We, the people of Boston, agree to maintain a fort on Governor’s Island, to protect ourselves and our posterity against invasion.
This agreement, as an agreement, would clearly bind nobody but the people then existing. Secondly, it would assert no right, power, or disposition, on their part, to compel their “posterity” to maintain such a fort. It would only indicate that the supposed welfare of their posterity was one of the motives that induced the original parties to enter into the agreement.
When a man says he is building a house for himself and his posterity, he does not mean to be understood as saying that he has any thought of binding them, nor is it to be inferred that he is so foolish as to imagine that he has any right or power to bind them, to live in it. So far as they are concerned, he only means to be understood as saying that his hopes and motives, in building it, are that they, or at least some of them, may find it for their happiness to live in it.
So when a man says he is planting a tree for himself and his posterity, he does not mean to be understood as saying that he has any thought of compelling them, nor is it to be inferred that he is such a simpleton as to imagine that he has any right or power to compel them, to eat the fruit. So far as they are concerned, he only means to say that his hopes and motives, in planting the tree, are that its fruit may be agreeable to them.
So it was with those who originally adopted the Constitution. Whatever may have been their personal intentions, the legal meaning of their language, so far as their “posterity” was concerned, simply was, that their hopes and motives, in entering into the agreement, were that it might prove useful and acceptable to their posterity; that it might promote their union, safety, tranquility, and welfare; and that it might tend “to secure to them the blessings of liberty.” The language does not assert nor at all imply, any right, power, or disposition, on the part of the original parties to the agreement, to compel their “posterity” to live under it. If they had intended to bind their posterity to live under it, they should have said that their object was, not “to secure to them the blessings of liberty,” but to make slaves of them; for if their “posterity” are bound to live under it, they are nothing less than the slaves of their foolish, tyrannical, and dead grandfathers.
It cannot be said that the Constitution formed “the people of the United States,” for all time, into a corporation. It does not speak of “the people” as a corporation, but as individuals. A corporation does not describe itself as “we,” nor as “people,” nor as “ourselves.” Nor does a corporation, in legal language, have any “posterity.” It supposes itself to have, and speaks of itself as having, perpetual existence, as a single individuality.
Moreover, no body of men, existing at any one time, have the power to create a perpetual corporation. A corporation can become practically perpetual only by the voluntary accession of new members, as the old ones die off. But for this voluntary accession of new members, the corporation necessarily dies with the death of those who originally composed it.
Legally speaking, therefore, there is, in the Constitution, nothing that professes or attempts to bind the “posterity” of those who established it.
Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif., Business Bulletin Column.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News December 17, 2000 Dec. 17–MONDAY Experience Unlimited of Pleasant Hill, a no-fee, nonprofit volunteer organization sponsored by California Employment Development Department to help professionals seeking new jobs, holds an orientation meeting, 8:30 a.m. at 367 Civic Drive, Pleasant Hill. Free. Call 925-602-7700 to register.
Single Toastmasters #5339 meets, 7:15-9 p.m. in the Chapel of the Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church, 49 Knox Drive, Lafayette. Guests free. Call Jim Doyle at 925-988-9055 or 925-376-9265.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a “Step to Success Workshop” to organize job searches, 1 p.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555 to register.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a tour and overview on how the center can help with a job search, 10 a.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555.
EastBay Works Career Center holds an “Interviewing Techniques” workshop, 9 a.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555 to register.
TUESDAY Experience Unlimited of Pleasant Hill, a no-fee, nonprofit volunteer organization helping professionals seeking new jobs, meets, 9 a.m.-noon in the Oak Room of the Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church, 49 Knox Drive, Lafayette. Call 925-602-7700.
University YWCA, Turning Point Career Center, holds a free orientations of its Career Center and the resources available to the public, 1:30 p.m. at 2600 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. Free. Call 510-848-6370.
Elite Leads Networking holds a business leads meeting, 9 a.m. at 1940 Tice Valley Blvd., Walnut Creek. Call Sharyn at 925-939-1801.
Elite Leads Networking holds a workshop on “The Illusion,” 10:30 a.m. at 1940 Tice Valley Blvd., Walnut Creek. Call Sharyn at 925-939-1801.
