University of San Francisco - USF Don Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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(Eijr Hill Wll.I.IAM T. SWEIGERT, ’21 Awarded Cold Medal in College Oratorieal Contest Out of the past with its historic conflict between lovers of liberty and usurpers of authority; out of a past, resounding with the clash of rebellious steel against the stone strongholds of royal power, there emerged, at last, in seventeen hundred and eighty-seven, a product of that incessant struggle, a realization of the ideals for which men had been long striving, a splendid monument of constructive political genius—the Constitution of the I’nited States. That document, though a noble and highly successful effort to enthrone liberty upon the solid rock of union, was, after all, an experiment—to be tested in time—to be preserved and wisely interpreted by Americans, or to be nullified and misconstrued by the fanatics of future years. One problem, especially, was entrusted by hopeful patriots to the mercy of the years. How much powrer shall the Federal government possess, and how much power shall be reserved to the individual States? The time to defend the Federal government against the perils of nullification, against the immoderate claims of proud, confederate States is happily past. liut the time to protect the States against the gradual encroachments of Federal power is unfortunately at hand. For. today there is a powerful minority, infected with the virus of paternalism, imbued with an intense desire to impose its narrow theories upon this nation. That eager minority is seeking to vest an unconstitutional and sinister control in the departments of the Federal government. Years ago, Robert Hayne rose up in the senate, pleaded with eloquence and directness for his ingenious doctrine of Nullification, boldly impugned the authority of the

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16 THE IGA ATI. IX It is with feelings of deep appreciation that, as President of St. Ignatius College, I accept the dedication of the present issue of The Ioxatiw. The labors of the youthful authors are as the returns of a pleasing harvest to the master of the field. Pius L. Moore, S. L President.

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18 THU GX ATI AX central government. Men of the confederacy tore themselves from the embrace of loved ones in their southern homes, marched off, and stumbled to their death in the blood-stained ruts of honorable battlefields! Not so these modern extremists. Theirs is not the courage and the faith of the rebel, but the cunning and duplicity of the traitor. Not in masterful debate, not beneath the hot, scarlet sky of battle do they challenge the right of the States to govern themselves in matters which the States long ago reserved to themselves. Hut by means of deception and propaganda they wax strong. In the vehicle of ambiguous and indirect legislation they advance their pernicious schemes, all the while lulling us into complacent optimism with their siren songs of Americanism, placating us with their evasive explanations, deceiving us with their protestations of regard for constitutional rights. Vet. when we decline to accept these assurances, when we wake ourselves from apathetic indifference, when we delve with inquiring mind for the truth, what do we find? We find a menace to the Constitution, an instrument of autocracy, a document capable of creating in America the most oppressive, the most odious of all monopolies—a monopoly over the human mind. Fraught with just such possibilities is the Smith-Towner Bill pending in the Congress of the I’nited States today. The Smith-Towner Bill proposes to organize a new and powerful Bureau of Education at W ashington. Tt further provides that Congress shall grant to this educational department an annual appropriation of a hundred million dollars. The Bureau of Education shall have power to dispose of this Federal gold to the States for educational projects—on one condition. The States must surrender the privilege of local education. The States must submit to Federal control. The States must accept