xt7wwp9t2q46_89 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61.dao.xml American Liberty League 37 linear feet archival material English University of Kentucky This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed.  Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically.  Physical rights are retained by the owning repository.  Copyright is retained in accordance with U. S. copyright laws.  For information about permissions to reproduce or publish, contact the Special Collections Research Center. Jouett Shouse Collection (American Liberty League Pamphlets), No. 92 "The American Form of Government - Let Us Preserve It" Speech of The Hon. Albert C. Ritchie, Former Governor of Maryland before the Ohio State Bar Association, January 18, 1936 text No. 92 "The American Form of Government - Let Us Preserve It" Speech of The Hon. Albert C. Ritchie, Former Governor of Maryland before the Ohio State Bar Association, January 18, 1936 2013 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61/59m61_92/Am_Lib_Leag_92_001/Am_Lib_Leag_92_001.pdf section false xt7wwp9t2q46_89 xt7wwp9t2q46 Pamphlets Available *
*
ir
Copies of the following pamphlets and E
p other League literature may be obtained   American Form of .
upon apphcauon to the Leagues national
h¤¤d<1¤¤¤<=r¤= Government-—Let Us
Statement of Principles and Purposes
American Liberty League·——Its Platform Preserve  
The Bonus n s
Inflation
The Thirty Hour Week Bill
The Holding Company Bill
Price Control
The g`VA Amgndmentsd h N D I
he upreme ourt an t e ew ea
;The Revised AAA Amendments * * * A
The President’s Tax Program
Expanding Bureaucracy U
Lawmaking by Executive Order
New Deal Laws in Federal Courts
gonsumers gud the AAA
angerous xperimentation .
Economic Planning———Mistaken But Not New Speech of
Work Relief
The AAA and Our Form of Government THE H()N_ ALBERT C, RITCHIE
Alternatives to the American Form of Govern-
mem Former Governor of Maryland
A Program for Congress
The 1937 Budget
Professors and the New Deal before the
The? lgatioinal Lahfor Relations ;&c2—S11émmaryi y
o one usions rom report o t e ationa , · • •
S La1lU_  ·Cl;m';`”H“e e Ohio State Bar Association
traws 10 e ·
How to Meet the Issue—Speech by W. E. Borah at Toledo, 01110
The Test of Citizenship-—Speech by Dean Carl r
W. Ackerman January 18, 1936
"Breathing Spells"-—·Speech by Iouett Shouse
The Duty of the Lawyer in the Present Crisis-
Speech by Iames M. Beck
The Constitution and the Supreme Court———
Speech by Borden Burr
The Economic Necessity in the Southern States
for a Return to the Constitution——Speech by
Forney Johnston `AE  C4
Our Growing National Debt and Inflation-- Y   4’
Speech by Dr. E. W. Kemmerer  
Inflation is Bad Business——Speech by Dr. Neil “ C   V   S"
Carothers °¢ (,
The Real Significance of the Constitutional Is- TTY tj?
sue——Speech by R. E. Desvernine A
Arousing Class Prejudices——Speech by Jouett
Shouse
The Fallacies and Dangers of the Townsend A
TPlan——Speech by Dr. W. E. Spahr ~
What of 1936?—Speech by Iames P. Warburg
Aiéericanism at the Crossroads-Speech by R. E.
esvermne
The Constitution and the New Deal——Speech by AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE
Tlilages M. Cagow Wh National Headquarters
e merican onstitution— ose Herita e?— I G
Speech by Frederick H. Stinchfield 8  Ig) N
* * *
AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE
NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING H
WASHINGTON, D. C.
p Document No. 92 y

 TIIC AIIIBPICZIH FOPIII of GOV€1’l1· A ends all of us want. I think the time is here
ment-Let U5 Preserve It now when anyone, who is honest about it, has
v the right to disagree with much that comes out
* of Washington these days, and still be a good
I AM grateful for the Opportunity of attending j American. Certainly, he can still be a good
this annual meeting of the Ohio State Bar As- l¤WY€1‘·
sociation. You assemble at a time when the
iundtgf Govcrilmcm W; can fmemcgil has fleet;   IN THE beginning, the controversial measures
A Or, C cxpemcucez t C lm €rStan_ mg an ’ of the New Deal were declared to be emergency
bel1eve, the protecuon of the American lawyer. . . h .
, _ measures only, experimental 1n t e1r nature.
It was largely his efforts that brought Colonial o h
, , , A The people as a whole accepted them as suc ,
America through the travails of oppression and f .
