Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1884-05-30

court in the capital commission case
shows they were not surprised by 1t. 1t
would rather seem that they had mapped
out a line of policy to pursue in antlcl-
patton OF the result and fell into it with
ease If not grace. The Press and Dako-
taian says the decision "does not end but
merely prolongs the uncertainty attached
to it, and further adds that the case
will now "be passed upon outside the at
mosphere which surrounds every move
ment oflmportance here in the territory"
AS the case has just been passed upon
within the immediate 'satmosphere" of
Yankton, the hotbed of resistance to the
removal, it is difficult to see what the P.
and D. expects to gain en- that score IN
change of "atmosphere." 1t also takes
issue with the court on the principal
point of law involved, that of the power
of the legislature to delegate It's power to
a committee. "a
The Herald says 'thc announcement
Of The decision created no excitement and
no surprise, as it was well understood
the previous day by those who cared to
keep posted that the three Ordway Judges
had pre- determined the case and the ar.
guments made before them was waste
of time" This aspersion upon the i'm
partiality and integrity of the court IS
unworthy Of the usually fair and candid
course of the Herald and leads us to
charitably believe there was more tex
element" IN the mind of the editor over
the decision than he was willing to admit
or that he was conscious of. The Herald
further says that, in the present status of
the case, "the territorial secretary will
designate the place for the legislature to
assemble and after him, If there be any
dispute, the secretary of the interior will
settle the matter" This IS certainly
strange ana remarkable idea. The Or
ganic act requires the legislature to meet
at the capital, and the above quotation
implies that there is no capital. BY lm-
pllcation the writer admits that Yankton
is not the capital else there would be no
necessity for any one to "deslgnate the
place for the legislature to assemble
If the decision Of the supreme court
means anything at all it means that the
capital has been legally removed from
Yankton to Bismarck and that the latter
is now the capital of the territory. The
latter clause of the 4th section of the
capital removal bill says: "And after
the site is determined upon as aforesaid,
said commissioners shall secure good and
| sufficient title deeds of at least l60 acres
/ # land upon which the capitol buildings
shall be erected, and a sufficient amount
of said grounds shall be laid out into
squares, and suitable landscapes, he
same is hereby declared to oe the perma-
nent seat of government Of the territory
of Dakota, at which all OF the public
offices of the territory shall be kept, and
at which oil Of the sessions of the legis-
lature shall hereafter be held" This
act, the supreme say, is valid, and the
commissioners appointed by it are legal
body They have determined the site as
provided, and performed all other duties
| enioined upon them by the law. In the
face of all these facts it must be the des-
peration of dire extremity that causes
any one to question as to where the cap
,tar is and the proper place for the legis.
| lature to meet.