594
Changing the Constitution
public resentment at this time against various legislative devices Congress had concocted to enable members to raise their own salaries without registering a vote. One such device was the creation in 1967 of the
President’s Commission on Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries.
The Commission’s recommendations would take effect automatically
unless members of Congress registered a negative vote. Thus by merely
doing nothing Federal legislators routinely enjoyed generous salary increases. The Twenty-Seventh Amendment put an end to this charade,
and members of Congress are now held accountable for their salary increases.
Conclusion
At the close of the twentieth century, American society is very different
from what it was at the close of the eighteenth century. Yet the Constitution ratified in 1788 still functions vigorously enough in a nation vastly
increased in territory and population, vastly altered in its economy and
technology. It seems worthwhile to take inventory of the Constitution’s
enduring advantages.
(1) The Federal Union, held together by the Constitution, makes the
United States the greatest power in the world, well prepared for national defense, able to muster immense resources in time of need, virtually invulnerable to attack until the development of long-distance nuclear weapons.
(2) The huge internal free-trade area of the United States, and the constitutional protections afforded to private property, commerce, and industry, have produced remarkable and enduring material prosperity—
all directly related to the organic law of the United States, the Constitution.
(3) The division of political powers and functions between Federal
and State governments gives the country energetic national policy, and
yet leaves many important concerns in the hands of States and localities.
(4) An elaborate system of courts of law, both Federal and State, keeps
the peace for Americans and maintains the rule of law far better than in
most of the rest of the world.
(5) Civil rights for all citizens are jealously guarded by the Constitution, and effective measures are taken to make sure that no one will suffer