Page:Back to the Republic.djvu/59

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
The Constitution
55

but the element of inherent individual rights is as essential to the other three departments as the fourth wheel of a standard vehicle is to the other three wheels in the domain of transportation. The more additional wheels you add to the standard four-wheel vehicle, the more useless and confusing the vehicle would become; likewise, the more additional elements you add to the four elements provided for by the Constitution, the more useless and confusing the government becomes. The executive, legislative and judicial branches should be guided, controlled and protected by individual rights. All the people are entitled to the enjoyment and protection of individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution. No one of the four elements is more important than the element of individual rights, but there is evidence that we are in danger of forgetting and violating this all-absorbing, gravely important fundamental fact.

The Constitution provides a system of checks and balances. The executive can veto an action of the majority of the legislative body, but the legislative body can override the veto of the executive by a two-thirds vote; so they have a check and balance upon each other.

The judiciary is required to recognize individual rights, and individual rights are dependent