December 12, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



839 



side this new structure to extend and multi- 

 ply its work and to realize the hopes of 

 other workers yet unprovided with ade- 

 quate facilities, that here may be developed 

 a great institution for the relief of suffer- 

 ing and the service of humanity. 



Henkt B. Wakd 



TjNivEBsiTY or Illinois 



THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NATIONAL 

 BIBD LAW 



For 125 years, constitutional lawyers and 

 laymen were agreed on at least one thing — 

 that the national government possesses only 

 those powers specifically granted in the con- 

 stitution, and those reasonably implied from 

 such specific grants. The states possess the 

 residue. There had been, it is true, some argu- 

 ment as to the interpretation to be given to 

 Art. I., Sec. 8, Par. 1 of the constitution as 

 well as to the 9th and 10th amendments. But 

 this was wholly academic, and the consensus 

 of opinion soon crystallized to the above 

 stated proposition. 



Yet during our constitutional life of 125 

 years we have seen remarkable changes going 

 on in this country. The states were isolated 

 and self-sufficient. The stage oilered no in- 

 ducement to travel from state to state, nor 

 the pack horse to trade. To-day, what a revo- 

 lution in our economic and social life! Rail- 

 roads, steamships, the telegraph and tele- 

 phone, along with a thousand other inventions, 

 have made us live a different life. Dis- 

 tance has been shortened; the United States 

 made smaller. One state can no longer satisfy 

 our needs, for all states are interdependent. 



Yet more remarkable than all, we live under 

 substantially the same constitution. But only 

 because it is too difficult to amend, for we 

 are to-day confronted with many problems 

 which some think can only be settled satisfac- 

 torily by a constitutional amendment. Yet 

 that is next to impossible. It will pay us to 

 glance at a few of the problems that have 

 arisen because of revolutionary changes in our 

 ways of living. For almost haH a century the 

 conflict of divorce laws in the states — some 



lenient, others strict — has been the subject of 

 continual agitation. The origin of the Ameri- 

 can Bar Association and the origin of the 

 Commission on Uniform State Laws is but an 

 indication of the stir that the diversity in 

 divorce laws must have produced. Yet in 

 spite of continued attention to this subject 

 from 1878, when the American Bar Associa- 

 tion was organized, no substantial results have 

 been accomplished; this, though the Commis- 

 sioners on Uniform State Laws have fought 

 for it for twenty-five years, though a national 

 conference was held at Washington, and 

 though no end of other organizations are 

 urging uniformity of divorce laws. After all 

 this effort three states have uniform divorce 

 acts, and these are not absolutely uniform. 

 The very natural result is that public opinion 

 is turning to the federal government and ask- 

 ing for a national divorce law. But that 

 would necessitate a constitutional amendment. 



While not now in the public eye, it was only 

 a short time ago that we heard of the evils 

 flowing from the corporation laws of some 

 states. And no wonder there was criticism 

 when some of the states debauched themselves 

 to an advertising campaign in order to induce 

 incorporation under their laws, the "most 

 liberal," that is the most lax, in the United 

 States. Here too uniformity has been at- 

 tempted by state action, and as yet not even 

 an act has been agreed upon. Very naturally 

 again public opinion turns to the national 

 branch for relief, demanding either a federal 

 incorporation act, a federal license, or any 

 form of relief that federal action can give. 

 Yet the constitutionality of such a law has 

 been questioned. 



In the various states, the progressive ele- 

 ment is urging reform on such questions as 

 hours of labor, woman and child labor, mini- 

 mum wage, protection from machinery, pro- 

 tection from trade diseases, in short all the 

 problems of modern factory life. What kind 

 of opposition is met? A kind that is very 

 difficult to reply to — successfully. The manu- 

 facturer says : " Yes, hours of labor should be 

 reduced; children should not be employed; we 

 ought to take greater precautions to protect 



