PA.
Bergamim Inankliry
September 17 is celebrated throughout the
United States as Constitution day, since it
was on tht date in 1787 that the delegates
to the Constitutional convention in Philadel.
phia finished their work and signed their
names to the document under which the
United States has been governed for 148
years, What manner of men were these
“Fathers of the Republic”? What was their
preparation for their great work? Under
what circumstances did they bring Into ex.
istence one of the most important charters
of government in all history? What did
they think of the fruits of their labor after
they had finished?
These and other questions which naturally
come to mind as we celebrate Constitution
day are answered in this article,
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
TY WAS hot in Philadelphia that sum-
mer of 1787—one of the hottest the
little eity had ever known. And of
all its 20,000 inhabitants none suf-
fered more discomfort than a little
group of 40 or 50 men who gathered
every day In a small room In the
State house and sweltering there be-
hind closed windows and closed doors
wrestled with the tremendous task
of saving a new nation from chaos
For indeed the fortunes of the
United States of America had about reached
their lowest ebb. Only 15 members, represent.
ing seven states, were attending the sessions of
the Continental congress, which was making a
futile effort, under the authority given it by the
Articles of Confederation, to function as a gov.
erning body. Measure after measure was pro.
posed In congress to provide funds for govern.
ment expenses but most of these falled for Jack
of the necessary nine votes. Even when the
bills were passed the states treated the demands
upon them for funds with the greatest Indiffer-
ence. In fact, a more appropriate name for the
nation at that time would have been the Dis
united States of America.
The soldiers of the disbanded army which had
won the fight for freedom from England were
unpald and in an ugly mood. They wanted thelr
money, long overdue, and large numbers of them
camped outside the city and began threatening
to stone the building where the congress was
meeting unless their demands were met. Pres
ently the situation became so threatening that
the congress had to flee from Philadelphia to
Princeton, N. J., where it sat for a while, then
went on to New York.
From New York the congress authorized the
holding of a constitutional convention and called
on the states to send delegates to such a meeting
in Philadelphia “to take Into consideration the
situation of the United States, to revise the Arti
cles of Confederation and to devise such further
provisions as should appear to them necessary
to render the Constitution of the federal gov
ernment adequate to the exigencies of the
Union." Each state could send as many dele
gates as it pleased, since each was to have but
one collective vote,
Of all the states only Rhode Island, which had
been at odds with the federal government almost
from the beginning, refused to sends any dele
gates at all and, consistent with its attitude, it
was the last to ratify the Constitution after one
was finally adopted. New Hampshire was In
favor of the meeting but because of lack of
funds Its delegates did not arrive until the cone
vention was well under way,
Altogether 77 of the leading citizens of the 13
states were accredited as delegates although
some of them falled or refused to go. Outstand-
ing among the latter was Patrick Henry, the
flery orator of the Revolution, who was sus
picious of the purposes of the convention. or,
as he phrased It, “I smelt a rat!” Of the 72 ac-
credited delegates, 55 took part In the delibera.
They were the following:
CONNECTICUT—Roger Sherman and Willlam
8. Johnson, -
DELAWARE~RIichard Bassett, Gunning Bed-
ford, Jr, Jacob Broom, John Dickinson and
\ George Read.
MARYLAND--Dantel Carroll, Dante! Jenifer
and James McHenry,
Rufus King,
| NEW HAMPSHIRE-Nicholas Gilman and
John Langdon,
NEW JERSEY-—David Breasley, Jonathan
| NEW YORK~—Alexander Hamilton.
| NORTH CAROLINA—William Blount, Richard
\'p, Spaight a and Hugh Willlamson.
|Pitzsimmons, Benjamin Franklin, Jared Ingor-
‘
0 :
Alexanders Hamiltow
8cll, Thomas Mifflin, Gouverneur Morris, Robert
Morris and James Wilson.
SOUTH CAROLINA-—Plerce Butler, Charles
Pinckney, Charles C. Piockney and John Rud-
ledge,
VIRGINIA—John Blair, James Madison and
George Washington.
Of this number more than half, 21, were law-
yers. Bix are classified as “statesmen” three
were farmers, landowners or planters, three were
merchants, two bankers or “financiers.” one an
educator, two physicians and one a soldier. Most
of them were well educated. Nine of them had
studied In the Inner Temple or the Middle Tem
ple In England, one at Oxford under Blackstone
and two in Scottish universities. Half of the
delegates were graduates of American or Euro
pean colleges, three were professors and one,
Dr. Willlam 8. Johnson, was president of Colum-
bia college, on leave of absence to act as dele
gate from Connecticut,
Moreover It was a convention of young men.
The patriarch Benjamin Franklin was then
eighty-one years old, but 20 of the 55 were un-
der forty years of age. Jonathan Dayton of New
Jersey was the “baby” of the convention—only
twenty-seven years old, Charles Pinfkney, who
gubmitted the first draft of the Constitution, was
only two years his elder. Alexander Hamilton
of New York, destined to play a leading role in
the convention but a more important one in se
curing the ratification of the Constitution, was
barely thirty, and James Madison, who would
become known as the “Father of the Constitu-
tion,” was thirty-six.
