In almost every agreement or contract you can find
“small print”. That’s where they bury
the important exceptions or potential modifications to the document that
catches the unsuspecting or trusting party.
While there is nothing illegal about the procedure, it is not only
annoying, but upsetting to say the least, particularly when some provision it
contained turns out to be against what you had understood or thought you were
accepting.
That said, one of the major pluses in the writing of
the Constitution is that there are no “fine print” parts. Yet, there are situations contained in the
document that might well fall into that category simply because they can be so
easily overlooked or disregarded.
For example, “No State shall . . . make any Thing
but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts . . . ” (Art. I, Sec. 10). How many readers are aware of that requirement? And, how many states are complying with this
mandate? Recognizing that the physical
handling of large quantities or gold or silver in whatever form became a
burden, the government began the process of printing “certificates” (Gold and
Silver Certificates) that were acknowledged and accepted as representing the
specific amount of the metal as noted on the face thereof.
The practice of exchanging such “paper
certificates” became widespread until the Federal Reserve was created and began
the slow and quiet practice of “modifying” the certificates, eliminating any
reference to gold or silver! Thus the
expression “not worth the paper it’s printed on” began to define the Federal
Reserve Notes as they are now called.
The “fine print” worked its way while the public was otherwise occupied.
Another example, “The Senators and Representatives .
. . and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and
judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall
be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution . . .” Today we have some people openly advocating
abandoning the Constitution as the controlling document for our
government.
Rep. Henry Hyde is quoted as
telling Rep. Ron Paul in response to Paul’s resolution requesting a formal declaration
of war following 9/11 and the Iraq invasion, “There are things in the
Constitution that have been overtaken by events, by time. Declaration of war is one of them . . .
Inappropriate, anachronistic, it isn’t done anymore.” Was the oath a “fine print” area to be
ignored at will? Can the President
declare war whenever he feels like it?
Such disregard of a sworn oath as well as ignoring the Constitution surely
indicates some “fine print” may have been missed in the beginning!
Perhaps the most egregious example of “fine print”
that truly affects everyone, is to be found in a document of some 4 million
plus words. It has been said that no one
person fully understands
or comprehends it.
Yet it is involved in everyone’s life every day and requires compliance
with its dictates regardless of who you are or what business or profession you
have. It can fine you and even imprison
you if you fail to respect its regulations or to provide what it demands. And, it is all perfectly constitutional since
it is the result of an amendment. In
case you haven’t already guessed, the “fine print” is that of the Internal
Revenue Service (Amendment XVI ratified in 1913). Until that time, the federal government
“lived within its means” and without the “fine print” of the IRS.
We should read the “fine print” always! That’s my view. What’s yours?
Reach me at constitutionviews@gmail.com
©2013 Hillard W. Welch
