issue, N. Y. Times Magazine, Feb. 14, 1937.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most