The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-10-30

&S9@A0 SHSSSA@S ~
tate for the rights of man, now fettered
by the laws of property. A majority
of lawmakers devoted to the peoples
interest will soon find a way to protect
them against the oppression Of the
money power-if not in the way I have
suggested, in some other way.
One wiser than any Of us has said:
s'Give me neither poverty nor riches.
Feed me with food convenient for me-"
Let us profit by the divine precept and
so frame our laws as to ecu for all
food convenient for them, and to none
vast riches unearned.
| GREAT BRITAIN AND THE SILVER CUES
TON.
lido not propose to discuss the silver
question, nor is there occasion that l
should All parties favor bimetalism-
it is only to it's establishment that some
object-and particularly, without the
consent of Great Britain. l had sup
posed that these States were made free
and independent and absolved from all
allegiance to the British crown more
than a hundred years ago, but in this
it seems I was mistaken, and that there
are those among us who think that
Congress should not proceed to per
form it's constitutional duty by coming
money and regulating the value thereof
without the co operation of Great Brit
ain. Let those who think SO crook the
plant hinges of the knee to the money
power of England. I, for one, &C.
knowledge no such allegiance, but be-
lieve it the duty of Congress to act in
dependently and establish the value of
coin as it existed prior to 1878, when
silver was demonetized.
desire to say a few words upon the
encroachment of federal courts upon
the constitutional rights of the people.
Of late years the United States Judges
have assumed jurisdiction they would
not have dared to exercise In the earlier
days of the Republic. They now claim
the right to determine the extent of
their jurisdiction and enforce such
orders as they think proper to make.
These federal judges, like sappersT and
miners, have for years silently and
steadily enlarged their jurisdiction,
and unless checked by legislation they
will soon undermine the very pillars of
the constitution and bury the liberties
of the people beneath their ruin.
To vest any man or set of men with
authority to determine the extent of
their powers and to enforce their de-
crees is of the very essence of deepot-
ism. Federal judges o claim the
right to take possession of and run the
railroads of the country, to issue in
functions without notice, and TO punish
for contempt anyone who disputes
their authority.
Congress some years ago passed an
act limiting the powers of federal
judges to punish for contempts, except
such as are committed in their presence
or by officers Of their courts or in disc.
bedience of some lawful order. But
what protection does this afford the
citizen when the very federal judge
who issues the order passes upon it's
legality2
1t is to be hoped that Congress when
it meets will put some check upon fed
eral judges in assuming control of rail
roads and issuing blanket :injunctions
and furnishing people for contempt of
their assumed authority. If this Con
gross does not do it trust the people
will see to it that representatives are
chosen hereafter who will.
For the Supreme Court of the United
States, I have the greatest respect. It
has always been presided over by great
lawyers and great men, but even it is
not omnipotent or infallible. 1t some
times makes mistakes, as it did in the
bred Scott case, when it decided that
a man Of African descent could not sue
for his freedom in a federal court; but
the people, who in this country are the
sovereigns above all courts, corrected
the error and decided not only that a
man of African descent could bring
suit in a federal court, but that he was
entitled to all other rights belonging to
man.
The court made another mistake
when it decided that corporate priv
leges, when granted and accepted, be
came contracts which future legisla-
lures could neither alter nor repeal
without the consent of the c~orporators,
but this error it subsequently corrected
itself in an opinion written by the late
Chief Justice Waite, a purer man than
whom never sat upon the bench,