The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-08-09
VERY IMPORTANT.
How the Courts have EncrOached
upon the Rights of the
People
And are Turning this Nation into
an Oligarchy of Lawyers Con-
trOlled by Corporations.


trolled by Corporations.
An Article which Every RefOrmer
Should Read.
I'VE desire to especially call the at
tentiOn of our readers to one of the
most striking and important arti-
cles that have appeared for long
time. We regret that we have not
space to get more than extracts
from it, but we shall continue them
from week to week
The article is from the March
April 1892 number of ''The American
Law Review" published at St. Louis,
one of the Oldest and most distin-
guished law magazines of this coun-
try. 1t is entitled "Abuses of Cor
porate Privileges written by Judge
Seymour D. Thompson, Chief editor
of the Review and one of the ablest
lawyers in the West. We want our
readers to remember, while reading
this significant article, that it's bold
and radical utterances are not from
some populist stump orator, but
from a Judge and an attorney by
profession. Nothing could indicate
more clearly than this article the
of this country are advancing.
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE DECISION.
The Dartmouth College decision
put the private corporation above
the legislatures of states which we're
at that time called sovereign" If
we can dismiss from our mental Wis
ion the superstitious glamor which
attends great names, we shall have
no difficulty in perceiving that the
celebrated decision proceeded upon
ground which will not bear analysis
1t was writ of error to the supreme
court of New Hampshire. 1t was es-
Sential to the jurisdiction of the SUI
preme court of the United States
that a federal question should be in
vOlved in the case. The federal Ques-
tion was supposed to arise from the
fact that the legislature of New
Hampshire had passed an act in vio-
latiOn of that provision of the feder-
al constitution which declares that
"No state shall pass any bill of at
tainder, nor any ec post tacto law, nor
any law impairing the obligation of
contracts" The king of England,
acting through John Wentworth, the
colonial governor of New Hampshire,
or Governor John Wentworth, acting
as the king of England, had granted
to DR.. Wheelock and his associates
charter Incorporating them as an ed
ucatiOnal Institution to be known as
the Trustees of Dartmouth College,
with certain powers and privileges,
such as it was usual to confer on edu-
cational corporations. 1t was not
stated in the charter that it was an
agreement; it was not stated that
the corpOrators gave anything to the
king or to Governor Wentworth for it;
and the fact was that they gave
nothing for it, Nor did the charter
say it was contract; nor did it con-
tain any provision that the parlia-
ment should not revoke it. Indeed,
neither the king nor Governor Went
worth could have inserted in it such
provision, because neither could
bind the parliament of England.
The legislature OF New Hampshire,
after the Revolution whatever it's
powers before) succeeded, within the
state of New Hampshire, to all the
powers which had hitherto been pos
;sessed by the parliament of Great
Britain, except in so far as restrained
by the constitution of New Hamp-
shire and the constitution of the
United States. That legislature un-
dertook, by the passage of successive
acts, to modify the charter of the
corporation of Dartmouth College in
certain particulars which it is not
necessary to name This led to the
existence of two alleged corporations
each claiming to be the rightful cor
poratiOn. In action Of trover for the
books of the original corporation,
brought by the new corporation, the
superior court of New Hampshire de-
cided in favor of the plaintiff, there
by sustaining the recent acts of the
legislature of New Hampshire, both
under the constitution of New Hamp-
shire and under the constitution of
the United States. To reverse this
decision writ of error was sued out
in the supreme court of the United
States under the 25th section of the
Federal Judiciary act. The
question was then narrowed down to
the question whether the legislature
of New Hampshire had impaired the
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