No one will deny that the Founders' ideals of Liberty were clear and definite; that they were based upon upward of seven centuries of unvarying experience of themselves or their ancestors; nor the earnestness of their desire that the benefits of so many years of labor and sacrifice should surely accrue to the advantage of their and our posterity.
And, yet without the full inquiry imperatively demanded, questions are now being determined in relation to attempted modification of Constitutional safeguards, which the Fathers, out of their greater knowledge and unsurpassable judgment, felt absolutely necessary for the preservation of our freedom and happiness.
What was that Liberty that they were so striving to protect; the compelling reasons for the provisions actually adopted? How far, and if at all, can the Sixteenth Amendment be construed to depart from and nullify the underlying principles of the provisions which these patriotic masters of political science so carefully ordained? Can there be more important inquiry?
It were too long to recite Magna Charta, with its multiple provisions. The able summary of Henry Hallam succinctly serves the purpose. He says "It is still the keystone of English liberty. All that has since been obtained is little more than as confirmation and commentary. * * * The essential clauses of Magna Charta are those which protect the personal liberty and property of all freemen, by giving security from arbitrary imprisonment and arbitrary spoliation." And then, after quoting, he continues: "It is obvious that these words, interpreted by any honest court of law, convey an ample security for the two main rights of civil society."