John Marshall, then only thirty-two years old,
was not a delegate to the convention. But be-
cause of his part in securing the ratification of
the Constitution and the work he did as chief
ustice of the United States later In interpreting
it and strengthening the federal foundations of
the government by means of it, he is entitled to
a high place among the “Makers of the Constitue
tion.”
The date set for the opening of the convention
was the second Monday in May, The roads of
that time were poor and travel was expensive
and slow, so it was not until two weeks later
that the first meeting was held,
The convention niet formally for the first time
en Friday, May 25, although only a few more
than half the delegates had arrived by that time,’
Seven states were represented at this meeting,
according to one authority ; according to another,
there were nine. Whatever the number, those
present got down to business at once by electing
a presiding officer. Benjamin Franklin, because
he graciously waived that honor and suggested
the choice of George Washington, the late com
mander In the struggle for liberty.
Washington's election was unanimous and he
presided throughout the convention with his
usual dignity. His chalr was on a raised plat-
form and it was a rule of the sessions
-
Jet
-
days, to the disgust of his audience, and while
others were not so long-winded as he, they made
up for It by the frequency with which they spoke.
Debate, argument, controversy, bitterness over
clashing personalities agd viewpoints—all of
these characterized the convention which finally
produced the Constitution of the United States
Nor was the sultry weather conducive to seren-
ity and judicial consideration of momentous
problems. More than once the convention threat.
ened to break up and If it had It might have
meant the end of the federal union. But more
than once wise old Ben Franklin acted as peace-
maker and saved the situation.
Once he tided thé convention over a deadlock
by suggesting that the delegates seek guidance
In prayer. This brought from Hamilton the
caustic remark that “no foreign ald was needed.”
a remark that was something of a fling at Frank-
lin's well-known fondness for the French. When
another crisis came Franklin suggested a tem-
porary adjournment and along with the recess
came a proverbial drop In the temperature In
which tempers cocled both literally and figura-
tively,
The greater part of the controversy revolved
around three principal plans of government—
the Virginia plan, sponsored by Madison, which
safeguarded the rights of the states: the New
York plan, sponsored by Hamilton, which looked
to a strong centralized federal government: and
the New Jersey plan, which was In the nature
of a compromise between the two, Eventually
the substance of the Virginia plan, with its 15
“resolutions” expanded to 23, won out.
On July 28 the convention turned over the
Job of making a final draft of the complete Con-
stitution to a “committee on detail” and ad-
committee embodied some suggestions of its own
In the document. Then the delegates returned
to their labors, studying and debating every line
alterations and compromising differences In
phraseology. Finally It was turned over to a
“committee on style” which polished up the
phraseology. Out of that committee, headed by
Gouverneur Morris, came the sonorous “We, the
People of the United States, In order to form a
more perfect union, ete”
gone over agaln for there were still delegates
opposed to one or another aspect of it. Indeed
there were some who refused to be satisfied with
it and who refused to sign it.
Gouverneur Morris won over several obstinate
approve the Constitution as states even though
they personally refused to sign It and at last all
those present except Gerry, Mason and Randolph
te fact g their great task
:
i
fis
1
DIFFERENT AMOUNTS
OF LIGHT NEEDED
A survey shows that 22 per cent
of children finishing grade school
have damaged eye sight, When they
have finished college, 40 per cent are
80 affected, At age forty, 65 per cent
suffer from visual defects. And at
age sixty, 95 per cent have eye de
fects,
This regrettable Increase In eye
troubles is In many Instances caused
by eye strain resulting from read.
ing, studying, sewing at night with
poor light and not enough light,
Sclence measures light in terms of
foot-candles. A foot-candie Is the
amount of light one standard ean
dle shines on a surface one foot
away.
For seeing one's way around and
performing ordinary tasks which do
not require seeing very small ob
jects, 5 foot-candles Is sufficient, For
reading coarse print and large stitch
sewing, you can get along with 10
loot-candles. For continued reading
of ordinary print, or doing ordinary
sewing, you need at least 20 foot-can-
dies, For reading fine print and fine
sewing, you require 30 foot-candles,
or more,
Your light may look bright, but it
Is the Hlumination you get on your
work that saves your eyes from
strain; and this diminishes rapidly
the farther away you are from your
lamp.
Beated with your paper or work 3
feet away from your lamp, it will re-
quire a light of at least 275 eandle.
power to produce the 30 foot-candles
needed to be certain your eyes have
enough light to do thelr work with.
out danger of strain and permanent
injury.
size bulbs to use,
If your home is not wired, one of
A————
for every home need. It takes the
pressure to give you all the light you
should have,
“Sunburst” Collar and
Cuff Set for Fal
By GRANDMOTHER CLARK
This Collar and Cuff set is quite s
departure from the many models
shown in open net work. The solid
work gives the pleces more definite
form and very little starching is
necessary to hold the shape. Collar
and Cuff sets are going to add ag
traction to fall dresses more than
they did last spring so a little time
given your crochet now will find you
ready when the season makes its
change,
Package No. 711 contains sufficient
white Mountain Craft erochet cotton
to complete this three piece set. Com
plete Instructions and set illustrated
on a model are also included
Send 25 cents and you receive this
Instroe-
for 10 cents,
Address Home Craft Co, Dept, B,
Inclose a stamped addressed en
velope for reply when writing for
any Information,
der Specialists
powder =
THIS BREAKFAST
IS GREAT,
AND HOW
WHADAYA SAY?