, 1n the hope that they would lead us out of the
war to 1ndependence and freedom. Out of the . . . E
. . . . emergency, back 1nto normal t1mes aga1n. very
d1sorgan1zat1on and the clash of class aga1nst A a nation must at times bc the laboratory of cX_
class which followed, it was the American law- . .
. . . per1ment and of tr1al and error for govern-
yer pr1nc1pally who moulded a Nation. It was . .
. . . mental 1lls. Extraord1nary measures must often
largely h1s leadersh1p that developed this Na- . . .
. . . . be resorted to 1n extraordinary crises, and the
t1on, adapted lt to the ever-changing t1mes and 1 f 1. . I t th
their needs and made ours a Government of very genera Cc mg ccrtam Y was to ry CSC
I d ’t { “New Deal” policies out, and see if they would
aws an no o men.
. . . , succeed where other efforts had not.
Th;Amm¤1=·*g>’·=* cmillfot 1g:n0¥B.h1ih3r1t_ But now the experimental period is about
ag? 0 govminmcma as WC. as Jurisuc Ca if- over. Unmistakable signs of business and eco-
ship. He cannot content h1mself Wlth the min- nomic recovery are at hand The emergency
istration of justice only. He is more than . . d 1 . . t
d_ _ the tcm lc of _uSticc B ever IS pass1ng, an norma t1mes,—-1n many respec s
gil? I?] utf _ dp l_] h °_ Y d_ Y not the old normal times, but the times which
Hg t ° tm mn ju actua "Y’ °_” guar ‘““’ are going to be normal for the future,-are
too, of the foundat1ons of the Amer1can Govern- h . h d A d h t . b .
A d there is need for him now to assert S apmg a Ca i n HOW t C coun ry IS cmg
Elem.   h. asked to accept the New Deal, not as a tem-
at guar lang 1P' porary and curative thing any longer, but as the
T L ” permanent and all-time policy of the American
HE term ‘New Deal embraces, I suppose, Government
the whole series of Federal measures and poli- “ ·
cies whose objectives are the promotion and r `
maintenance of economic recovery on all fronts, I HERE is no need to decide this momentous
and the fulfillment by the Government of its Y question in surroundings of fear or panic. We
social responsibilities to the people. To these are not in a panic now, and there is nothing to
objectives all of us subscribe, but in a field so fear, except making the wrong decision and go-
wide and so vital it is not surprising that opinion ing in the wrong direction. The _people can
of conscientious people as to methods should decide the question coolly and with level heads,
differ. and they owe it to our own and to future genera-
Indeed, the surprising, the amazing thing, is tions to do just that. What we should do is
that many of those in high authority in Wash- calmly and dispassionately take the New Deal
ington should so constantly denounce the mo- apart, examine it, and see what the effect of
tives of almost anyone who publicly questions adopting it in its various parts will in all prob-
the Government’s ways for accomplishing the ability be.
2 3

 When we do that we find that some parts of it Then in the process of time the same thing
are good, and in accord with American institu- happened over again.
tions. We find that other parts are or probably The founders of the American Republic knew
are in accord with the institutions of our coun- all about this trend of history. They knew
try, but are unwise or being unwisely adminis- about it more intimately, too, from the actual
tered. As to these we should substitute wisdom experience of the colonies with England. They
for the lack of wisdom. And then we find still had seen the English Parliament, in which the
other parts which are so directly contrary to .. colonies were not represented, impose upon the
the spirit of the Constitution, as to violate the colonies almost every conceivable form of regu-
. fundamental principles on which the American lation and control over their colonial trade and
form of Government rests. These, I submit, , markets and over their domestic aHairs as well,
· should be abandoned, because I believe nothing all to the benefit and profit of English trade
has happened in this emergency which would and English merchants. England regulated
justify us in scrapping those American institu- what commodities the colonists were allowed to
tions which constitute the heart of American produce or to consume; what they could import
Government. ‘ or export. Overseas colonial trade was gener-
We have lived and prospered under the ally confined to British made and British
American government through peace and war, manned ships and to British ports, or at least
through prosperity and depression, for nearly gave preference to them. Everything was or-
one hundred and nfty years. I believe we can dained for the benefit of the special interests in
keep on doing this more happily, more con- England and of England, and England also
tentedly and more effectively under the kind of maintained what was known as the Board of
government which has served us so well, and Trade and Plantation, wherein economic au-
whose fundamentals are so peculiarly Ameri- thority over the colonies was largely vested.
can, than we could ever do under some other All these grievances and many others were
kind of government which would not be Ameri- recited in the Declaration of Independence.
