The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-07-26
.AT 1T AGAIN.
The Supreme Court abOlishes the
Constitution.
A Trust is not a Trust. The PeO-
pie POwerless.

with nullifying acts of the legisla-
ture. 1t has plumed it's wings for
higher flight. 1t pounces now up
on the very constitution of the state,
and tears it to shreds. Nothing is
sacred from this legal harpy.
In 1887, as member of the House,
/ introduced an amendment to ar
ticle ". of the constitution of the
state. 1t finally passed in this form:
"Sec. 35. Any combination OF per-
sons, either as individuals or as
members or officers of any corpora
tion, to monopolize the markets for
food products in this state, or to IN
te1tere avith, or restrict the freedom of
such markets, Is hereby declared to be a
criminal conspiracy, and shall be pun
iShed in such manner as the legisla-
ture may provide"
This amendment was adopted by
the people Nov 6, 1888, and became
a part of the constitution: and sub
sequently the Legislature, April 20,
1891, passed an act to carry it into
effect. That act provided:
Sec. /. If any corporation, organ
lied under the laws of this state or
any other state or country, for trans
acting or conducting any kind of
business in this state, or any part
nership or individual, shall create,
enter into, become q member Of, or q
party to, any pool, trust, agreement,
combination or confederation, with
any other corporation, partnership
or individual, to regulate, on tir the
price of oil, lumber, coal, grain, flour,
provisions, or any other commodity
or article whatever shall
be deemed guilty of conspiracy to
defraud," etc.
1t is difficult to conceive of Ian
guage palmer or clearer than this.
Now it seems that the retail lum-
Der dealers, for the purpose of fixing
and regulating the price of lumber"
agreed together that they would not
deal with any wholesale lumber deal
er or manufacturer who sold to a
citizen for price below the price
they had agreed upon. In other
words, they formed an unlawful COM
bination to keep up the price of lum-
Der and agreed to boycott any lum-
herman who did not stand by it. If
this is not in direct conflict with
both the spirit and letter of the con-
stitution, eohich our Supreme Judges
are s,corn to obey, and with the law
passed to enforce it, then language
has ceased to be factor of certainty
in the transactions of human beings.
And yet the Supreme court,-five
lawyers-nOt gOdS-nOt visitors from
another Sphere;-but five common
everyday, lawyers;-not of tran
sceandant but of ordinary brain pow
er;-who struggled and intrigued to
get upon the bench, and none of
whom could afford to lose the
salary paid to them by the people,
whose hired servants they are;-
those five lawyers, I say, kick consti-
tuition and laws to pieces, and de-
clare that those retail lumber deal
ers had perfect right to enter into
such pool to regulate the price of
lumber! They spit in the faces of
the million five hundred thousand
people who are feeding them every
day of the year; and they tell them
that they shall not protect them
selves from the robberies of rings
and pools, no matter what the con-
stitution or the law may say. These
five men-whose mental equals can
be found in every city and almost
every county ain the state;-whOse
heads are no bigger, whose legs are
no longer than those of the average
man; who cover no more space sit
ting down; who are not Incas, desc
ceandants of the sun or moon, or even
of William the Conqueror, but COM
monplace chaps, who will be forgot
ten five years after they are buried;
these five men-mark yOu!-these
nobodies from nowhere, ACTUALLY
deprive the whole population of Min
nesota of the right of self-gOvern-
ment, and make their own sweet
wills the sole and final arbiters of
the destinies of all the inhabitants
of all this grand so-called free state
and member of the national Union!
Is it not awful?
And see how the usurpatiOn pro-
ceeds, step by step.
The courts first claimed the right
to morally interpret the laws; then they
advanced far enough to claim the
right to declare whether any given
law did or did not conform to the
constitution; now they claim the
right to abolish the constitution it.
self! What is left?
Who delivers the decisions. Judge
William Mitchell, who last fall was
nominated by both the democratic
party and republican party, upon the