Under the grant of power to determine controversies "between a state and
citizens of another state"[1] the Supreme Court in 1793 proceeded to
entertain a suit by one Chisholm, a citizen of South Carolina, against
the State of Georgia.[2] It had not been supposed that the grant of
power contemplated such a suit against a state without its consent. The
decision aroused an indescribable state of popular fury, not only in
Georgia but throughout the Union, and led to the adoption of a
constitutional amendment[3] prohibiting such suits in future.

[Footnote 1: Art. III, Sec. 2.]

[Footnote 2: See 2 Dallas, 419.]

[Footnote 3: Eleventh Amendment.]

There is a long step between such an attitude toward the Constitution
and the viewpoint which finds in it authority for the enactment by
Congress of White Slave and Child Labor laws. Obviously there has been a
profound change in what the Constitution means to its adherents. It will
be interesting to consider briefly what has caused the change of view,
and how it has been put into effect.

To one searching for causes the most striking phenomenon is the growth
of a national consciousness. At the outset it was practically
non-existent. To-day its power has astonished enemy and friend alike.
Its growth has been due to both pressure from without and developments
within. Our foreign wars, especially the war with Germany, have drawn
the people together and enhanced the importance of interests purely
national. Some of our other foreign relations have brought into relief
the advantages of a strong central government as well as certain