Confidence Builders Toastmasters club meets, 7:15-8:30 p.m. at the Contra Costa Water District, 1331 Concord Ave., Concord. Call Marion at 925-686-1818.
Walnut Creek Bay Area Entrepreneur Network meets, 8 a.m. at Marie Callender’s, 1101 South California Blvd., Walnut Creek. Cost is $5 minimum for breakfast. Call 925-806-8686.
Danville AM Toastmasters meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Father Nature’s Shed, 172 East Prospect Ave., Danville. Call Roger O’Callaghan at 925-837-5179.
Regional Training Alliance holds a computer workshop (Excel 97/2000 Level 1), 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Jr. School of Management Computer Lab, 1250 Arroyo Way, Walnut Creek. Cost is $89 for members, $129 for nonmembers. Call 925-685-1230, Ext. 675.
BNI-Business Network Int’l, Greater Walnut Creek chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Fresh Choice Restaurant, 1275 S. Main St., Walnut Creek. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888-693-0958.
BNI-Business Network Int’l, San Ramon chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Allie’s Grill, in the San Ramon Marriott Hotel, 2600 Bishop Drive, San Ramon. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888-693-0958.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a risumi review workshop, 1 p.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Class is limited to five students. Call 925-646-5555 to register.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a “Job Search Skills Workshop” to review and organize job searches, 9-11:30 a.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555 to register.
WEDNESDAY BNI-Business Network Int’l, Walnut Creek founders chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Fresh Choice Restaurant, 1275 S. Main St., Walnut Creek. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888-693-0958.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a “Vocational Assessments Workshop” to organize job skills, 9:30 a.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555 to register.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a special services presentation to acquaint job-seekers with the no-fee services and training resources available, 1 p.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555. go to site eastbay coupon codes
Toastbusters Toastmasters meets at noon at the Contra Costa Public Works, 255 Glacier Drive, Martinez. Call Nancy at 925-313-1244.
Oakland/Rockridge Bay Area Entrepreneur Network meets, 8:15 a.m. at Mocha Lisa’s, 3202 College Ave, Oakland. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call 925-806-8686.
THURSDAY Lamorinda Toastmasters meets, 7:40-9:15 p.m. at the HealthFlow Learning Center, 71 Lafayette Circle, Rear, 2nd floor, Lafayette. Visitors welcome. Call 510-223-8126.
Elite Leads Networking holds a “Speaker’s Training Session: Free to Fee,” 10:30 a.m. at 1940 Tice Valley Blvd., Walnut Creek. Call Sharyn at 925-939-1801.
Diablo Toastmasters meets, 7-9 p.m. at Coco’s Restaurant, 3202 Buskirk Ave., Pleasant Hill. Call Ashley Harkness, at 925-244-2025.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a risumi writing workshop, 1 p.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555 to register.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a “Step to Success Workshop” to organize job searches, 10 a.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555 to register.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a basic Internet workshop, 8:30 a.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555 to register.
FRIDAY BNI-Business Network Int’l, Pleasant Hill chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Fresh Choice Restaurant, 486 Sunvalley Mall Road, Concord. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888 693-0958.
BNI-Business Network Int’l, Danville chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Tony Roma’s Restaurant, 200 Sycamore Valley Road West, Danville. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888 693-0958.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a tour and overview on how the center can help you with your job search, 10 a.m. and at 1 p.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555.
DEC. 26 Experience Unlimited of Pleasant Hill, a no-fee, nonprofit volunteer organization helping professionals seeking new jobs, meets, 9 a.m.-noon in the Oak Room of the Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church, 49 Knox Drive, Lafayette. Call 925-602-7700.
University YWCA, Turning Point Career Center, holds a free orientations of its Career Center and the resources available to the public, 1:30 p.m. at 2600 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. Free. Call 510-848-6370.
Confidence Builders Toastmasters club meets, 7:15-8:30 p.m. at the Contra Costa Water District, 1331 Concord Ave., Concord. Call Marion at 925-686-1818.
Danville AM Toastmasters meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Father Natures Shed, 172 East Prospect Ave., Danville. Call Roger O’Callaghan at 925-837-5179.
