The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-10-31
NEWSTATE CONSTITUTION NEEDED
Leading Men Suggest Good Ideas Why
1t Will Be to the Benefit
OF the People
1,tYr rrC17r> IN TIT NEWT CAMDAICN
WILL BE AN ISSUE IN THE NEXT CAMPAIGN

elimination against Dorman. The act
conficted with various provisions of lhe
constitution of the United States, which
is the supreme law of the land, all stare
constitutions to the contrary neverthe-
less. Dorman's right of interstate COM
merce was impaired. He could import
but he could not sell. The constitution
and laws of the United Sta es, Mr.. Peck
avered, covered the town of Green's
boro and every part of the territory of
Alabama. and the power of congress TO
regulate commerce had been declared by
Chief Justice Marshall, of the United
States supreme court, to be co-extensive
wi the subjects Of commerce.
Stephen T. Hale was the counsel of
the appellee. NJ A. Baldwin was a. tor
ney-general and appeared in the case,
assisted by James d. Webb. Hale and
Webb both fell in the war. the former as
lieutenant-colonel of the Eleventh Ala
bama infantry and the lat er as colonel
of the Fifty-first Alabama cavalry. My
recollection is. Baldwin was a democrat,
but Haze and Webb were Wings, or
union men. substantially in accord with
Peck at hat time in party politics.
Justice R. w. Walker rendered the de-
sovereign and federal unit, with APP
propriate organs to will and to act; that
the state government was only the rep
resentative of a sovereignty resident In
the people. Some of the sovereignty re-
manned still in the people, some had been
delegated to the state government and
come to the federal constitution.
The announcement of the court upon
a. beAt hn Of
the people to the state constitution and
the federal constitution is very luminous
and very important The court held that
by the federal constitution the people of
the state delegated to the federal gov
eminent of a few specified powers few
powers specifically enumerated" 1t
held that the people had delegated to
the 81 ste constitution all powers not ex-
prerssly withheld,
Justice Walkers decree touches upon
the point just referred to. namely, the in
security of government under "a coneti-
tuition that does not express the social
conditions OF the governed. He says:
Notwithstanding OCCASIONAL intimations
from eminent Judges to the contrary it
may now be considered an established
principle of American law that while it
| is the duty of the Judiciary to confine the
legislative department within the consti-
tutionally declared limits of hts power,
1T has no right to set aside or annul a
law upon the mere ground that 1T con-
fiicts with natural right, sound morality
or abstrao; justice"
There are some judges, therefore, who
, would not have set THE O'Brien law or
any other law aside on the ground of un-
7o5 ,tor1,f
sound morality or abstract justice would
be she gamer by its enforcement. The
decree OF such judges would be the same
| as the announcement of the constitu-
tion for, like chain, an organic law
cannot be stronger than it's weakest
link There is, of course, more or less
danger to the people in all government.
Every session of the legislature and
every Germ of the court dlsappoints
| thousands. The relief from d.sappoint-
ments of this kind is to minimize the
i extr-constitutional acts of the legislature
4 and the extra-confs tituifonal DEGREES of
| the courts.
We can rectify these errors only by a
competent constitution. A constitution
that gives ito cities and counties power
to do much for them that the legislature
NOW uoeS VIII nanaIllze ieslshAtlon anu
| judge-made law. The prevailing expos
ure Of the inefiiciencys to. say the last,
of fiscal officers generally In the counties
| will prepare a convention to act very
guardedly in provisions of a new cons,f-
tuition relating to taxation and the dis
burSement of taxes. The white people
have borne long enough the practical
| robbery off their school fund for the
jack o-lantern schema of negro scholastic
| alum fin,1 JOHN " DITROSE