can in its principles at all. History was repeating itself. Once more gov-
In this company of lawyers, it is upon this ernmental usurpation, with nothing to check it,
latter aspect only of the New Deal that I ask was at its old job of crushing liberty again. In
your indulgence for a brief discussion. order to save themselves from “absolute despot-
ism,” the colonies had to declare their inde-
THE political problem of the ages has always “ Peuueueev we their right fue iueutute new _geY'
been how te reeerreile the Powers or geverrk 1 ernment, laying its foundauon on such princi-
meut with the liberties ef the individual ples, and organizing its powers in such form, as
Through the eenturiee government in the end s to them shall seem most likely to effect their
generally crushed liberty. There was no power Ssfstv uuu happiness? aud uu) Prelude new
superior to government to whom the people guards fer their future Security],
could appeal for the preservation of their free-
dom. The freedom of the individual depended NOW the Principles gn which this “iicw gov.
on the benevolence or the favor of those who ei-¤mem" was to be founded, these "new guards”
WCIC II] 8`l1lZl10I'Qlty, BHC]. those III H`l1th01’lty, with for the future ggcurity of the pg0P1g’ wgrg,
nothing tv check them- usually 1`eVe1`le0mpli¤}1 l liberties of their people. We cannot do this by
these high purposes. and to guard for all time stripping the States or their people of their
the liberties of the people against the growth or own rights and freedom, and letting the central
the revival of any autocratic power which might geveynment; decide for all, That was tried in
endanger or destroy them. National Prohibition, and it simply would not
These underlying governmental principles wel-];
are: Nor can liberty be secure unless the Legisla-
1- The Am¤1'i¤¤¤ dud $Y$t€m of States and tive, Executive and Judicial Departments of
N8l§l0II,   the Federal GOVBI°DD]€Ht CRD government are kept distinct.   they are Per,
0¤1Y do Buch things as ***6 °XP¥'°$81Y °1` by fair mitted to be merged, then we are back again to
Mid PWPBY imP1i°ati°¤ delegated to its °V°1’Y· the old order where the people had no control
6 7

 or check upon government in the exercise of ever a return of the autocracy of the past. They
its powers. Under the American system, each were the two great bulwarks adopted to pre-
Department acts as a check or restraint upon serve our liberties against the despotism which
tl1e others. But if, for example, Congress passes had prevailed without them and which, it was V
its legislative powers over to the Executive, one believed, was impossible of recurrence with
great check is gone, and when the Executive ex- them. They are the heart and the spirit of the
ercises those powers and legislates, then we have American form of Government. So long as we
legislation or taxation without popular repre- : retain them unshaken in their substance and t
sentation, and this admits of the very kind of in their essence, our form of government will
dictatorship which the American form of gov- remain American, notwithstanding many other
ernment sought to prevent. , changes which have been or might be made.
But abolish or seriously impair these two funda-
I DO not mean that during the history of our mentals, and you. have done someth1ng revolu-
. . tionary to America. You have knocked the
government the line between National and State _
props from under the American form of gov-
powers has always been clearly defined or that _ _
. ernment. You have a k1nd of government wh1ch
It has always been observed. It has not, of _ A _ It b F _
course. The conflict between the two has mani- ls mcnfzau Im mor? _ may C iisqlsm or
. . . Communism or Soc1al1sm or Collect1v1sm or
fested 1tself at many times and 1n many ways, th_ 1 b t _t _u t d t b
and indeed in many sections. In the earlier Esmc _ mg c Sc’ u 1 W1 no an camm C
days there were the Kentucky Resolutions, the mcncam
° Hartford Convention, Calhoun’s Ordinance of
Nulliiication, the right of Secession, Federal Ex- TODAY we and this Amerieen {erm of geV_
pansion after the Civil War, and S0 011- l11d00d• ernment challenged in these two respects which
all through our constitutional history there has constitute its inherent and fundamental Amei.i_
been a constant and recurring struggle between oenism_ We find the New Dee] embodying
centralization and decentralization; between measures and policies which, unless abandoned
the efforts of the National Government to GX- or stopped, will in the end so regiment, control
t€!ld its fl1I1Cti0I1S Ellld the CHOITIS of tl1€ SIEHLCS and uatioualize our economic   ag to destroy
to   Il1€il’S; &IlCl lll that St1‘llgglC it H1\1St be the dual System of our government, the preset-,
C0l1fCSS€d that tht? National GOVCIIIIIIIBDI h&S vatiou of State integrity, and the separation of
won out to a considerable degree. 2 governmental powers. If these measures and
Neither do I mean that the lines separating A policies are adopted, then the kind of govern-
the three Departments of Government have ment which is American will exist no more. In
been consistently maintained. They have 110% , its place we will have a centralized government,
of course, although it is only recently that the freed from the barriers erected to guard liberty
consequences of obliterating them are begin- against autocracy. Perhaps it may work for a
ning to receive alarmed attention. Previously , while, or appear to work, but because these bar-
the subject was treated in a more or less legal-   riers of freedom are gone, it will not be Ameri-
istic way, without much consideration to what   can.
