LABOUR AND THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 92, 11 January 1908, Page 4

LABOUR AND THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION.

The decision by the Supreme Court, of the United Stateg, that the Constitu-' tion gives no authority'to Congress'to impose liability upon ■ common carriers for injury to employees," is of the highest importance.. In a note yesterday upon the cable message reporting the decision, we briefly explained the subordination of Congress to the Constitution., Great Britain _: has'; Constitution. Parliament is,'; there; the final authority, possessing power, as Mr. Bryce points out in his monumental work on " The American Commonwealth," not. only to abolish the Crown, the House of Lords,: the Established Church,, or any other institution, but even itself. In America', on the other hand, the Constitution governs everythingr A State Assembly cannot pass | a law that conflicts 'with, the State Constitution; a Congress enactment takes precedence oyer a.State Constitution; and Congress is, in its; turn, incompetent:to pass a law that runs counter to any part of the Constitution of the. TJnion. In ease of a dispute,; the Federal Supreme Court 15 1 not called upon to enter on any conflict with the legislature.. All, it.is required to do is to decide whether, a conflict exists, in terms or intention; between two laws of different degrees .of authority—the Constitution arid the legislative act of Congress._ . In: the case under notice- it will bfe claimed that the potent utterance of 1787 coiild, not have contemplated such a social change 'as ; would make '' employer's liability" a reasonable thing 120 years later.. , Yet it is .a significant 'fact' that, in all the history of America there was only one unwelcome decision given on the meaning of the Constitution, -and that was in: 1794.,: The .Constitution; can be amended by a two-thirds decision of Congress subject to ratification by the legislatures of three-fourths; of the States—a process of extreme diffi-. culty. ; It ;is this amendment which; the Labour party is aiming at in its resolve '' to agitate if or the proper protection of the; workers.", The agitation- is well worth watching,' since its ■ success or failure will determine, • so far as can humanly be determined, once and for all the strength or .weakness of a claim universally-advanced 'by Labour, and recognised in the laws of most*. British communities. . , The case illustrates the effect' of a living; constitution,, laying down a few large principles, which will act as a brake on the actions of legislative bodies. When Congress comes into conflict with it, the issue, if it is a really large national issue, will.practically .call all the State legislatures into conference, and- the final settlement will have an authority more majestic'. than> any act ,of the, British Parliament,'. Pointing, in a very sharp and', interesting fashion, the 1 fundamental difference between • Congress and the Imperial Parliament, the incident is boiind to set thoughtful .Imperialists thinking anew upon the Imperial Constitution that some students of Imperial development expect to take birth when the various units of the Empire are forjnally bound together in a Federation.