Abington High School - Oracle Yearbook (Abington, PA)

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THE CONSTITUTION - THEN there goes my hat! In the grip of a blustering March wind, Helen's ''—' hat skipped blithely up a little alley that turned off from Chestnut Street. Of course, she followed it and stooped to pick it up when it lodged on the steps of a building at the end of the lane. Girls, I've found it.” Her voice reached us as we stood on Chestnut Street, vainly searching the nearby buildings for Carpenter's Hall. ''Found what?'' Carpenter's Hall, of course. It's back here off the street. We dashed back the alley to join her, and at last we three stood before the object of our morning trip—the famous home of the Constitution of the United States. (And it had taken a little green hat to lead us to this renowned shrine!) As we crossed the threshold which had known the footsteps of such famous men as George Washington, Patrick Henry, Alexander Hamilton, and lames Madison, the ages seemed to roll back, and there we were in the year 1787. In the spacious white-panelled hall, about forty-five men, dressed in the picturesque garb of the period, sat at tables littered with papers. Although all were weary after four months' labor on this document which was to be the backbone of the great United States, a glimmer of hope burned high, for the work was almost completed. Yes—a happy sigh arose from a group of men concentrated at a central table. The work was done! Quickly the signatures of those present were affixed, and a messenger rushed to tell the people assembled at Independence Hall that at last they were to hear the words for which they had been waiting. Although eager to reach Independence Hall and hear the reading of the Constitution, we could not resist lingering a moment to fix in our memories the scene of its drafting. On one side was the high desk on which the document had been signed. On its top lay the silver quill pen, still wet with ink. The pegged Windsor chairs stood scattered near the desk, left where they had hastily been moved. The dignified grace of colonial architecture gave added beauty to this scene already glorified by its significance.

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or some similar basic form of government. Preceding generations of Americans have found the Constitution of the United States effective, and if the present generation and 'our posterity' wish to uphold the standards set up by our forefathers and adhered to for 150 years, they cannot very well swerve from it. Then you do believe that our Constitution is an absolute necessity, don't you? Oh, yes, he replied quickly. Without a Constitution or basic laws guaranteeing peace, equality, liberty, and progress, any country is subject to the rule of the strong over the weak, to dictatorship, disorder, and outlawry. Constitutions and basic laws are designed to right wrongs and to hold an even balance between the weak and the strong, the poor and the rich, the fit and the unfit. For want of basic laws or their observance, countries and peoples have fallen into decay. Our next question was one which many have been asking in the last few years: Do you truly believe that the Constitution has served its purpose well? A decisive, Certainly, was our answer. No one will deny that the United States has grown strong and powerful under our present Constitution. Before it was adopted 150 years ago, our people were divided into colonies, each separate and distinct. Thus separated, they were not sufficiently strong to resist foreign invasion, and were subject to internal dissensions so that, like Spain today, they might have proceeded to internal warfare—with any colonies not involved looking on as silent witnesses. Under the Constitution, the union of all the colonies was formed with definite assurance of peace, equality, and protection for them all. But, we continued, some say that the Constitution has already served its purpose, and is now out of date. What do you think of that criticism? Mr. Moore hesitated only a minute and then said frankly, The Constitution, helpful as it has been to our own people and admired as it has been by other civilized nations, is not necessarily sacrosanct. It can be amended by the people themselves under terms which it prescribes. Experience has shown that amendments made to the Constitution by the people themselves have in no way diminished the popular respect for the instrument itself. In one instance at least, however, an amendment to the Constitution demanded by a majority of the people was recalled later on by another majority of the people when the amendment was no longer desirable. If, therefore, the Constitution is subject to amendment by a vote of the people, there can be no reasonable objection to the Constitution itself, but if it should develop that any one of the three coordinate branches of government set up by the Constitution—the Legislative, the Administrative, and the Judicial—is to be destroyed without a vote of the people, or by any sort of dictatorship, then not only the Constitution itself but well ordered government is in danger. And, warming to his subject, the mayor concluded decisively, Unless we have a government free from dictation of any individual or selfish group, we may well prepare for the ultimate overthrow of those standards cf morality, equality, freedom, and justice which have thus far been sustained in the United States. SARAH WOLSTENHOLME, HELEN ROBERTS, JOHN MOORE.

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As we stepped again into the street, modern 1937 Philadelphia had disappeared, for a crowd of colonial men and women were hurrying up narrow Chestnut Street. We joined the throng and entered the crowded lower hall, where now rests the famous Liberty Bell. Above us, at the top of the wide flight of stairs stood George Washington as he read to the assembled citizens the completed Constitution. From his lips came these ringing words: We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common Defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. A deep silence followed as people from each separate state realized the true value of this manuscript which was to weld them into one complete union. But the great task was only begun. This reading to the people was on September 17, 1787, but it was not until June 21, 1788, that the Constitution became a working unit—when nine of the thirteen colonies ratified it. During this year and a half, the document was presented to the second Continental Congress in New York City and to each of the colonies. When it had been approved finally by Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire, the original manuscript was returned to Independence Hall, there to be revised, recopied, and signed. All these facts passed through our minds as we stood again in the year 1937 in the east room of Independence Hall. Protected by velvet ropes, in all its dignity and significance, was the scarred yet beautiful table, on which were signed the Declaration of Independence and the final copy of the Constitution. Under this venerable desk lay the threadbare, faded carpet on which each signer trod as he stepped up to affix his signature. How wonderful that we, three school girls, should have the privilege of standing in this room, sacred forever to the memories of that distinguished group who signed the Constitution. Ranged along each wall were the scarred and worn chairs on which these men had sat. Perhaps George Washington himself had filed that scratch with nervous fingers. Had Alexander Hamilton nicked that chair rung with his boot? Filled with reverence for these great men and the result of their labors, the United States of America, we added a fitting climax to our visit by standing quietly in respect before the massed flags of the forty-eight states, surmounted by the national flag of our country. As we opened the great white door, mounted with original forged iron hardware, and made our way into bustling, modern Chestnut Street, the cold blast of wind that swept the street brought a sudden thought to our mind, The same March wind had blown a little green hat up an alley and taken us back one hundred fifty years. HELEN BIERLIN, HELEN HASSENPLUG, ALICE STOCKER.