it really means to the American Government. I
Wh t I d n however in these res ects _
. a 0 mea ° . ° P i t I HAVE tr1ed to confine myself to the under-
IS that the two doctrines adverted to are the t _ _ _ _
, , . . . lymg prmc1ples of American government, and r
const1tut1onal rocks on which American liber- _ _ _
. so perhaps I need not prolong this d1scuss1on
IICS depend. They were evolved out of the ex- _ _ _
, . by undertaking to specify the prec1se measures
per1ences of the past 1n order to prevent for- A
9
8

 I have ih mihd_ We all know them and twe direction, should be followed, with everyone
have already been pronounced unconstitutional free to eXPress his 01° her ¢011Vi0ti011S, first
__the NRA and the AAA_ Others are new he. through our representatives in Congress, and
fore the Supreme Court, and their fate can then at the Pells-
properly be left to the judgment of that high
trihunai· BUT let us always remember that the great
Of eeursee I do net Suggest that this Strain ei danger of bad times is had remedies and bad
un‘ArnerieaniSin runs threugh aii sf the New laws. After all, we builded a majestic system
Desi measures and Peiieies bY anY nieanS· I of government in these United States. Through
have already made this statement earlier in my the lengt leng veate ef a anlenthd and fruitful
remarks. Some, like the lending agencies, such . Past we have hved under neheiea whieh have
as the RFC and the HOLC, which are paid back ehgetded the neenle et em, eetmttv mere et the
what they lend, naVe in great Part Saved ih' necessities, the conveniences and the comforts
dustry and banking and the PeePieis heines» and of life than have ever been enjoyed by the peo-
do not seem to me at all subversive of our form PIC ef any land en eat.th_ In ne amah m e asm, e
ei. geverhiheiih Other iiieeeiii`ee¤ iike ieiiei ie this has been due to the ideals and practices of
the uneniPieYe‘i and eare fsr the ei‘i¤ the ei" self-reliance, self-help, self-initiative and hard
riieteu and the etherwiee haneiieaPPeti·» are ee" work which, under the guarantees and structure
cial responsibilities of the Government, many of ef the American Gevetnmenta have anim at e d
them too long delayed in fulfillment; and as to em, neenle ftem the heeinninet The exp e1_i_
these the problems relate principally to the eneea et- the Wetld may have taught ether Pee_
amounts to be expended, and to the limitations, PICS ether things in ether Wave, hut th ev have
terms and conditions thereof. Other measures taught ne what thinea we ean d e well and et~_
n again invvlvs ePen‘iing ier Piiiiiie wsrks eiiii fectually under our government, and by the toll
purposes, and these too are not contrary to the ef hleed they taught ne what was neeeaaarv te
American f¤¤d=¤m<=¤t¤1S of geVei`iiiiieiit•_ei' preserve our liberties and our freedom.
though we should recognize that no nation has Se let em, natienal mana and Peheiee feat,
ever yet spent its way back to recovery, and that as they have ahvava denet tm en the reeka ef
we eanner tee ieng SPen‘i rnere than We take iii• liberty which underly our form of Government,
iieeeuee Wiieii we do iexee eiiii Piiiiiie debt at and not upon shifting sands or upon theories
last become unbearable, and then pay day and which the American Gevernment and Am e1_i_
iiie eieeii face ue' ` can experience outlaw. Thus will we preserve
These thingsv heWeVer· and ether related met' all that is best in our governmental order, and
tere» are net within the SeePe sf these reiiierkev thus, in these times of stress and trial, we will
heeause I am undertaking eniY te SPeak te iaw' ° banish uncertainty, and restore confidence in
yers about the foundation principles and objec- American eevernmental metheda and peheiea’__
tives of the Aineriean geverninentv and sf iiie the kind of confidence which begets American
dangers which beset them. a eenraee te eenenet, and te ee ahead.
If some of us do not consider them dangers,
and feel content to scrap the liberty-assuring ·
government we know as American, for some
other kind of government which is something
else, then the Constitution provides the way for
Congress, the States and the people to consider
amending it, and that direct way, and not in- .
10 11