The Saint Paul globe., 1897-06-06
CL0UGH CAN DEFY
ATTORNEY GENERAL ARGUES THAT
THE GOVERNOR CANNOT BE
SUBP0ENAED.
INDEPENDENT OF COURTS.
JUDGES WILL PROBABLY AGREE
WHEN THEY GIVE DECISION
MONDAY.
No Building Going on for the First
Time I'm Years-MinneapoIis
Matters.

The governor is independent of
courts and people and cannot be sub
pOenaed.
The attorney general makes the
above claim, and in his stand he is by
| no means alone, for the judges at the
present time are with him, with but
one exception, and unless there are
some undiscovered authorities present
ed, they will so hold Monday next
County Attorney Peterson is also with
him, and will only argue the other
side of the case upon instructions from
the grand jury, but that is another
story.
The best authorities in legal lore
claim that when the people of Mime
sofa elect governor, they practical
ly elect man who is amenable to
nothing but the state legislature, and
who is not compelled to answer any
decree of any court, even should it be
on charge Of murder, until he is no
longer governor. According to these
| authorities, the governor is the high
est peace officer in the state, and is
presumed to have the welfare Of the
state at heart. Consequently if any
thing is going wrong, he is supposed
TO take such steps to right evils as he
can, and he is sole judge of what is
right in matters under his charge, and
no grand jury can dispute him.
Ihe governor is the custodian of the
reports of the bank examiner. and >if
ne sees anything wrong in them he is
the one to take proceedings against
banks or other concerns; or if per-
chance the examiner himself is in the
wrong, it is the governor who should
proceed against him. In the present
case the grand jury of Hennepin coun-
ty thought the governor had in his
hands proofs which would have the
effect of discovering crime. The gov
ernor assured them that he had moth
ing which would assist them, and the
grand jury in subpoenaing him to
bring the papers simply overruled the
decision the governor had made in his
ofhclal capacity, and decided that he
had proofs which would show crime.
1t was case of lower authority die
tating to a higher, and was not within
their province
Regarding the right of a court to issue a
subpoena to the governor, the state consti-
tuition comes into play. No court will make
an order which it is powerless to have ex-
ecuted. If the court should hold that the
governor was in contempt for failing tn
obey an order the court would be obliged to
issue warrant to a sheriff. who Is a peace
officer of a lower grade, and the spectacle
would be presented of an official going to ar
rest the governor, who, the constitution says
is answerable to nothing but the state legis-
lature. He would refuse to go with the
sheriff, and if he saw fit, it is asserted that
he could seize a pen, and 10 the sheriff would
be no longer sheriff, for the governor can
remove officials. Again. for the sake of
argument, he has at his hand the militia
should the sheriff use force, and if the militia
refused to assemble at the call of the gov
ernor, the militia would be guilty of treason.
the highest crime in the calendar
Some of the legal authorities hold that the
governor cannot be subpoenaed as an in
d1yfdual. The district court has no more
Jurisdiction so far as contempt and SUBJ
poenas go, than a justice of the peace, and if
the governor was answerable to every sub
poena mischievious persons might be sum
mon1ng the governor away from his post of
duty at critical times to answer petty
charges or give petty evidence in the most
remote corners of the state.
The above is the result of some of the dis
cussions held at the court house and city
hall, and they will be the problems that will
face the grand jury Monday next when the
matter comes up.
Il wish the Judge would issue a warrant"
laughed Assistant Attorney General Edger-
ton. for it would be fun to see the sheriff
going down to st. Paul to execute it,