Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1891-01-01
THE NORTHWEST
A state without Laws for Eleven
Years.

A State without Laws Tor Eleven
Years.
A correspondent of the New York
Tribune tells Of case before the U. s.
Supreme Court which is startling in the
extreme, no matter what the result
may be.
The point presented is, In brief, that
for eleven years Texas has been practi-
cally without illegal" law.
About eleven years previous to the
beginning of this suit the laws OF Tex
as were ordered cOdified. This work
was done by clerk. Itwas done In .
slovenly manner, according to the al
legations of the brief, and the codifca-
ton was never afterward ratified by
the Legislature. As all of the jndicial
circuits were reorganized under the cod
ificatIon and the judges were appoint
ed in accordance with these specifica-
tions of the unratified code 1t follows
that, II the point made In this case is
good, all Of their acts for the last eleven
years are null and void; that every man
executed has been judicially murdered;
that every person Imprisoned has been
falsely imprisoned, and that every
Judgment given relating to property
values can be set aside IL the Supreme
Court Of the United States finds the al
legations set up correct.
II the case should be decided In ac-
cordance with the claim of the plaint-
iff 1t would be a serious matter to the
State and the people. 1t involves the
lives of over twenty-five persons lying
under sentence of death; the liberty Of
over 5000 persons in penitentiaries and
the title to property passed upon by
courts In the last eleven years.
The case is brought by man under
sentence of death and Is entitled Dick
Duncan VS. T. r. Mccall, Sheriff of Bex-
ar county, Texas.
The manner in which this case devel-
oped is very singular.
A few years ago Thomas J. McMinn,
aSt. Louis Globe Democrat reporter,
went to San Antonio, Texas, and be-
came connected with the Times. In a
short time he became the editor of the
paper and at once began fight on the
gamblers who ran the city. Fan An
tonic was largely controlled by Mexican
half-breeds and they swore vengeance
on McMinn. McMinn had studied law
with Senator Turpie, of Indiana, and
he assisted q person in San Antonio
who he thought had been illegally i'm
prisoned. For this the Mayor and 9TH
er enemies attempted to levy an "oc-
cupation tax" of$25. This McMinn re-
sisted az he said he was in no sense q
lawyer in practice. Suit was then
brought and the case is still not settled.
It was when working at that case that
he made the discovery that the codified
laws had not been ratified by the Leg
islature. So # 81
In the meantime he was driven from
the paper he was editing, became ut
terly friendless and his life was threat
ened on all hands. He was practical
ly penniless, but when II was found
that he was determined to test the le-
gality the laws, ETC., money began to
flow from criminals and others interest
ed in the overthrow of the laws and
courts and he soon had over $4,000.
He prepared his case and decided to
take it to the Supreme Court. He
could not get the assistance of any law
yers In Texas. He submitted his case
70 Ex-Governor Ireland, of Texas. who,
after celebrating over the paper for
two weeks, told McMinn that his case
was clear, but.he decided not to take
the case as it would not be grateful to
the people who had given him position.
He also paid Roger A. Prior, of New
York, a retaining fee for an opinion
and he agreed with Ireland. Ex-Attor-
ney General Garland has been retained
in the case, which will be tried soon.
The correspondent seems to think
that the court will pass on the question
on its legal merits, regardless of the eff
feet it may have in the state of Texas.
That is hardly probable for it would
not be in the direction of justice. 1t
must certainly be assumed that all gen.
eral acts done under the laws and by
the courts organized under these laws
were in conformity with right and JUS
tice. Il |
It is a peculiar case, and if it proves
entirely sensational, is very interesting.