Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-06-06

tion that the judiciary OF Aragoh Decaiiie
by degrees the lawgiver. -,
That such Jurisdiction is expressly Civ
Ell by the federal constitution, or oS iii III
constitutions Of the states gehSrdliS, t,ar VI
hardly be asserted. Jurisdiction, however;
like appetite grows by what II Ietus p,. upoi,;
One assumption of power by the couteS
has but given courage ana eapa0ay ayyaIoyetiC No.
refusal to effectuate legislative hcts' cieaI
ly ViClatiVe of constitutional TlShl' We nav
grown TO arrogate the preIosatioSe oe Iagfsia
trolling acts, settling questions OF les isia- S
tive membership. condemning forms Vi ies
islative provisions, making out the SCOPE
and policy of legislative inquiries anu 81 So
orally of directing the plan ana super. super. isiie
the machinery of political SoVeiuLltSInI; -,
so far as 1 am concerned, snan ,iil,,,.i r.
fuse to Join in any assumption OF consul
tHtionaI Jurisdiction beyond those boun-
daries which are already defined and de-
feEded by impregnable walls 9t pI',I,S pIeGeSTeI'
aud yielded over Undisputed srouisuii
THE first and principal act OF H~uhiciPdl ~
cCEtroI is the making of laws. ii5 LedNiU5
out of view for the moment the Ptg; PeoH;IS az 81
their primary capacity as Ioun'alI Iu s,rot oa
authority, and looking only at lhe .lyc soetTyC
frcm which IT directly and proAl1idieS
proceeds il is inevitably perceived thdI
pnWer resides alone in the legislative body,
and Furthermore, that in a natuid seiinU lC
il is the only tribunal to whlen prlilaiy
power has been or can be cohIlueu- Ao q
deDcsitory of delegated authority the IS-
islature is the only logical ana necesssiEg ~
provision of nature in its bearing upon upon @ IN
government of men. All OtheI poNssls a. o.
of secondary delegation from IL. Govern
ors and judges are but creatures OF Si isSis
lative fashioning and executloheIs oiSSJ oI ISStaJ
latiye will In social economy determined
upon principles of natural law, theIe u NJ
provision for executive or 1udlclal olhSe
1t is only because munlclpal Jaw CdbtO IN S,,b-
made self-eXecuting; only because tne .Il suD
jects of municipal law do not always Slotu @
that ready obedience necessary 10 an i,, oi
derly social state that the leglsIatiVe VIII VII!
must create an agency for its vindication;
and this is all it does create dIG tit 49,
are all the powers that do eAlsl-,lt So,
and executive. Among the DIVISIONS VI
government analytically considered there
| is no such thing as judicial poW;eI. " t@1 9
we call by that name is Iuhcuoh VI CA
| eCCtiye power merely.
eminent under three distinct genera hSauS gt
Legislative, executive ana Judicldi. t' Pu''
| if we permit our judgment TO ACT uhlh-
| numbered by the habit of multiplied terms ts5i'
We can perceive no more than TWO uINLs.
| ions of bower of which civil government
| is ComDosed namely that of leg1sldting OF
| enacting laws and that OF executing then!ii nj
Everything, therefore appertailllIls " 10 ctkit III
government classes itself under Sile ~ ~ tiS nS
other of these two divisions. 80 lar az
| regards the execution of laws, tnat which WHICH
| is called the execution of judicial power
| is strictly and properly the executive power
| of the country. 1t is that power 70 Mhih MhiSh
every individual has an appeal ana WnlCn Nil.,
| causes the laws to be executed frame
| Rights of Man" part H., chapter W.
| Courts are but instrumentaItleS OF ii lne
executive power. Except as Gnrsta al oiti de
partment of the political state; ana lhS
| work of defying the law in the process anu
to the end of its execution Is as m9CH i tnS
| exercise of executive power as the delivery
| of a blow with the faShlOned anu CoII-
pleted instruments by tne ecTtive eAtiyeiT right.
