[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 161 (Monday, December 15, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2422-E2423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    PRAIRIE ROSE CHAPTER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

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                         HON. VINCE SNOWBARGER

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 13, 1997

  Mr. SNOWBARGER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a belated 
recognition of the efforts of the Prairie Rose Chapter of the Kansas 
Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution in their continuing 
effort to remind all Americans of the importance of the U.S. 
Constitution. This year, in honor of Constitution Day, the DAR 
published a series of Constitution Sidelights, which I am honored to 
submit to the Record.
  These sidelights demonstrate that the Founders were real human beings 
with individual idiosyncrasies. This forces us to remember that they 
rose above their individual quirks to develop a political system that 
led to the freest, most prosperous, and most tolerant society that the 
world has ever known.
  The Constitution's balance of powers, rights, and responsibilities 
provide the groundwork for this society. But it is only when citizens 
know their freedoms, rights, and duties that the promise of our 
Constitution can be realized in our daily lives.
  It is groups like the Prairie Rose Chapter of the Kansas Society of 
the Daughters of the American Revolution that have put in the time and 
energy to remind our citizens of this. They deserve all of our support 
and praise for the fine work they do.

         National Society Daughters of the American Revolution


                   constitution sidelights 1997-1988

       1. Author-historian James McGregor Burns characterized the 
     delegates to the Constitutional Convention as ``the well 
     bred, the well fed, the well read, and the well wed.''
       2. The final form of the Constitution was put to a vote on 
     September 17, 1787. Thirty-nine of the delegates present 
     voted in favor; three were opposed. Thirteen delegates were 
     absent and of these, seven were believed to favor the 
     Constitution.
       3. As acknowledged leader in Pennsylvania and one of the 
     world's most recognized savants, it was Benjamin Franklin's 
     part to entertain the delegates. He wrote to his sister that 
     his new dining room would seat twenty-four. He had a generous 
     hand with the port.
       4. During the entire summer of 1787 Washington was a guest 
     in the home of Robert Morris. The Morris family had bought as 
     their summer residence a large mansion on a wooded hill above 
     the Schuykill river. They had an ice house, hot house, stable 
     for twelve horses, and lived in splendid luxury.
       5. A rule of secrecy existed during the Convention, for 
     which there was some criticism. It seemed impossible to keep 
     old Dr. Franklin quiet. It has been said that a discreet 
     delegate would attend Franklin's convivial dinners, heading 
     off the conversation when one of the Doctor's anecdotes 
     threatened to reveal secrets of the Convention.
       8. The Statehouse was comparatively cool when entering from 
     the baking streets of an unusually hot summer. The east 
     chamber was large, forty by forty with a twenty foot ceiling 
     and no supporting pillars to break the floorspace. Tall, wide 
     windows were on two sides, covered by slatted blinds to keep 
     out the summer sun. Gravel had been strewn on the streets 
     outside to deaden the sound of wheels and horses passing.
       7. During an especially difficult week when agreement 
     seemed impossible, Benjamin Franklin suggested that a 
     chaplain be invited to open each morning meeting with prayer. 
     North Carolina's Hugh Williamson bluntly replied that the 
     Convention had no money to pay a chaplain. The state budgets 
     in 1787 were exceedingly slim, and the finances of the 
     delegates were constantly changing.
       8. On Monday, May 28th, the last of the eight delegates 
     from Pennsylvania arrived. Jared Ingersoll was to remain 
     silent for the entire four months of the Convention. This was 
     an extraordinary feat for the man often described as ``the 
     ablest jury lawyer in Philadelphia.''
       9. Washington was not a facile speaker. ``He speaks with 
     great diffidence,'' wrote a foreign observer, ``and sometimes 
     hesitates for a word....His language is manly and 
     expressive.'' He was rarely seen to smile and his manners 
     were uncommonly reserved. It was felt, however, that power 
     would not turn his head, and he was never overbearing.
       10. The fourth of Delaware's five delegates arrived on May 
     28th. Gunning Bedford, Jr., was tall, sociable, corpulent, 
     and known as an impetuous speaker who did not hesitate to 
     make trouble if trouble was in order. Bedford, attorney 
     general of his state, came to

[[Page E2423]]

     Philadelphia as a champion of the small states.
       11. Convention rules were simple and took into account 
     courtesy as well as convenience. It was a age of formal 
     manners. George Wythe of Virginia, chairman of the rules 
     committee, had a keen eye, a deeply lined forehead, and at 
     age 60 resembled a sinewy old eagle. ``Every member,'' read 
     Wythe, ``rising to speak, shall address the President, and 
     whilest he shall be speaking, none shall pass between them or 
     hold discourse with another, or read a book, pamphlet or 
     paper, printed or manuscript.''
       12. Seven states were to make a quorum, and all questions 
     to be decided ``by a greater number of these which shall be 
     fully represented.'' There was an excellent rule providing 
     for reconsideration of matters that had already been passed 
     on by a majority. Young Richard Dobbs Spaight of North 
     Carolina suggested it: ``The House may not be precluded, by a 
     vote upon any question, from revising the subject manner of 
     it when they see cause.''

     

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