BNI-Business Network Int’l, Greater Walnut Creek chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Fresh Choice Restaurant, 1275 S. Main St., Walnut Creek. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888-693-0958.
BNI-Business Network Int’l, San Ramon chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Allie’s Grill, in the San Ramon Marriott Hotel, 2600 Bishop Drive, San Ramon. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888-693-0958.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a risumi review workshop, 1 p.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Class is limited to five students. Call 925-646-5555 to register.
DEC. 27 Talksics Toastmasters meets, noon at the Contra Costa County Sanitary District, Board Room, 5019 Imhoff Place, Martinez. Call Garth at 925-229-7252.
BNI-Business Network Int’l, Walnut Creek founders chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Fresh Choice Restaurant, 1275 S. Main St., Walnut Creek. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888-693-0958.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a special services presentation to acquaint job-seekers with the no-fee services and training resources available, 1 p.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555.
DEC. 28 EastBay Works Career Center holds a risumi writing workshop, 1 p.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555 to register.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a “Step to Success Workshop” to organize job searches, 10 a.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555 to register.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a basic Internet workshop, 8:30 a.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555 to register.
Lamorinda Toastmasters meets, 7:40-9:15 p.m. at the HealthFlow Learning Center, 71 Lafayette Circle, Rear, 2nd floor, Lafayette. Call 510-223-8126.
Diablo Toastmasters meets, 7-9 p.m. at Coco’s Restaurant, 3202 Buskirk Ave., Pleasant Hill. Call Ashley Harkness, at 925-244-2025. website eastbay coupon codes
DEC. 29 BNI-Business Network Int’l, Pleasant Hill chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Fresh Choice Restaurant, 486 Sunvalley Mall Road, Concord. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888 693-0958.
BNI-Business Network Int’l, Danville chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Tony Roma’s Restaurant, 200 Sycamore Valley Road West, Danville. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888 693-0958.
EastBay Works Career Center holds a tour and overview on how the center can help you with your job search, 10 a.m. and at 1 p.m. at the Career Center, 1875 Willow Pass Road, Concord. Free. Call 925-646-5555.
JAN. 1 University YWCA, Turning Point Career Center, holds a free orientations of its Career Center and the resources available to the public, 1:30 p.m. at 2600 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. Free. Call 510-848-6370.
JAN. 2 University YWCA, Turning Point Career Center, holds a free orientations of its Career Center and the resources available to the public, 1:30 p.m. at 2600 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. Free. Call 510-848-6370.
Confidence Builders Toastmasters club meets, 7:15-8:30 p.m. at the Contra Costa Water District, 1331 Concord Ave., Concord. Call Marion at 925-686-1818.
Danville AM Toastmasters meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Father Natures Shed, 172 East Prospect Ave., Danville. Call Roger O’Callaghan at 925-837-5179.
BNI-Business Network Int’l, Greater Walnut Creek chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Fresh Choice Restaurant, 1275 S. Main St., Walnut Creek. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888-693-0958.
BNI-Business Network Int’l, San Ramon chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Allie’s Grill, in the San Ramon Marriott Hotel, 2600 Bishop Drive, San Ramon. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888-693-0958.
JAN. 3 Toastbusters Toastmasters meets, noon at the Contra Costa Public Works, 255 Glacier Drive, Martinez. Call Nancy at 925-313-1244.
BNI-Business Network Int’l, Walnut Creek founders chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Fresh Choice Restaurant, 1275 S. Main St., Walnut Creek. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888-693-0958.
Business Women’s Network holds a business networking dinner meeting and discussion on “The Plans for the City of Livermore in 2001,” 5:30-9 p.m. at the Best Western Monarch Hotel, 6680 Regional St., Dublin. Cost is $20 for members, $25 for nonmembers. Reservations required. Call 925-806-8177 by Dec. 29.
JAN. 4 Northern California Human Resources Association sponsors a workshop on “Labor & Employment Law Update,” 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 1350 Holiday Lane, Fairfield. Cost is $25 for members, $35 nonmembers. Call 1-415-291-1992.
Lamorinda Toastmasters meets, 7:40-9:15 p.m. at the HealthFlow Learning Center, 71 Lafayette Circle, Rear, 2nd floor, Lafayette. Call 510-223-8126.
