Beaumont High School - Caduceus Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

Page 32 text:

liadulzeus THE CONSTITUTION IN A CHANGING WORLD WM. H. HAGGETT Our Constitution was framed more than a hundred and seventy years ago. Those seventeen decades have seen two global wars and the invention of the telephone. airplane. and the atom bomb. One cannot help but ask himself: Is this document suitable for governing a nation which has increased in size from a group of seacoast colonies to a trans-continental expanse, a nation which has increased in population more than twenty times? Is our Constitution able to adapt itself from the law of a government whose policy was that the best government is the least government, to the law of a government which con- cerns itself with everything from water power and missiles to old-age pensions? Although we may satisfy ourselves that the Wisdom of the framing fathers has provided us with a set of principles of government which has stood the tests of time and change, what answer shall we make to him who says. Your Constitution has stood thus far. but what of the future? The world is changing at a more rapid pace than man has ever witnessed. Recently you have had an increasing amount of difficulty applying your Constitution to the problems which face you. From all appearances, your Constitution has come to the time when it is facing a crisis! To him We can reply by asking, What is a crisis? In the Chinese language there is no single ideograph for the word crisis, It can be signified only by combining the symbol for danger with the symbol for OPPOR- TUNITY. While this idea may be considered by some as merely an abstract sym- bolism, it can be applied directly to the problem of our Constitution in this changing world. First let us deal with the dangers. If we allow ourselves to think of the Constitution as a group of paragraphs containing empty words of idealism, it will become so. If we do not include it as the guiding rule of our attitudes toward government, it will be imprisoned in the courts and schools where our neglect leaves it. If we, as the future citizens and leaders of this country, do not make the Constitution a rallying point for our ambitions of freedom. democracy, and rights for all people, we may easily find ourselves wondering where these rights have vanished. But we have a choice. We can take either of the paths which are pre- sented to us at the crossroads of these times. The path of opportunity offers a hard way of travel with little reward save that which comes at the end. To gain those opportunities which are presented to us, we must apply not only the letter of the Constitution but also the spirit of our Founding Fathers. We must hold fast to the principle that our country is built on rights for all, that our laws derive their power from the people and without the earnest support of the people would cease to exist. By remembering that every privilege in life also carries an equal responsibility, we will give to the Constitution all of the power which was written into it. By both preserving its original spirit and allowing only those changes which are definitely benc- ficial to all people, we can make our Constitution adequate to cope with the problems of a changing world. Every period which has been termed a crisis has presented both dangers and opportunities. When the crisis has been permitted to lapse into danger. disaster has occurred. But when those faced with the vital decisions have dealt with them with all their facilities, the opportunities have been made manifest. It is we who are faced with the vital decisions. We have the choice between danger and opportunity. Twenly-eight

Page 31 text:

f r - Q - , M ' 'RMENBHLHER gn F is . Q-,KQOQ5 I 3 2 I ILL L-H-x au: 'V f . we , f t,,x QQ' .l .W W Z 3 4WF'h7vhV'MVfw gwfg A I . N VQWSQUQQP' , ' UERRYUEHHNPUER 5 17 'l m x 35344- Q EQ N r , 4 S .fm X, Q27 X '3 1' 7 Q x Q S 1 O Aa ,. 3 , X N 5 x ff Arun t wx' . ! f - Q. r!. ' K 5suNE - ' F . mac, 4 ', , I L ' 1 V . 1 .Mya Auf 1 f W!! 2frEF?f , K - b f 5 ' ' , wb :A 41 mi gan xv f-, Inn Bucmaow L - . u , Q ,,- gg in ' lllilii. . 4 Q :WT I ga- 5, , i -V Q 'ni 'lk 3: SVMNQ 1 ' w,A . ' 1l'!q u if gw f' . ' flu' ,U ig WR ' ' , X A rg A, l :X nf I V4 3,J!M A X , . I Yu : M S,-'VN Xi . Q' '?'0fGES gi 3 , I , 1 if' 1- .X x, -'aww W, JUNE ff J, - I .A luv,---P . Q J' SV P5 Basil , 1' - 4:1 ymwnrm af LL, -V , gm' ,Dfw fy? ' Nw--M... .fl rf U Z' 'Jn ,vi m A -E X rw ,M s '.l, 1? ' -' J 3, N-' -N v 6 Lg RULER ' ,Rh 1 Cr Kumi IZ' JVV W d'fBf 059 Z in El 9 ,V '. EN-ff WT I? GW! Y . I Q.J...., Lf ai :1 - unv mum RWM! Fmus Smm - Am' x 5 I I - X L HARRY Lsrnsn -Mm . e N S,..,f7 jx-X V 3 . LEON Hufwsa- 9 E .Z W . '-9' ' A H umm HILL-Jj. . -b , 13 A, .. Comvrs Wcmun-'

Page 33 text:

Tnucnlg-n:'nr