Something to Talk About

Two years ago, ex-Prodigy Robert Maynard Hutchins, Chancellor of the University of Chicago, received a longdistance call. It was from ex-Isolationist Charles A. Lindbergh. Said he: "What's this world government? If I knew, I might be for it." Replied Hutchins: "Call back in about two years. We're working on it."

This week, Chancellor Hutchins' Committee to Frame a World Constitution had the answer Lindbergh wanted. The draft constitution called for:1) a "federal convention" composed of one popularly elected delegate for each 1,000,000 of the world's population; 2) a chief executive and a legislative council elected by the convention; 3) a grand tribunal and a supreme court; 4) a tribune to serve as the spokesman for minorities; 5) a chamber of guardians for control of the armed forces. The plan's cornerstone: "Universal government of justice, founded on the rights of man."

The document was published at a time in the world's history when the need for such a constitution was more desperate and the chances of its adoption more remote than ever. Not even the drafting committee itself had been able to agree on the noble synopsis of salvation, to which half a hundred sovereign nations would have to agree before it could become reality. The committee's own chairman, Philosopher Richard McKeon, refused to sign the draft because he disagreed with it. Said Hutchins: the report was something to talk about.

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