Lawrence High School - Lawrencian Yearbook (Falmouth, MA)

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Lawrence High School 13 rived. This amendment was strong- ly opposed, since several similar taxes had been in effect in the late 1800’s but had been repealed or declared unconstitutional and gen- erally found to be very unsatisfac- tory; but it was finally ratified in 1913. The amount of the tax has been changed from time to time, and there are exemptions of cer- tain amounts for money given to charity, etc. Also in 1913 the Seventeenth Amendment, which changed the method of electing Senators, was ratified. The Constitution author- ized that the Senators be elected by the State legislatures. The Seven- teenth Amendment changed this so that the people were given the right to elect the Senators. In 1920 the Eighteenth Amend- ment, which prohibited the manu- facture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within the United States, was put into effect. The amendment gave Congress and the States power to enforce this law by appropriate legislation. It was passed by Congress in 1917 and submitted to the States for ratification at that time. By Janu- ary, 1919, the necessary thirty-six States had ratified it. During the next three years all but two of the remaining States, Connecticut and Rhode Island, ratified. In most of the States the vote definitely fa- vored the amendment. In 1920, after years of making speeches, holding conventions, and even picketing the White House, the women of the United States were given the right to vote. The Nine- teenth Amendment stated that no citizen of the United States should be denied the right to vote o- ac- count of sex. Before 1920 thir- teen States had granted women the right to vote, but the presi- dential election of 1920 was the first election in which both men and women voted in every State in the Union. The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution, which went into effect in 1933, is usually called the Lame Duck Amendment. It did away with the short sessions of Congress which had been held every second year af- ter election. This prevented men who had been defeated at re-election or whose terms had naturally expired, from returning to Washington and making more laws for us before they went out of office. The amend- ment stated that the terms of the President and the Vice-President were to begin on January 20 and those of Senators and Representa- tives on January 3 and that Con- gress was to assemble each year on January 3. The Twenty-First Amendment was ratified by the necessary num- ber of States in 1933. It authorized the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment because of the attitude of the people who at the time were strongly opposed to it and also be- cause of the way it was being violated. There have been no amendments to the Constitution since 1933. but no one knows what changes will be made in our Constitution and our government in the future. How- ever, the Constitution is such an elastic document that there is room for many more changes. Frances M. Williams

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12 The Lawrencian eign policy. The dictatorship of Germany keeps the people from participating in the government. Germany allows no individual free- dom, drives out unpopular minori- ties, and strictly censors all print- ing. The United States legislature neither changes its personnel fre- quently nor forbids the participa- tion of the people in the govern- ment. The United States is faced with unemployment problems and the regulation of taxation. How- ever, these problems are not nearly as bad as those facing France and Germany. Also our legislative ar- rangement allows us steady progress by a fair representation from the people themselves. Thus after our comparison we can truly say: We should maintain our present democracy. Bernice Jones CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS Over a century and a half ago a remarkable group of very able men laid the foundation of the American commonwealth. Among these were George Washington, the greatest man of his time in the world; Benjamin Franklin, who came close to the level of Wash- ington; Patrick Henry, whose mas- terpieces of oratory still stir the soul; Thomas Jefferson, to whose genius we owe the inimitable De- claration of Independence; Thomas Paine; John Paul Jones; and Alex- ander Hamilton. These were not all, but simply the greatest in their special fields, and it is doubtful if the earth ever saw an abler group of statesmen than those to whom we owe the Constitution of the United States. These men, as- sembled in convention at Philadel- phia, organized a government con- sisting of executive, legislative, and judicial departments, each with all the power necessary to make it feared and respected. With this Constitution, the United States of America first came into existence, a strong, energetic, and capable nation, its government possessed of all the powers necessary to the full control of the States and full abil- ity to make itself respected abroad, its people possessed of all the civil rights then known or demanded. The most unique feature of our government is the Supreme Court. It is an independent court which is not responsible to anyone and which acts as a check on the laws passed by Congress, since it may de- clare them either constitutional or unconstitutional, as its justices see fit. Next in importance is the system of checks and balances by which the executive, legislative, and judi- cial departments of the government all act as checks on each other. The bicameral legislature and the President check each other, and the Supreme Court can check them both. The President’s power to veto bills and the power of Con- gress to override his veto and pass the law in spite of the veto are ex- amples of the check and balance system. One of the most recent amend- ments to the Constitution is the Sixteenth, which provides that Con- gress have the power to tax in- comes, from whatever source de-

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14 The Lawrencian THE FUTURE CASTS ITS SHADOW Class Prophecy (Excerpts from the Falmouth Enterprise of June 14, 1958) News Items: Robert Stevenson’s recently com- pleted house collapsed last Wednes- day night. Construction of the build- ing was begun two years ago by George DeMello Co., Contractors. Reno, Nev. June 12 — Olga Ban- ning, otherwise known as Mrs. Blue- beard, filed suit for divorce from her eighth husband. It seems that Olga found out that her husband, John Abbott, once carried another girl’s books home from school. The brilliant opening of the new Chinese restaurant, “Ye Slingee Old Hashee”, managed by John Tavares and Eugene Chamberlain, was at- tended by a large crowd last night. Music was furnished by Swing Lo, better known as George Thayer, and his Japanese Sandmen. Featured in the floor show were Lydia Perry, the Toast of Harlem, and her husband, Mr. Lydia, once Peter, Perry. The famous cooks, Cidalina Lopes and Barbara Scharff, have been engaged by the management. Hollywood — The latest addition to Walt Disney’s staff is Kenneth Has- kell, now acting as Donald Duck’s voice. Charlotte Joseph opens up her new art studio next week. We wish her luck and hope her business isn’t too “sketchy”. Virginia Nightingale, the Famous inventor of dilled ham, is now busy dilling ham supplied by the Myrtle McCabe farm noted for its cured “Hamms”. Bill Hart, tobacco auctioneer for the Blackstone Cigar Co., has just lost his voice. It is reported that he decided to try one of his company’s products, which ended with disas- trous results. In the storm last night, Capt. Leslie Hilton’s craft, the “Rolling Rowboat”, ran aground in the kitch- en sink. Taunton papers please copy. Miss Claire Hewins was taken to the “Home for the Mentally Dis- rupted” last night. According to the noted psychiatrist, Dr. Charlotte Lumbert, the strain of waiting for the Atlantis to return has proved too much for poor Claire. Ruth Bowman, the noted stamp collector, has just added a new stamp to her collection which she received from the famous Jesse James collection. School Notes: Miss Doris Kittila, Ph. D., noted history professor at Harvard, lec- tured in the old gym last night to a capacity crowd of 20. Frances Williams succeeds Miss Helen Allen as head of the Dept, of Modern Languages in L. H. S. Word has been received that Phyllis Wood, honor graduate in ’38, has won a scholarship at Ohio State. Having exhausted the possi- bilities of the East, she is now work- ing her way West. Political News: Eleanor Densmore has retired as president of the W. C. T. U. She is succeeded by her husband, Mr. Don- ald Sample. Another successful candidate at the recent election is Stephen Papp, who was elected Recording Secre- tary of the North Falmouth Grange. Katherine Sends, newly elected