The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-02-05


ago-the room in the exchange. set apart 70
the court. the federal hall being occ-p.et bl
congress. was. as are informed blythe lu.tet
States Gazette. in lis issue OF the next DAY
'uncommonly crowded"
DINING wITH -EIE GRAND JrRy.
One interesting incident OF the first ses ion OF
the supreme court IL this CITY may ueialn il'
for a moment longer Il established prece
dent WI ch is haupilv recognized and followed
today. The court accepted an lnVie2ilun tc
dinner. The host who entertainer IL va, tut
grand JURY of the city and county OF S-W
York. This body. repres eutng the most ancient
jurisdiction Of the common law OF England
and one of its chief coaSeTVators OF private
rights and liberties. the firSt In extend a
welcome 10 this newest court CI highest and
last resort ard in the interchange Of patriatic
greetings and sentiments 10 forecast its brilliant
future.
THE CONSTITUTION A DEvELorMENT.
In the l.cft Of the researches stimulated by
the revival Of interest ia American IDEAS which
marks TINS centennial epoch. We have come TO
s,e h1w largely the principle Of grow and de-
veiopurut which inheres in every onward move
lleul Of the race was g. work IN the unfolding
II our organic Law. The feceral constitution
was, IA great part the result of What hal gone
before IN the making of the colonial local gov
ernmeutS and Of the states and If the coufed-
eracy. 1t was the crystailzatiOn of the elements
which needed only he agitation of q supreme
crisis to set in q foreOrdatned and symmetrical
shape. Much Of the work of the convention was
mere adaptation and adjustment Of existing
methods under well recognized and familiar
principles.
INDEPENDENCE THE WORK OF LAWYERS.
It was the standing sneer of British statesmen
that so many of the leading colonists We're law
yeTs, each one thinking himself competent to
hold a brief against the crown and parliament
and ready to join Issue on every new assertion
of their power, and the cOlOnists who were not
lawyers fancying themselves statesmen. crazed
with what Shrewsbury, Pitts Irish viceroy, de
scrIbed as the mania for state-maEtng.
These colonial iursts and publicists had
gained revolution on the basis of constitutional
right; they had brought ont of the chaos Of revolt
the order OF the confederation. the first crude
conception of the union of the states; they had
transformed the states of the confederation
from communities in rebellion against sover-
eign into sovereignties in their own right; they
had waged a successful war and had made an
honorable peace, and during ali these years of
struggle and vicissitude they had been profound
students Of the problems of liberty as secured
by law, and OF law as the cOnservatOr Of liberty
INTENTION OF THE FOUNDERS.
What the founders intended and what they
accomplished was something wholly different
from the creation of a tribunal to coerce or
control the political action OF the states or TO
invade the exercise of their rights in the regIla
ton of that vast department Of internal gov
ernment, which for want OF q better name
we call the police power They meant
TO create, and they created, court
which, by its supreme authority, acting upon
sutors who should invoke its power. and
executing its DEGREES by due process of
law, should be able to annul and make
void any and every enactment By which
congress or any state legislature or constitu-
Iional convention should infringe upon the con
stitution and laws of the United States They
meant also to provide complete system for the
administration Of justice between all suitors in
such relation of right or of citizenshipas to make
their controversies properly equitable by the
federal courts. In providing for the independ-
ence of the judiciary, they kept it free from all
share in legislation. and from all dependence on
the Legislature for any original power. They
knew that under the system Of party govern
ment which must needs prevail. parti-
sanship and politics would be the controlling
force in legislation. and they knew how easily
politics are associated with corruption. The
maxim of Walpole that every man has his
price, had borne Its baneful fruit in the En-
glish parliament. The trainers of the American
constitution, with higher ideal of government,
and with civic virtue even worthier of praise
than the wisdom which won for them
the worlds applause, strove TO give this
Ideal form, and substance. and perpetuty.
Above all they sought, If possible, TO commit to
stainless hands the unstained sword of justice
Selections from "Aila" by the orchestra
followed the address of Mr.. Butler.
HENRY HrTCHcocK's ADDRESS
Henry Hitchcock of st. Louis then delivered
al address upon the exercise OF the powers of
the court since its organization. lie began by
referring TO the suit of the state 0f Florida
against the state of Georgia. brought in the
supreme court to determine the boundary line
between them. of which Chief Justice Tanev
said: "A suit in a court of justice between such
parties. and upon such a question, is without
eX&mpi In the Jurisprudence OF other
country. This impressive statement, said the
speaker, illustrates. in part, the nature the
novelty and the dignity of the unexamplef
powers which that court has exercised during
the period Of hundred years, whose
suspicious close we celebrate this day.
DISTRIBUTION OF POWER
The supreme court exists by the express man.
date Of the constitution. which distributes the
powers Of government among three great de-
partnents. Referring 10 the precept quoted
Madison lafio Of he
powers in the same hands is the very definition
OF tyranny. the speaker said: The splendid
the unparalleled achievement Of our forefathers
lay in their successful application of that pre-
cept TO the problems before them. For not
only did they distribute among three distinct
and independent departments the powers of
the national government securing to
that government absolute supremacy
WITHIN us appropriate but limited
sphere, while also preserving TO the several
states the autonomy and internal powers
essential TO their welfare; but they so framed
and established the national Judiciary the
weakest OF those departments, holding neither
purse nor sword, strong only in the reverence Of
the people for the sanctions of law as to mako
the courts while strictly exercising their Judi.
cial functions in pursuance OF established rules
and principles or law, at once the arbters of
public and private right. and the bulwark of a
limited constitution against legislative encroach
ment.'
The vast reach of the powers of the court
springs from the great political fact that the
government of the union is one which in All its
departments operates directly upon individuals
To the supreme court, the living voice of the
constitution" belongs the ultimate deyelon
ment Of the powers which that Instrument
confers In fulfilling It's great trust that court
Ia whatever has concerned the national welfare
has stood for the conscience of the peoDle of
the United States.
CHISHOLM VS.. GEORGIA.
A spirited sketch was given of the great case
OF Chisholm vs.. Georgia, in which, in 1893 the
supreme court, unmoved by the general ex cte-
meut and alarm, held that under the constitution
as adopted, a state could be sued as a debtor In
that court. This led 70 the adoption of the elev-
enth amendment, forbiddng suits to he hrougnt
by Individuals against state The vital
principle maintained in the Chisholm case was
the supremacy Of the judicial power of the
United States within the limits Of the constitu-
tlon whatever the court should determines those
limits to be. The eleventh amendment mar
Towed those limits but affirmed that principle
The great services of Chief Justice Marshall
were described in glowing terms. Beacon lights
OF the nations Jurisprudence illuminating with
prophetic radiance the dark waters Of the dis
tant future. those luminous Judgments have
shone out, and still shine for us afar marking
out its course warning it of perils on either
hand-the duicksands of legislative or execu-
tive encroachment, and the dangerous opposing
reefs of uncontrolled state sovereignty white
with the breakers OF anarchy and civil war
THE FIGHT OVER SLAVERY.
Dwelling briefly upon the fierce political con-
troversieS concerning slavery the bred Scott
case was alluded to decision by the court