By SAMUEL W. WITWER
A Chicago lawyer long active in civic affairs, he was at the forefront of campaigns for constitutional revision in Illinois beginning with the successful campaign for the 1950 Gateway Amendment. His role as president of the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention was preceded by service as a member of the Constitution Study Commission and as volunteer general counsel for the Illinois Committee for Constitutional Convention, Inc.

Adoption of Constitution linked to U.S. bicentennial

Like the colonists, the people of Illinois felt deprived of their basic rights

EDITOR'S NOTE: It seems appropriate as Illinois observes the fifth anniversary of the popular ratification of the 1970 Constitution to bring to our readers a condensation of the address which the president of the 1969-70 Constitutional Convention delivered in Lincoln. Illinois, on June 7, 1975, when he was made a laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. Mr. Witwer's address dealt with Illinois constitutionalism and the American bicentennial.

IN 1970 the people of Illinois won adoption of their Constitution of 1970 after a struggle lasting almost 100 years. The 1870 Constitution had become virtually unamendable before the turn of the present century. Written with rigid detail and precision to meet the needs of a rural and agrarian society, it was incapable of meeting the vast changes which had occurred in our state's transition to an urban and industrial lifestyle. It was a constitution to be "lived around" not "lived under." Describing this cynical public attitude the late Gov. Adlai Stevenson when urging the call of a Constitutional Convention in 1948 said:

I would remind you that initially the thrust which brought the 13 colonies together was not a quest for independence but a desire to secure the benefits of the English law and constitution which too long had been denied the colonists. They revolted not against the law or the constitution. Their complaint was that they were wrongfully denied the blessings of both. Like their spiritual forefathers of 1775, the people of Illinois had come to feel that they had been deprived of the benefit of their basic laws. With growing insistence they demanded a constitution that would permit government in Illinois to be straightforward and candid. In my considered opinion, the 1970 document is such a constitution.

The new Illinois Constitution was the accomplishment of a great many people, including the leaders of both political parties. Illinois has been particularly fortunate in having a series of dedicated and wise governors who were keenly aware of the need for comprehensive constitutional renewal. Governors Stevenson, Stratton, Kerner, Ogilvie and Walker, each in his turn, threw the full weight of his leadership behind the recurring campaigns involved in the revision effort.

A second aspect of our Illinois experience pertains less to history than it does to contemporary spirit, mood and sense of purpose of our citizens. The generation of Americans living in the closing quarter of the 18th century resolutely confronted some of the greatest challenges and opportunities of all history: winning a military victory against Britain, creating a new nation— something that no people had ever done before—setting up a federal system to overcome the independence of 13 states that had thought of themselves as sovereign, ending colonialism and dealing with the American West, and writing state and federal constitutions that would place limits on government and yet create governments adequate to the exigencies of independence.

A few years ago as we first gave thought to the significance of July 4, 1976, one could assume that this would be a landmark anniversary overflowing with pride in our national past and abundant in hope for our nation's future. But something happened on the way. In recent years both our state and nation have experienced frustrations of spirit, confusion of purpose and conscience and division of our peoples.

On September 3, 1970, addressing the Illinois Constitutional Convention on its closing day, I said that the convention was a test, in a manner, in microcosm of our national will and purpose. Illinois met that test and, as one

360 / Illinois Issues / December 1975

state, provided an answer of hope to confront our national doubts, worries and disbelief. Over the many long years leading up to the convention, our people were frustrated at every turn in their efforts to amend or revise the 1870 Constitution. For over 50 years no proposed amendment to the Constitution surmounted the highly restrictive standards of passage imposed by the 1870 draftsmen. Repeated attempts to adopt Gateway Amendments foundered. Then after succeeding by a mammoth effort in adopting the first "successful" Gateway Amendment in 1950, the state was forced to try for 15 additional years, largely unsuccessfully, to find a way out of its constitutional straitjacket. Indeed for half a century the mood, vis-a-vis the future of state government, was one of despair, cynicism and disbelief. Many citizens said it couldn't be done. Yet it was done. The cumulative effort culminated in a big breakthrough in 1968 when on November 8 the citizens of Illinois "called" the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention by the largest voting margin ever given to any candidate or any proposition on a ballot in our state's history. Then meeting in Springfield 100 years to the day of the start of the convention which had written the 1870 Constitution, our Constitutional Convention set about its work.