Diablo Toastmasters meets, 7-9 p.m. at Coco’s Restaurant, 3202 Buskirk Ave., Pleasant Hill. Call Ashley Harkness, at 925-244-2025.
JAN. 5 BNI-Business Network Int’l, Pleasant Hill chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Fresh Choice Restaurant, 486 Sunvalley Mall Road, Concord. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888 693-0958 BNI-Business Network Int’l, Danville chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Tony Roma’s Restaurant, 200 Sycamore Valley Road West, Danville. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888 693-0958 JAN. 8 Strait Talkers Toastmasters meets, noon at the Contra Costa Federal Credit Union, 1111 Pine St., Martinez. Call Dean Lucas at 925-933-2737.
JAN. 9 University YWCA, Turning Point Career Center, holds a free orientations of its Career Center and the resources available to the public, 1:30 p.m. at 2600 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. Free. Call 510-848-6370.
Confidence Builders Toastmasters club meets, 7:15-8:30 p.m. at the Contra Costa Water District, 1331 Concord Ave., Concord. Call Marion at 925-686-1818.
Danville AM Toastmasters meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Father Natures Shed, 172 East Prospect Ave., Danville. Call Roger O’Callaghan at 925-837-5179.
BNI-Business Network Int’l, Greater Walnut Creek chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Fresh Choice Restaurant, 1275 S. Main St., Walnut Creek. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888-693-0958.
BNI-Business Network Int’l, San Ramon chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Allie’s Grill, in the San Ramon Marriott Hotel, 2600 Bishop Drive, San Ramon. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888-693-0958.
JAN. 10 Talksics Toastmasters meets, noon at the Contra Costa County Sanitary District, Board Room, 5019 Imhoff Place, Martinez. Call Garth at 925-229-7252.
BNI-Business Network Int’l, Walnut Creek founders chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Fresh Choice Restaurant, 1275 S. Main St., Walnut Creek. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888-693-0958.
JAN. 11 Diablo Toastmasters meets, 7-9 p.m. at Coco’s Restaurant, 3202 Buskirk Ave., Pleasant Hill. Call Ashley Harkness, at 925-244-2025.
Contra Costa Small Business Development Center hold a business discussion on “How a Marketing Plan can make you Money,” 9-10:30 a.m. at 2425 Bisso Lane, Concord. Cost is $10. Free to Pittsburg business owners. Call 925-646-5377 for reservations.
JAN. 12 BNI-Business Network Int’l, Pleasant Hill chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Fresh Choice Restaurant, 486 Sunvalley Mall Road, Concord. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888 693-0958 BNI-Business Network Int’l, Danville chapter, meets, 7-8:30 a.m. at Tony Roma’s Restaurant, 200 Sycamore Valley Road West, Danville. Free. Minimum breakfast purchase required. Call Carol Grebe at 888 693-0958 Bulletin board listings are free but limited to nonprofit organizations announcing events costing less than $100 to attend. Send information, including sponsor, date, time, location, cost and contact phone number, to the Times at P. O. Box 8099, Walnut Creek, CA 94596-8099 or fax details to David Savage at 925-952-2665.
The Constitution has no inherent authority or obligation. It has no authority or obligation at all, unless as a contract between man and man. And it does not so much as even purport to be a contract between persons now existing. It purports, at most, to be only a contract between persons living eighty years ago. And it can be supposed to have been a contract then only between persons who had already come to years of discretion, so as to be competent to make reasonable and obligatory contracts. Furthermore, we know, historically, that only a small portion even of the people then existing were consulted on the subject, or asked, or permitted to express either their consent or dissent in any formal manner. Those persons, if any, who did give their consent formally, are all dead now. Most of them have been dead forty, fifty, sixty, or seventy years. And the Constitution, so far as it was their contract, died with them. They had no natural power or right to make it obligatory upon their children. It is not only plainly impossible, in the nature of things, that they could bind their posterity, but they did not even attempt to bind them. That is to say, the instrument does not purport to be an agreement between any body but “the people” then existing; nor does it, either expressly or impliedly, assert any right, power, or disposition, on their part, to bind anybody but themselves. Let us see. Its language is:
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