| I'VE are not left, however, 10 the neS neSes-
| sity of reasoning upon questions OF I@ul, @
| damentaI principles to determine the case
/ in hand What was above said is only 10
| Indicate the base out OF Whlcn grows tue
deep,seated aversion iiiic.tio1 naVe vi of he
| popular will as expressed by the legislative
| assembly. 1t is no justification OF such AZ
tempts that much of the legislative Sl'y aClloIi
1 is awkward, stupid, extravagant, useless
| or positively corrupt and vicious; we ar
invested with no power OF correSti1 On Il iaei-
| lative branch. The people in thelr soEel
| eign capacity have conferred upon Itar tnar
| that is. it may freely exercise. What Is
| legislative power? Primarily ana pIlhCl..
pally it is the power TO declare ruigs rnTsti}l in
| uency and incidentally to acquire lnIol ma
| tion necessary TO the discharge OF lts duly @
| and to adopt and enforce rules OF pro-
| cedure in the conduct of its business.
| But l assert that the power conferred
| by the concurrent resolution IN queSSttl ~
| in connection with the statute of 1871, Is
4 judicial in it's nature and may be rlght-
| fully exercised because OF such tact. IN
| the Huron case, it was held that a notary
| public could not receive a grant of power
| to punish for contempt, but such decision
| was rested upon the ground that no
| tary's office was not judicial in its ma
'conrti in the sense in which that term
| is used in the constitution, which allows
the creation of courts inferior TO the su-
"A tribunal is designated to be composed
| of five persons; authority is given TO ap-
| point an officer to serve process, Win q
| stenographer to note and transcribe testi-
| mony. and a clerk to make and preserve
| a record of proceedings. A subject mat
| ter of inquiry is likewise stated ana de-
| fined. That subject matter is of vital pub
| lie concern. The very organization ana
| object of this tribunal implies power TO
| proceed in its labors according 70 1ormaI
| and deliberative rules; TO hear evidence, 10
| determine the competency of witness, the
admissbility of testimony, together with
| its weight and credibility, and to report its
| findings and judgment. True, there Is no
| special direction to the committee to make
a report, but that is necessarily implied
| from the purpose of it's appointment and
| its power to sit. The power to 1nVestl-
| gate carries with 1t the power TO publish
| the result of the investigation. Nor Is the
| failure to designate someone to whom the
| report is to be made fatal to the power 10
| proceed under the resolution and law.~A
| claim of such character was argued at
brief length upon the hearing, and is faint
| ly shadowed forth in the opinion of the
| majority of the court, but do not under
| stand it to be made even in part de-
| termining feature of the case. However,
| without troubling myself to find a specific
| depositary for such report, l apprehend
| one can be found among the legal GUS
| todians of public documents and records.
| But IL 1t were otherwise, / deny the
| right of this court TO inValidate the reSo-
| luton in question because no officer or
| tribunal is designated as the depositary of
| the committees report. That the legisla-
ture ought to have manifested specihc
| and sensible design in terms directing the
| making and filing of a report may be con-
| ceded, but to rest claim of constitutional
| invalidity of it's action upon its failure TO
| give such direction would be most un-
| warranted extension of judicial preroga-
| tive. l assert IL TO be entirely competent
for the legislature to direct an inyestiga-
| tion into a matter of public concern, solely
| for public information. and with no other
| object in view than the dissemination of
such information through the public
| prints.
But this committee, or court, was pro-
| yided by law. That is, its powers were
! Drovided by law and that is what the con-
| stitution means. That the appointment
| of committees. such as the one in ques-
| tion, and the designation of a subject mat
| ter of inquiry by concurrent resolution is
! an appropriate and constitutional exercise
| of power is not denied: in fact. is con-
| ceded as I understand, The court then,
| was provided by law as to composition
| and subject matter of Jurisdiction Moth
| ing therefore, remained to be done but
| to confer upon it the high. judicial pre-
| rogative of compelling obedience to its
| orders That was done in the very way
| required by the majority of this court 1t
| narrow and most technical sense. 1t was
| done by the statute of 1S9l-an enactment
! possessing all the requisites of cOnStitu-
| tional conformality. But in broader sense
| than this. the court in question was pro-
| vided by law The legislature, by act of 1891
| declared that such legislative investigating
committees as might thereafter be ap-