Your TR Source

Constitutional amendments--U.S. states

Search by Date Range

Clear Filters

8 Results

Letter from Henry N. tum Suden to Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Henry N. tum Suden to Theodore Roosevelt

Henry N. tum Suden writes to Theodore Roosevelt that Hiram Johnson, governor of California, is stumping for the Initiative Referendum and Recall Amendment. Judson King, field lecturer of the National Referendum League, is speaking with the press. Tum Suden is confident that the lobby will be successful in California, and he hopes they can eventually bring the amendment to the National Constitution.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to the Board of Directors of the New York County Lawyers’ Association

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to the Board of Directors of the New York County Lawyers’ Association

Theodore Roosevelt writes to the Board of Directors of the New York County Lawyers’ Association regarding a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would provide that no court or judge shall hereafter declare any legislative enactment unconstitutional. Roosevelt discusses the history of this power, and finds the proposed amendment to have troubling implications, but argues for a possible solution to its problems. Roosevelt quotes from Professor Thayer’s book Life of Marshall to support his arguments. Roosevelt’s main argument is that the limitations on the legislative branch of government must be more precisely defined, and some body of government must be able to give the legislature authority to act above its limitations in case of emergency, but that the courts may not be the best body for this, since this draws them necessarily into political partisanship. Roosevelt proposes instead a Constitutional Council composed of ex-judges.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-05-09

Letter from Robert M. La Follette to Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Robert M. La Follette to Theodore Roosevelt

Good progress has been made with the National Progressive Republican League and Senator La Follette regrets that Theodore Roosevelt has decided not to join. He agrees that some states are not ready for the entire progressive platform but he will press forward with educational and reform work; otherwise, it will take a generation to move the legislative program forward. The League is seeking uniformity for state constitutional amendments on the initiative, referendum, and recall. La Follette hopes that Roosevelt will eventually lend his “great name and influence” to the movement.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01-19

Chicago Burlington Railroad Company vs. Hudson J. Winnett, et al.

Chicago Burlington Railroad Company vs. Hudson J. Winnett, et al.

Memorandum opinion filed in the case of Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, a corporation, vs. Hudson J. Winnett, J. A. Williams, and Henry T. Clarke, Jr., as members of the Nebraska State Railway Commission. The memorandum serves to deny the complainant’s request for a temporary injunction, dissolve the subsequent restraining order, and sustain the defendant’s demurrer to the complainant’s bill.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-06

Letter from William H. Fleming to Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from William H. Fleming to Theodore Roosevelt

Politician and orator William H. Fleming believes President Roosevelt wishes “to do the best thing possible for the whole country, including our Southern white people, and not excluding the negroes.” Many Georgia locals agree with outspoken men like T. W. Hardwick though the South owes no allegiance to the 14th and 15th Amendment. South Carolina politician Coleman Livingston Blease has argued against education for African Americans and called for the university in Orangeburg to be torn down. Fleming asks Roosevelt if the government can make a statement of clarity regarding the amendments to help “check the riotous tendency down here.” Fleming believes that any man not willing to commit to the Constitution and its amendments should be stripped of their seat and discusses counter efforts against the passage of disenfranchisement laws.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-24

Letter from Andrew B. Humphrey to Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Andrew B. Humphrey to Theodore Roosevelt

Andrew B. Humphrey expresses hope that there will be a Constitutional Suffrage Plank in the Republican National Convention’s platform supporting equity in elections, and including the provision that in states that exclude certain citizens from voting there will be a reduction in the number of representatives in the Electoral College.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-06-02