FRIDAY. MAY 24. 1963 uiimmu Behind the News miiiiHHmimmmimmiimiiimiiiumf: Pa. Constitutions Placed In Historical Perspective By PHILIP S. KLEIN Professor of American History Pennsylvanians have lived under eight constitutions, four of them colonial and four of them since independence from Britain in 1776. The four colo nial constitutions showed a very rapid development of the system of Republican govern ment. The first constitution in 1682 provided for centralized power in the hands of Penn and his appointed governor. Within two decades, the locus of power had been shitted from the executive to the assembly. The constitution ot 1701 turned Penn’s governors into adminis trators and placed the power to make laws in the hands of the elected assembly. The Revolutionary War par ty in Pennsylvania overthrew the Constitution of 1701 and set up in its place the first state constitution—that of 1776. Because the Revolution symbo ized in part an assault on cen tralized authority (the King), the Pennsylvania constitution makers abolished entirely the governor’s office and put in its place an elected committee of 12, called the Supreme Execu tive Council. Management of the government was placed in the hands of an assembly whose members were elected annually. This system, the most decentralized government Pennsylvania has ever known, did not work well. It lacked continuity, it lacked adminis trative authority, and it dif fused responsibility, with the result that no one took respon sibility and the society fell into near chaos. Adopt New Constitution In 1790, following the enthu siasm which had been gener ated for the new' Constitution of the United States, Pennsyl vanians got rid of their 1776 constitution and adopted the constitution of 1790. which they patterned closely after the new federal constitution. The con stitution of 1790 again created a governor, and this time made the office very strong. The pa tronage of Pennsylvania’s gov ernor was larger than that of any person in the country save the President of the United States. A Senate of 33 and an Assembly of 100 members held powers similar to those pre scribed for the federal Con gress. Judges were appointed by the governor and' held of fice for life. All resident males (including Negroes by implica cation) could vote upon reach ing the age of 21. This constitution proved ef fective but in time shov'ed some flaws which later had to be reformed. First, the three terms for governor, coupled w’ith the vast appointive pow er of this office, made the gov ernor the head of a "governor’s S party” composed of his own £ officeholders. Thus the gover ns nor could always manage his “ own renomination or name his £ successor. Second, the legisla £ ture, in the absence of any £ prohibition against local legis- SE lation, spent more and more £ time passing personal and vil £ lage legislation—granting di £ vorces, legitimizing children, EE and setting up township roads £ —until two unhappy results £ became apparent. The larger £ needs of the state were lost £ sight of in the mountain of £ local bills; and when bills of £ general state interest were dis £ cussed, they became the sub £ ject of log-rolling. £ State Lost Out £ Thus Pennsylvania lost out £ to New York in building a £ western canal and Philadelphia £ lost its rank to New York as £ the leading financial and trad £ ing center of the nation. Final £ ly, the 1790 constitution did £ not provide for effective £ courts. As judges were ap £ pointed for life, they took it £ easy on the job, and cases ac- rlH'virr-V!?!! lEillllll 111 Hill 111 illllll 2nd in a Series cumulated until the dockets = ran five or six years behind. E Efforts to correct these diffi- E culties were defeated until = 1837. A convention in that E year produced the Constitution E of 1838. This instrument modi- ~ fied the governor’s power, = making his term four years E with the possibility of once E succeeding himself (as with the E U.S. President), and greatly = reducing his power of direct E appointment. The legislative E power was not much changed, E but the judges now are limited E to a term of years, and pro- E vision was made for their elec- E lion rather than appointment = by the governor. Most interest 5 at the time centered around a E provision excluding the Ne- E groes from the franchise. E The Constitution of 1838 proved an excellent compro- E mise between the too-decen- Z tralized government of the 1776 Constitution and the too- E centralized system of the 1790 = frame. It ran into difficulties E not so much because of any E weaknesses of structure as be- = cause of the weaknesses of = men, w'hich became notorious E in the years following the E Civil War. The shift of power = from farmers to new indus- E trialists caused the rise of “po- E litical machines” all over the E nation. E Apathy