The decade in which Illinois readied itself for a convention, held its convention, and then submitted the proposed constitution successfully to its people, was one of great divisiveness in the life of both state and nation. It was a divisiveness that bred open rebellion against the so-called establishment, against government, against the foundations of law that sustained the country, and that even finally laid waste to our streets and college campuses. I believe I do not exaggerate in saying that no state constitutional convention in the 20th century was held under more turbulent and politically adverse conditions.

Yet Illinois achieved a generally successful outcome and drafted and adopted what even cautious political scientists define as a "good" Constitution. That is why on the record of the Illinois experience I am optimistic about the future of American state and national government. And other states are taking "heart" about the chances of achieving long, overdue renewal of their constitutions because they witnessed our success.

The third and last aspect has to do with Illinois' improved capabilities to contribute to an improved federalism. Under the federal Constitution the national government and the states are partners yet traditional federalism is today under severe scrutiny and review. There is taking place an evolutionary process, and new techniques and goals of the partnership operation are being referred to as the "New Federalism."

For one thing there is a growing desire for a substantial reversal of the Washington flow of power and to return some of it to the states. Contrary to hopeful assumptions made during the "New Deal" years, not all big federal spending programs have proven effective, efficient, or serviceable. Too often the impersonal, mechanical and massive federal treatments end up orienting themselves toward self-perpetuation and self-enlargement rather than being oriented toward people and their needs. The New Federalism looks toward a return to the states of those "People Programs" which can be more effectively and equitably administered at state and local levels than in Washington.

This is about where federalism started in the early days of the Republic and in the thinking of the founding fathers. The New Federalism seeks the best possible rule for the division of labor between the states and our national government.

The National Municipal League reports more activity in state constitutional reform in that past decade than at any other time of constitution making in our history, including the period following the Civil War. The states are seeking to ready themselves for more effective service by throwing off constitutional anachronisms. Illinois can be proud that it is one of the few states which have in this century succeeded in comprehensive constitutional revision.

Of course, political Utopia did not come to Illinois in 1970. Many of the opportunities for improved government under the new Constitution have yet to bear fruit and it may be some time before they do. But for those of us who have learned to labor and to wait, the exciting fact is that we are witnessing movement in our state and local government. Already there is sufficient evidence that our new provisions strengthening the executive—calling for modern fiscal systems, enlarging the powers of our cities, authorizing innovative and effective intergovernmental relations—to mention but a few, are enabling Illinois to become a better partner in the federal system.

As Illinois now goes forward under its new Constitution and this country enters its challenging third century, let us remember that by tradition we are "a people on the way." Just as the American Revolution did not start at Concord, it did not end at Yorktown. The very meaning of America is "unfinished business." We must resist the temptation to be irresolute, worried, lacking in confidence in our capacity to deal with our "unfinished business." It will be well and competently attended to by this and future generations if we move forward in that spirit of hope, with the sense of mission, and courageous commitment to principle that fired an earlier generation of patriots who established our nation.

In closing I could not better portray the spirit that is so greatly needed today than by telling you of the closing day of the 1818 Illinois Constitutional Convention when 33 delegates assembled in Kaskaskia, completed the first constitution of Illinois and set the stage for our statehood. In a fascinating account in the September 2, 1818, issue of The Illinois Intelligencer, it is told how an impromptu civic celebration was held by the citizens of Kaskaskia when they received word of the completion of the drafting of the 1818 Constitution, how they fired a federal salute in front of the old territorial capitol and participated in other ceremonies perpetuating remembrance of the day. The news article went on to say:

The old French town and first capital of Illinois long ago disappeared under the shifting waters of the Mississippi. May that spirit of old Kaskaskia never disappear in our great state and throughout our land. 

December 1975 / Illinois Issues / 361