First published: Evening Star Washington, District of Columbia · Saturday, May 09, 1926

Winning Oration

By Robert Sessions, Phillips High School, Birmingham, Alabama

(Southern Zone Champion)

“The Constitution”

There are many interesting phases of the Constitution which must be passed over in order that we may consider, within the time allowed, the primary purpose of the fathers in framing this wonderful document.

The purpose as a whole is set forth in the six clauses of the Preamble, but it is only of the last that I shall speak—namely, “to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”

In considering this part of the founders’ purpose, we should never lose sight of the fact that they drew a broad and vital distinction between liberty and license. They aimed at government without despotism, and liberty without anarchy. Rational liberty was what they wanted—liberty tempered by self-restraint.

To them, the despotism of democracy was no better than the despotism of an oligarchy. The tyranny of the majority was as much to be dreaded as the tyranny of a monarch. They aimed to protect the minority as well as the majority.

Accordingly, they set up for us not what is sometimes referred to as pure democracy, but, on the contrary, a responsible, representative government, designed to guarantee the greatest possible amount of individual liberty consistent with the interests of society.

Natural Rights and Constitutional Guarantees

It should be known first of all that there are certain natural rights of the individual—such, for example, as those relating to life and liberty, trial by jury, religious freedom, the ownership of property, and many others. These are the heart and core of the Declaration of Independence itself, the recognized birthrights of every man since the days of Magna Charta. These have been woven into the very fabric of the Constitution and held inviolate against all the powers of government.

Moreover, there is a further protection of liberty guaranteed through an effective system of constitutional checks and balances. These are designed to restrain the exercise of arbitrary power or irresponsible authority.

For instance, there is the division of government into three well-known departments, each prohibited from exercising any authority belonging to the others.

There is the difficulty of amending the Constitution—a matter which rests solely with the sovereign people themselves.

There is the fearless, independent Federal judiciary, itself a mighty guardian of liberty, headed by the Supreme Court—a body which Bryce says:

“is not to be deemed so much a third authority in the Government as the living voice of the Constitution, the unfolder of the mind of the people, whose will stands expressed in that supreme instrument.”

These are a few of the many constitutional checks against the abuse of power which, taken together with the incorporation of natural rights into the Constitution itself, constitute for us our rock of defense—the bulwark of safety for the liberty of every individual.

Such was the primary aim of the founders of our Government.

A Record of Endurance

It is nearly a century ago since Lord Macaulay, arguing against the stability of the republic, said: “As for America, we appeal to the twentieth century.” Ladies and gentlemen, the twentieth century is here—in all the splendor of its achievement—and the old ship of state is proudly sailing on.

The Constitution went into effect 136 years ago, during which time there has been much to test its fiber. Since then this country has passed through the fires of a Civil War, which established once and for all the fact that this is a Union of States—“one and inseparable.”

The thirteen States with a population of three and a half million have grown to forty-eight States with a population of over one hundred million.

In the World War we loaned the Allies over ten billion dollars, raised four million troops on this side, and sent two million across the ocean to fight Germany on French soil in defense of liberty for all nations.

Yet the Constitution, as it stands today—though molded by judicial interpretation and broadened by usage and amendments to keep pace with a mighty growing nation—is the same Constitution in its sacred guarantee of individual liberty.

Our Responsibility Today

This heritage of liberty—safeguarded and bequeathed in trust to us by the fathers of ’87—what shall we of this generation do with it?

The answer is clear: We must pass the priceless treasure on, unshackled and secure, to the next generation. The challenge is to you and me and to every one who loves this country and enjoys the blessings of liberty under the American flag.

Soon after the adoption of the Constitution, and before it went into effect, Washington wrote to La Fayette these significant words:

“The Government can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any other despotic or oppressive form so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people.”

Ladies and gentlemen, Washington’s words clearly point the way. We must maintain virtue in the body of the people.

For one thing, we must face with courage, good temper, and common sense the question of assimilating the foreign-born element of our population. No doubt the laws should be better regulated and our efforts more intelligent and efficient.

To all those who come from other lands to help us preserve the fundamentals of our Government and make this a better country in which to live, we would extend the heartiest welcome. But we should never yield the right to be the judge of standards. Coming to this country entails a solemn obligation—and it is ours to see that the obligation is met.

Again, we should further every popular means of increasing interest in and reverence for the Constitution, so that it is revered not as an abstraction but as a vital thing, understood and valued.

Beginning in the home and in the public schools, we should instill greater respect for law and order—not blind obedience to arbitrary control, but willing obedience to what is right and reasonable. We should educate the masses in the duties of good citizenship, in a better understanding of the spirit of the American Government, in the broader meanings of patriotism, and in a stronger devotion to the flag and the glorious things for which it stands.

Let there be virtue in the body of the people, and we shall hand down to our posterity those blessings of liberty bought with the blood of patriots of old and preserved by the fathers in the finest example of free government the world has ever known.