B. Frank Heintzleman

Governor, Territory of Alaska

To the Delegates of the Alaska Constitutional Convention

February 5, 1956

 

President Egan, Delegates to the Constitutional Convention: The act of affixing your signature to a proposed Constitution for the State of Alaska means to you delegates the closing of a period of extremely hard work in which your time, energies and talents were devoted in full measure to achieving something which you sincerely and earnestly hope will be of lasting value to all Alaskans, present and future.

The object you have brought into being offers a study of a fascinating social process. Fifty-five individuals of varied backgrounds, temperaments and ideas, and representing different regions and vocational groups with diversified interests, were brought together to consider the most complicated of social and political problems and blend then into a harmonious entity. By some wonderful alchemy which defies definition, this has been accomplished.

This marks a great stride toward ultimate self-government and self-determination.

The paper you have drafted will serve to demonstrate to Americans everywhere the character of political and social thinking to be found in Alaskans. We are confident that any comparison that may be made with the people of the several states will show that the plane of our thinking is as high as that of any other unit of the Nation.

This ceremony here today is not so much an ending as it is a beginning - a beginning of a long series of related activities which will be projected into the distant future of Alaska and of our Nation.

When you have affixed your signatures to this document, you will be standing in a similar position to that of the members of the Philadelphia Convention on September 17, 1787, the day they presented the American people with a document entitled "The Constitution of the United States as Agreed upon by the Convention." Like you today, they could look back upon a period of arduous labor during which they devised a means of reconciling the conflict of sectional and other special interests and built a working frame for a vital democracy.

But we remember that, at this point, the product of the Convention was still merely a document, not yet a living Constitution. They faced, as do we, the hurdle of gaining ratification of this document by the people.

The Constitution of the State of Alaska which you have agreed upon, when presented for popular endorsement, will not, I am sure, have to pass through a period of such bitter controversy as did the Constitution United States before it was finally ratified.

But as framers of the document, each of you will be expected, and are conscience-bound, to follow the lead of our forefathers and carry to the general public of the area you represented at the Convention, your interpretation of the underlying fundamental principles and the definite terms of this document which you have proposed as the governmental foundation of the State of Alaska.

The task now calls for further public service. I can give you little in the way of advice as to how it should be done, but I can at least refer you to the record of the comparable period in the establishment of our Constitution of the United States, and in particular to that series of essays dealing with the Constitution contained in “The Federalist.”

Some of you will be called upon to reenact, in some degree, the role of Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison in producing an Alaskan version of "The Federalist."

History will serve to point out many of the situations which this Constitution can be expected to face during the next three months, but I wish to comment on one which will probably recur in many guises. In championing the Constitution of the United States during the adoption controversy, the proponents were repeatedly called upon to answer many variations of the charge that it was imperfect.

These who brought these charges were generally viewing the Constitution from the limited vantage place of special interest or sectional prejudices, or looking upon its parts as though they were separate and unrelated. Undoubtedly, the Constitution which you have framed is already being examined for imperfections.

The charges of imperfections can, of course, arise from special interests, regional points of view and the frequent propensity of people to consider one feature of a proposition without reference to how it influences or is influenced by other features of the proposition.

Perhaps you can draw strength and comfort from the words of Alexander Hamilton in “The Federalist No. 85” the final essay in the series in which he gives an answer to all criticisms of this nature:

I never expect to see a perfect work from imperfect man. The result of the deliberations of all collective bodies must necessarily be a compound, as well of the errors and prejudices, as of the good sense and wisdom, of the individuals of whom they are composed. The compacts which are to embrace thirteen distinct States in a common bond of amity and union, must as necessarily be a compromise of as many dissimilar interests and inclinations. How can perfection spring from such materials?

Speaking for myself, I believe from the reports of this Convention as given currently by the newspapers as the sessions progressed, that this Constitution for the State of Alaska is in its entirety a good work, that it will provide a foundation for a State of Alaska of which we can be proud, and which may cause some existing States to reexamine their basic charters with a view to adopting some of the Alaska features.

If I find myself trying to pick flaws, I reread these words of Hamilton: “No advocate of the measure can be found, who will not declare as his sentiment, that the system, though it may not be perfect in every part, is upon the whole, a good one; is the best that the present views and circumstances of the country will permit; and is such a one as promises every species of security which a reasonable people can desire.”

The delegates to this Convention are entitled to the commendation of all Alaskans, present and future. They have given careful and reflective study to relevant material obtained from
States and other Governmental units that appeared to offer something of value which they might use; they have shown a fine willingness to hear and consider the views of Alaskans of all shades of opinion, and to work for acceptable compromises on impending deadlocks; and, in general and above all, they have worked hard and conscientiously to produce something that will promote the social and economic welfare of Alaska.

I do not doubt that the names of you delegates and your accomplishments here will be featured in histories of Alaska for a long, long, period of time.

I thank you.