th political systems, the higher they rise in the scale
of development the more complicated they tend to become. An absolute
monarchy is simplicity itself compared with our dual system. To maintain
the proper adjustment of such a machine requires intelligence of a high
order. The machine will not run itself and male tinkers have abundantly
demonstrated that it is not fool-proof. But something more is required
than mere intelligence. There must be, at least among the leaders, an
instinct for governmental problems as distinguished from those of a
merely social or personal character; an ability to recognize and a
willingness to conform to underlying principles.

How will the women voters meet this test? Granting (what few will
dispute) that their intelligence at least equals that of the men, will
they be as likely as men to look beyond the immediate social welfare
problem to the governmental principle at stake? Will an abstract
proposition hold its own in their minds against a concrete appeal?

We do not attempt to answer these questions, but they contain food for
thought.

VI

CONGRESS _versus_ THE SUPREME COURT--THE CHILD LABOR LAWS

The present Federal Revenue Act is noteworthy in more aspects than its
complexity and the disproportionate burden cast on possessors of great
wealth. To students of our form of government it is particularly
interesting because of provisions[1] purporting to impose a tax on
employers of child labor, for these represent an attempt by Congress to
nullify a decision of the Supreme Court and grasp a power belonging to
the states. The story of these provisions throws a flood of light on a
method by which our Constitution is being changed.

[Footnote 1: Revenue Act of 1921, Title XII.]

The evils of child labor have long engaged the attention of
philanthropists and lawmakers. In comparatively recent years child labor
laws are said to have been enacted in every state of the Union. These
statutes, however, lacked uniformity. Some of them were not stringent
enough to satisfy modern sentiment. Moreover, commercial considerations
entered into the reckoning. Industries in states where the laws were
stringent were found to be at a disadvantage in comparison with like
industries in states where the laws were lax, and this came to be
regarded as a species of unfair competition. The advantages of
uniformity and standardization seemed obvious from both the
philanthropic and the commercial view