Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1898-02-04
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 4, 1898.
Departments Of Government.


The necessary acts of government
fall naturally under three heads. Laws
must be made, enforced, and their ap-
plicatiOn interpreted. Hence three de-
psrtments of government, Legislative
Executive. and Judicial. Under the
first theory of government THAT power
resides In some individually these three
functions are united into one depart
ment. In some cases, governments
after the first theory have legislatures;
but their acts are put in the form OF
prayers to the sovereign, which he may
or may not regard, at his will. Attimes
the requests of legislatures carry such
an influence that the sovereign dare not
refuse them. In such cases the
men is of the first class only In thee ~
while in practice it belongs to the
second class where the power is sup
posed to reside in the people.)
1t is apparent, then, that an execu
tive, under the first theory. must have
an absolute veto on all legis alton;
while under the second he can have
only qualified veto. 1t is also apparent
that courts, under the first theory, can
not relieve people of burdensome
laws by declaring them unconstitution-
al. There can be no recourse to other
than the will of the person in whom
power to govern resides.
Governments founded upon the sec
ond theory should, and usually do, dele
gate each of the three governmental
acts to separate department. The
sovereign nation creates an instrument
of government, defining and limiting
the power of each of the departments.
Within the limits set up, each of the
departments may exercise the sovereign
power of the nation.
Congress is charged with the duty of
making laws, and so long as it acts
within the limit of It's authority its acts
are sovereign, i. g. there is no power in
this or any other nation to question
their authority.
There must, however, be some COM
petent judge to determine whether in
any given case Congress has acted
within the limits set up by the sovereign
people. To not provide a tribunal to
establish this fact would be to leave the
whole question of government in chaos.
Each individual, corporation or state
would then be judge for itself and con.
fusion would follow. For many years
Of our national life this question was
unsettled. Who is the judge as to
whether Congress has exceeded its
authority in any given case? Some said
zach state should judge for itself, others
that the United States Supreme Court
was the judge. Happily, this question
is now settled. and the latter is the ex
elusive judge.
The President is charged with the
execution Of law. If congress makes
NO lsws he can execute none. If con.
gress makes law which is destructive
of civil liberty, the citizen has recourse
to the C urts which may so find. If it
be so found, then the act is imperative
and void, not by the act of the court,
but from the fact that congress had ex-
ceeded Its power in its enactment.
Each department is wholly Independ-
ent Of and free from the other. Neither
can encroach upon, nor command the
other. Each department may take coun
sci of the other, yet is wholly free to act
within Its sphere. The executive can
not usurp authority and encroach upon
the liberties of the people, because he is
limited to the execution of law. Con.
gress can not pass laws which deprive
people of their rights, because in that
case it would exceed its powers and its
acts be void. The Judiciary can not
Cypress the people, because it can act
only when causes are presented, and, if
it, by any assumption of common law
powers, becomes oppressive, Congress
can by law define the rules
CONTRIBUTED.