Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-04-25
The Powers OF the supreme Court.

kALLIGs.
The Powers OF the supreme Court.
To the Editor Of the Dispatch
In the excellent article of "Just SO, :"
in whom | think / recognize friend, in
your paper Of April 22d occur one or
two matters against which | beg to be al
lowed to enter q very brief protest in the
interesto of constitutional liberty, to which
am sure my friend IS as much devoted
as am.
But please allow me TO say in the be-
ginning that | totally dissent from the
commentator you have bestowed on
Mr. Moncure d. Conway. And / think
those who knew his record and have
looked into his attainment will endorse
my declaration that he is not entitled to
it as theologian, patriot, or author any
more than he is as statesman.
But to the point "Just So" says ::
"The Constitution of the United States as
written is the supreme law OF the land.
and the Supreme Court Of the United
States is the power to expound what the
Constitution means" And adds later,
"If Mr.. Conway will get and read JET
fersons draft Of the Kentucky resolu-
tions Of 1893 and Mr.. Madison's report
on the Virginia resolutions" Virginia
House of Delegates. l799-lS00) "he
will, think, learn more OF the Consti-
tuition of the United States as recently
expounded by the Supreme Court than
he seemed from his letter to know"
But in my poor judgment neither Mr..
Conway nor any one else will find the
right TO expound what the Constitution
means conceded to the Supreme Court
of the United States in the documents to
which "Just So" refers. On the con
trary, its right to decide as the ultimate
srbiter-and this in logic must be the
claim-is distinctly disputed in them.
Further, affirm that subsequently-to
wit, in the year lSl4in the case of Hun
ter as. Martin, deyisees of Fairfax,
". Munford's Reports, pages 1-59, the
Judges Of the Court of Appeals OF Yir-
ginia, headed by Cabell and Roane,
after elaborate argument and in four opin-
ions, in which these very documents were
cited to sustain them. did unanimously
deny such power to the Court of the
United States, aud refused TO recognize
its jurisdiction over their court.
Still later, when in 1919 the Supreme
Court of the United States, in Mccall
Loeb as. the state of Maryland, reversed
the decree of the Maryland Court, Judge
Roane, in the month of June, III series
of articles in the Richmond enquirer,
denied the right Of the Court TO take
jurisdiction of the case. To that argu-
ment Mr.. Jefferson, Correspondence,
Volume Ill, page 3l6, gave his full rs
sent, with the single qualification that it
did not 90 far enough in denying the
claim Of power. And finally John Tay-
lor, Of Caroline, devoted a whole
volume, Construction Construed, to
the exposure of this heresy. In
fact, all the Democratic fathers, in
Guiding my grandfathers also, and "Just
Sos" grandfather, Mr.. Macon, of North
Carolina, are against his position. And
when it IS examined ! think it will ap-
pear that the only ground upon which
the claim rests is a usurpation Of the
Federal Court, whose characteristic
mode of proceeding has been to establish
precedent by false construction, and
then claim that the precedent has estab-
lished a principle according to which
plan, by the way, they claim jurisdiction
over the contracts Of a State though
they know that the Constitution never
meant to give them any such power.
cannot agree with my friend that
"the Supreme Court has recently de-
cided that the State OF Virginia could
make a money contract to-day and re-
pudiate it tomorrow, and there was no
remedy in any court Of the United
States" 1t he will take the trouble to
procure and read the opinion TO which
he refers, he will find at pages % and 30
Cthe extract IS too long to quote) that
the JiimgUiS .juder, to parody Vlrgils
epithet, who wrote the opinion of Pom
dexter as. Greenhow, has induced the
Court to reaflirm that decree. And so
if now the State were to levy when she
has obtained a judgment, the party
levied on would have justine same rights
against the collecting officer as under
that decree, and the State wOuld be in a
worse plight than she was in Coupon
Killer No. /, where there was jury Of
the people to check the usurpation Of
the Court. From the courts, indeed,
except in costs, vexation, and notoriety
to the defendant, we have 10 more to
expect now than before.
As long ago in England when carts
OF power against law were followed by
"the judgments Of lawyers against
liberty" so now the bench and the bar
are against the people, who must find
their safety in public opinion which
will cover with obloquy all who dare to
ride with the money-changers against
their country.
am sure my friend will not object TO
this respectful criticism, nor to the re-
currence to those old doctrines which
are ridiculed by the chi bono patriotism
of the day. It Is true, as he forcibly
says, that $50 long as the Senate of the
United States exists, so long will our
Government be "a confederation of
States, and not a nation" But whilst
plutocrats buy seats there for themselves
or their attorneys, ashley do now, it will
be useless to expect any aid to liberty
from that quarter. 1t can only be pre-
served by the people of the States.