European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 16, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 12 the stars and stripes William f. Buckley wednesday August 16, 1978 the cd per War time for the Senate to Aid the nation by sealing Era s demise the House having acted impetuously to prolong the life of the equal rights amendment the time has come for All Good senators to come to the Aid of the country. The arguments Here Are not prop Erly Deducible from one s attitude towards Era or. Graver Rees of new Orleans a prominent attorney and former editor in chief of the Louisiana Law review advises partisans in the matter to fancy that the amendment in question is one which they fear the passage of most and then at tempt to apply reason to the question of whether Congress has the right to prolong the seven year period during which a constitutional consensus was supposed to have been advocates of the hypothetical Power of Congress to prolong the seven year period tend to base their position on a broadly interpreted act of Congress in 1868.here, in Brief is what happened the reconstruction Congress passed the fourteenth amendment and sent it out to the states for ratification. In 1868, three. J quarters of the state Legislatures had rail bed. But before the last of these had done pm two of them Ohio and new Jersey dotted to rescind their ratification. We had it Short a comparable situation assuming three More states proceed to ratify a which would mean that 38 states had in fied provided we do not count Theta Lair that have voted to rescind. I. What happened in 1868 is hardly a Model t constitutional procedure. Although the committee requested that it be netted to deliberate the dilemma the Gress rushed through a declaration bouncing the fourteenth amendment i have been duly enacted and a part of Constitution. Charging in with a valiant sense of Tim Georgia on the same Day pro a to to ratify the fourteenth amen thus rendering moot the question of Illonal Power to judge the quest onion. This by the Way was the same is that voted the impeachment of Johnson. It has not survived in his f As a Model of what the fathers had in 1 in articulating their ideas on constr 1 government which was designed j the Jacobi Nical excesses that were to be exercised in France. Question of whether Congress Hasi Hority to prolong the period during i a constitutional amendment is con pad in t handled in the Constitution there was discussion about the dment process that suggested that must be solid indication three Quad j of the states that As Hamilton put it 5 to federalist 85, the Legislatures we reunited in the desire of a particular Amend ment. If too Long a period goes by be tween the promulgation by Congress of a constitutional amendment and its final ratification there is no such consensus. This is easily imagined by a reduction and Abs drum. Assume that an amendment is sent out to Congress and in the High tide of enthusiasm for the idea 36 state Legisla Tures vote to ratify but the balance hold 36 states vote to rescind. But on the sixth year a 37th state votes to ratify. And con Gress then declares that the amendment has been enacted what kind of consensus do you have or. Rees dubs such arithmetic As the sacramental act theory of constitutional amendment. Rather like exchanging per manent and Dis soluble marriage vows. The alternative is the consensus it is the obvious fear of putting the consensus theory to the test that has driven the House in effect to adopt the sacramental theory if instead of voting to prolong the seven year period it had voted instead to reissue the amendment under the impeccable auspices of a fresh two thirds majority then what would probably happen is that Era advocates starting yet again from scratch would find very Little enthusiasm in the state Legislatures for an amendment which is widely deemed to be unnecessary and possibly hazardous. It is clearly fear of such a test that Moti Vates them to take the position that con Gress is Sovereign Over All questions that can be deemed they rely on Coleman v. Miller 1939, in which the supreme. Court asserted that article v gives Congress authority Over any ques Tion of adjudication of amendment proce dures. But there is no such language in article. Moreover As recently As 1969, the supreme court notwithstanding the Clear language of the Constitution denomination Congress As the sole judge of the qualifications of its members ordered the House to reinstate Adam Clayton Powell jr., thus asserting a judicial authority relevant under certain circumstances Over political acts. If the Senate does not restrain the House the Odds Are Good that the supreme court will need to do so. 0 George f. Will the ugliness of Colfax Avenue the fear that War May blow civilization to Smithereens loses some of its sting when you see Denver s Colfax ave nue. It is one of those thoroughfares most cities have at least one that nuclear devastation would improve. I used to consider coax Avenue second Only to Rome s Victor Emmanuel memorial As evidence of Mankind s capacity for excess. But the memorial in Rome has been just sitting there while Colfax has been evolving and Colfax is no longer Sec Ond. It is lined with fast food places Selling deep Fried cholesterol Book stores of Fering the literature of unspeakable acts and unnatural practices cinemas devote to similar themes and other forms of Enterprise More defensible but not measurably More Eye pleasing. This unsightly River of Commerce reflects the malice of destiny which did not have elegance in mind Tor an Avenue named after Schuyler coax was president Grant s first Vic president. Republicans refused to Nomi Nate him even before they knew about his involvement in the credit Mobilizer rail Road scandal. Think of it so deep was the doubt about his ethics he Farej Tome sure up even to the standards such As the were of the Republican party of the 1870s but recently amidst the rank growth of eyesores on the Avenue named for that Reo Robate. I found an Orchid a Fine used Book store. There i bought for $2, a tiny volume pub shed in 192j. It is the Visoria age. A Cambridge University lecture by Inge to Sifis c Ever Desny to Brin Inge was an eminent theologian and ecclesiastical historian and Temar Kasy to to he had lived Only 62 of his allotted u years but his lecture was a curmudgeon s summing up an exercise i letting the chips fall where they ma7 u was a bristling Phalanx of passionate Opin ions or big tries depending on your Point of View. Its tone May be understood from the Short shrift he gives the Irish in Ireland the barbarous and illiterate peasantry multiplied until the population exceeded eight millions when the inevitable famine illustrated nature s Way of dealing with and the French our nation has a great tradition i fiction and we shall be Wise to stick to it instead of pre Ferring a corrupt following of the French whose novelists. Seem to me frequently Dull and usually repulsive. His Opin ions were not always appreciated. He once received a letter which said i am Pray ing for your death. I have been very successful in two other Kkt jump Tou Colorado where every i and Only Man and coif a a is an appropriate place be be s reminder that until i George Iha town Wain " ing a Inge i Ness in the works of Man b a i social disease and that thai Austria list had brought Ilion of handicrafts and i inspired idea recently Bubba a Raphy of Samuel John Mil Oxford professor of poetry. 1,reactionary digression Watai yes. Perhaps that is Watt tace first we then " we could take our i Ness affronted eyes Back Tosh Johnson. It was a place in was very rare indeed i exception of the ugliness i disfigurement produce to i and animals ugliness is us any object from a dry i that is anything but by recognized Asdal. In Johnson s d probably no such Uhtof table Stool or Chiu Rodom. The main re trials a by moving Peop i natural rhythms of Tum from the materials which to their Region and to i " tuned by habit and tra fostering ugliness at Utt j Fosters cheapness and a perhaps that is a i Gards both then and no you dare the possibility i rhythms of modern life is. Colfax Avenue and similar 1as has been said progre1once but it went on too of
