Hershey, Amos S.

English

Indiana University Bloomington Maurer School of Law

Indiana Law JournalVolume 1 | Issue 4 Article 64-1926The Constitution at the Crossroads, by Edward A.HarrimanAmos S. HersheyFollow this and additional works at: http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/iljPart of the Constitutional Law CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the LawSchool Journals at Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. It has been acceptedfor inclusion in Indiana Law Journal by an authorized administrator ofDigital Repository @ Maurer Law. For more information, please contactwattn@indiana.edu.Recommended CitationHershey, Amos S. (1926) "The Constitution at the Crossroads, by Edward A. Harriman," Indiana Law Journal: Vol. 1: Iss. 4, Article 6.Available at: http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ilj/vol1/iss4/6BOOK REVIEWSemotional reaction and limited observation concerning crime, and he isdoubly wise if he realizes that those observations are more than likely to bewrong. But prisoners come before the bar, they must be dealt with some-how, and there are many little changes which can be effected which areobviously needed and which will serve to hasten the day when we can relywith more safety on the data of crime. Changes in court procedure arenow sufficiently agitated to warrant the belief that some relief will beafforded along that line in the not too distant future. As yet little attentionhas been paid to the substantive law of crime. Many obvious changes canbe made there also, which would materially aid the situation. Fundamentaland sweeping changes in the substantive law must, however, await theprogress of medicine, psychology and criminal statistics. "OLIVER P. FIELD.THE CONSTITUTION AT THE CROSSROADS. By EDWARD A. HARRIAMAN.George H. Doran Company New York, 1925, pp. xv, 274.The title of this book requires explanation. The author means that theConstitution of the United States is at the crossroads. "In one directionleads the way of national tradition and absolute independence; in the other,the way of surrender of absolute independence of action to a federation ofthe world" (Preface). Or, as he puts it elsewhere still more succinctly inthe Preface, our "Constitution is now at the crossroads between nationalismand internationalism."Though it is a painstaking piece of work, its conclusions are vitiated bya bad method and a false premise which renders the whole superstructureupon which it is built unstable.The bad method consists in the lawyer-like habit of drawing far-reachingconclusions from an analysis of words or documents without reference tothe actual working of the institutions described, the characteristics of humannature, or social, economic and political needs. The result is a mere tex-tual or a metaphysical criticism which may have some value, but which,combined with an undue regard for tradition and precedent, has involvedus in the network of legalism and constitutionalism from which we suffer inthis country.Then there is a false premise or an assertion (and it is a mere assertionon the part of the author for which he offers no manner of proof) whichmust result in the collapse of the whole structure that he has so laboriouslyerected. This is the assumption that the two institutions described-theLeague of Nations and the International Labor Office-constitute a super-state and involve a surrender of sovereignty on the part of their members.The fundamental characteristic of a super-state or sovereign body is whollylacking in these organizations, viz., the possession of sovereign or supremepower. They do not operate by their own authority; they have no power ofconstraint coercion or command. The main sanction for their influence ispublic opinion and such economic or military sanctions as have been pro-vided must be exercised through the member states. Though by central orinternational laws they exercise certain limited executive and administrativeduties and though they may be said to have a certain initiative in interna-tional legislation (which must be exercised through the treaty-making pow-ers of the various states), they have no real final or supreme powers,whether of a legislative or executive character. In fact these organizationsare essentially in the nature of confederacies of the type provided for in ourearlier Articles of Confederation.The Appendix includes the texts of the Covenant of the League, the Per-manent Organization of Labor, and the Statute of the Permanent Court ofInternational Justice. Amos S. HERsHEY

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The Constitution at the Crossroads, by Edward A. Harriman

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