Arises Perhaps most important, = public apathy arising from a E breakdown of public confi- E dence in the system (w’hich had E failed to solve problems lead- = ing to the Civil War) led to E the “nadir of national dis- E grace.” The Constitution of = 1874, under w’hich we now' live’, E grew' immediately from a de- E sire of the people to prevent E corruption in public office. To E this end the new' constitution E made it impossible for a gover- E nor. to succeed himself in of- = fice, greatly increased the size E of the House and the Senate, E (in the hope that it would make E bribery more difficult), and E outlawed local legislation. Al- E so, in line w'ith national de- E velopments, it granted suffrage E to the Negroes. E The Constitution of 1874, E created to meet fears preva- E lent in that year, proved in- E adequate to the needs of the E state exactly because it fo- E cused on. current problems = instead of on broad principles. E Within ten years the imme- E diate problems had changed E and the specific provisions of E the constitution had become = obsolete, but the Common- E wealth was shackled by them, E and still is. Hence it is no sur- E prise that the 174 Constitution E has more amendments than E any prior one. E From the perspective of his- £ tory, the Constitution of 1874 £• shows these weaknesses. First, £ it is too long and too closely £ tied to the events of 1874. In- £ stead of confining itself to £ the principles of government £ (which it states very well), and £ to the basic official functions E and structure, it goes on in the £ manner of a set of by-laws, £ prescribing all kinds of de- E tailed rules for activities that E worried people in 1874. £ Second, by denying the gov- £ ernor the chance to succeed E himself, the constitution of E 1874 has reduced that office to £ nearly a cipher. The common- £ wealth is so comnlcx * ■ E person can learn the ropes, in- £ itiate a program and carry it £ through in four years; and E furthermore, as the governor £ will be “out" in four years, he £ loses that command of his own £ associates which the possibility E of a second term would give £ him. £ Third, the Senate and the £ Assembly are too large to £ work effectively as legislative £ bodies. Doubling their size in £ 1874 has proved a mistake. E liiiimiimnmimiiimimimmiiims- THt DAILY COLLEGIAN. UNIVERSITY PARK. PENNSYLVANIA Arts Festival To Begin Today "Something for everyone” may well be the theme of the Under graduate Student Government’s Spring Arts Festival, which gets underway this afternoon. Music, drama, lectures and ex hibits are a few of the activities planned for the "cultural” week end. First on today’s calendar for the Spring Arts Festival is a photography and architecture ex hibition and sale, which w'ill take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.tn. in the Hetzel Union court. In the event of inclement w’eather it w'ill be held in the HUB ballroom. THE EXHIBIT and sale are sponsored by the Penn State Camera Club and the American Institute of Architects. At 1 p.m., also in the HUB Size 12's will really SAVE in this If you're a size 12, you're in luck! We bought the entire stock of our Jant- zen's salesman's samples. You can buy any item, right now, before the sea- son starts at 30% reductions. Hurry in to Schlow's tomorow court, Edw'ard Leos, instructor in photojournalism, will present a lecture on "The Art of Photog raphy." In case of rain, the lec ture will be given in the HUB assembly room. A slide lecture by Carl F. Barnes, instructor in art and ar chitectural history, will be given at 2:30 p.m. in the HUB assembly room. Barnes’ topic is "The Phil osophy of Architecture.” A symposium on the arts, "Ex pression and Interpretation,” will begin at 4 p.m. in the HUB assem bly room. The panel will consist of Wal ter H. Walters, head of the De partment of Theatre Arts; Leon ard F. Raver, assistant professor of music; and Samuel C. Sabean, associate professor of art. An “Evening of Student Dra- JANTZEN SALESMAN'S SAMPLE SALE Size 12's Only! Meet your friends at E. College Ave. STATE COLLEGE ma” w'ill conclude the festival’s opening day activities. Two origi nal one-act plays U'ritten for 5 O’clock Theatre will be pre sented as part of the program. Free tickets for the student dra ma program, which will be held at 8 p.m. in the Pavilion Theatre, are available at the HUB desk. NEW COLLEGE DINER Downtown Betwoen the Movies 1 ' AI.WAYS OPEN e BUSHED? STAY AWAKE TAKE ALERTNESS CAPSULES Combat fatigue almost im mediately. Keeps you alert and full of pep for hour after hour, after hour. Continuous Action Capsules. Completely safe Non-habit forming NO PRESCRIPTION NEEDED Bathing Suits Knit Shirts Bermudas Jamaicas Blouses Skirts Shifts Pedal Pushers Jackets PAGE FIVE
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers