CONSTITUTION OF UNITED STATES 1561 



CONSUL 



the Constitution by the states but for a con- 

 viction that the rights of the people had not 

 been sufficiently safeguarded. It was only on 

 the definite understanding that the first Con- 

 gress would correct the omission by proposing 

 amendments that several states voted to ratify 

 it. The first ten amendments were accordingly 

 proposed in 1789 and declared adopted in 1791. 

 These comprise a Bill of Rights, guaranteeing 

 the liberties of the individual, as well as the 

 rights of the states, against Federal oppression. 

 The eleventh amendment provides in effect 

 that a state shall not be sued in the Federal 

 courts by citizens of another state, or of a 

 foreign country. This amendment was adopted 

 in 1798. The twelfth amendment, changing the 

 method of electing the President and Vice- 

 President, was adopted in 1804. Thereafter, 

 until the issues of the War of Secession were 

 decided, no other amendments were proposed. 



Amendments since the War of Secession. 

 The reconstruction amendments (the thirteenth, 

 fourteenth and fifteenth) were added to the 

 Constitution in consequence of the War of Se- 

 cession. The thirteenth amendment abolished 

 slavery throughout the United States and all 

 places subject to its jurisdiction. The four- 

 teenth defines citizenship, and seeks to pre- 

 vent the states from discriminating against 

 certain classes of citizens. The fifteenth de- 

 clares that the right of citizens of the United 

 States to vote shall not be denied or abridged 

 on account of race, color or previous condition 

 of servitude. 



During the War of Secession the Federal 

 government taxed incomes, but in 1895 the 

 power of Congress to levy a similar tax was 

 denied by the Supreme Court. A constitu- 

 tional amendment was therefore necessary, in 

 order that Congress might exercise this power. 

 Accordingly, the sixteenth amendment was 

 added to the Constitution in 1913, directly 

 authorizing Congress to tax incomes. 



The seventeenth amendment (adopted in 

 1913) provided for election of United States 

 Senators by direct vote of the people, depriving 

 the state legislatures of that power. The eight- 

 eenth amendment (effective January 16, 1920) 

 made the United States and all of its insular 

 possessions prohibition territory. 



Constitutional Changes through Interpreta- 

 tion. The Constitution has also been modified 

 and expanded through interpretation, espe- 

 cially through the construction placed upon 

 its terms by the United States Supreme Court. 

 The importance of this tribunal in the devel- 



opment of the Federal Constitution can hardly 

 be over-estimated. "The Constitution speaks 

 of the age in which it was written, more than 

 a century ago. The court expounds it in the 

 language of its own age, holding fast to the 

 old words and powers, but expanding them to 

 keep pace with the expansion of our country, 

 our people, our enterprises, industries, and 

 civilization." 



In the interpretation and expansion of the 

 Constitution, the doctrine of implied powers 

 has been of the utmost importance. The Su- 

 preme Court has uniformly held that the Fed- 

 eral government possesses not only the powers 

 expressly granted in the Constitution, but also 

 those which are included within, or necessarily 

 implied from, powers expressly granted. In 

 other words, where it appears that' a power 

 has been granted to the Federal government, 

 the Constitution is to be liberally construed 

 so as to give effect to the grant. This construc- 

 tion is authorized by the Constitution itself, 

 which declares that Congress shall have power 

 to make all laws which shall be "necessary and 

 proper" for carrying into execution the powers 

 conferred upon the Federal government. W.B.G. 



Consult Bryce's American Commonwealth; 

 Woodrow Wilson's Congressional Government. 



Related Subjects. Further information bear- 

 ing on this topic will be found in the following 

 articles in these volumes : 



Amendment President of the United 



Annapolis Convention States 



Articles of Confedera- Senate of the United 



tion States 



Congress of the United States' Rights 



States Supreme Court 



Courts United States 



Representatives, House Subtitles Government 



of and History 



CONSUL, kon'sul, an official appointed by 

 the government of one country to attend to its 

 commercial interest in a city of another coun- 

 try. A consul differs from a diplomatic repre- 

 sentative in that the former attends only to 

 business matters, while the latter is interested 

 only in the political relations between his coun- 

 try and the one to which he is appointed. 

 Among the responsibilities resting upon the 

 United States consuls are the issuing of certifi- 

 cates of births, deaths and marriages of Amer- 

 icans temporarily within their jurisdiction, reg- 

 ulation of shipping, caring for disabled seamen 

 and the insuring of justice to native-born or 

 naturalized American citizens who are traveling 

 abroad. Consuls send to the home government 

 reports concerning foreign trade conditions; 

 this is one of the means by which they may be 



