the political literature that
appears under such headlines as "Constitutional History" or the "History
of Constitutional Government." Here Constitution means not abstract
philosophic principles of Government, but concrete political phenomena,
that is, political facts. Our constitutional historians do not as a
rule deal directly with the ultimate principles of government; but they
are concerned rather with their progressive phenomenal manifestations in
the assembly, the court, the office, the caucus, the convention, the
platform, the election, and the like. Thus Constitutional History is
simply a record of concrete political facts.

It is, however, in the literature of Jurisprudence that the term
"Constitution" is used in accordance with an exact definition.
Constitutional Law, or the Law of the Constitution, means a very
definite thing to the Jurist. It stands (at least in America) for a
written instrument which is looked upon "as the absolute rule of action
and decision for all departments and officers of government . . . and in
opposition to which any act or regulation of any such department or
officer, or even of the people themselves, will be altogether void." In
this sense a Constitution is a code of that which is fundamental in the
Law. To be sure, this code or text, as everybody knows, does not provide
for all that is fundamental in government. It usually contains much that
is temporary and unimportant. But to the American Jurist all that finds
expression in the written document labeled "Constitution" is
Constitutional Law. Accordingly, he defines the Constitution as the
written or codified body of fundamental law in accordance with which
government is instituted and administered.

It is as a code or text of fundamental law that the word "Constitution"
is used in the title of these pages. This is not a philosophical
discussion of the ultimate principles of our government, nor an outline
of our constitutional history, but simply a narrative touching the
written texts or codes that have served the people of Iowa as
fundamental law during the past sixty years.

III

THE CONSTITUTION MAKERS

Constitutions are not made; they grow. This thought has become a
commonplace in current political literature. And yet the growth of which
men speak with such assurance is directed, that is, determined by the
ideals of the people. Members of constituent assemblies and
constitutional conventions neither manufacture no