The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-24
PROVINCES, NOT STATES.


Senator Lodge. in recent magazine
article, describes the opening of the
first continental congress in 1774 and
the immediate presentation of how the
delegates should vote, whether as in
dividuals or by colonies. Patrick Henry
favored the former. Let us rest on
representation Of men," he said. John
Sullivan, of New Hampshire, stood for
the states right" idea. "A little colony
has It's all at stake as we'll as a great
one" he sa q. And his view prevailed
both then ard n tie formation of the
constitution. In fact, no constitution
could have been adopted that did not
contain it. Ledge says: "Sullivan's was
the voice of the time, of separation and
states rights. Henly's was the voice
of the distant future, of union and ma
tGnality. 1t took more than eighty
years of union and a great civil war
to establish the new principle proclaim
ed by Henry"
1t has taken more than eighty years
and more than the Civil war to so
emasculate the sovereignty of the
states, which was the basic principle of
the Union. The war was fought to
maintain it, and reconstruction was its
recognition. 1t has taken the sapping
and mining processes of federal courts
to cut out of states rights and state
autonomy its vitality and leave moth
ing but the fragile shell. John Mar
shall began it in the Dartmouth col
lege case. Out of it grew the doctrine
that acts Of Incorporation of corpora
lions of a quasi public nature were also
contracts under which rights vested
that no subsequent legislation could
impair. Rapid advance has been late
~ made in this emasculating process.
We have adverted to the Indianapolis
street railway case, in which a law
reducing the fare charged by corpora
ton, created by the state, operating
wholly within the state, held to be
valid by the states supreme court, is
held invalid by federal court, taking
Jurisdiction on the petition of a non
resident mortgage or shareholder, be-
cause the act is special legislation with
in the meaning of the Indiana constitu-
tlon prohibiting such legislation.
Under that decision all power to reg
ulate corporations created by a state
is taken from it and it's creatures are
put under the protectorate of the fed
eral courts
a federal court in Tennessee takes a
further, logical step in the demolition
Of state sovereignty and the installa-
ton of provinces instead The railway
commissioners of that state, under a
law imposing upon them the duty of
determining, for purposes of taxation,
the value of railway property within
the state, increased the valuation from
some $4,000. 900 to $7O,OOO,OOO. The Ten
ncssee statute gives an appeal to the
state courts from the decision of the
state board of assessors, but the rail-
way company, being a nonresident cor
poration, sued out of the federal court
a writ of injunction restraining the
extension of taxes ON that valuation,
because it was excessive and unequal.
Judge Clark sustains the writ on the
ground that the valuation lis out Of
ali proportion" although it bears a less
ratio to the true value than does the
assessed value Of realty to it's true
value the latter being as three to four,
while the raised value of the railways
is to their true value as one is to two.
The judge argues that the assessors
took an erroneous basis in fixing
values. They took the market quota
tions of the price of stocks and shares.
This the judge declares to be an ''un-
certain and delusive" method of COM
putting values. ITO the person Of aver
age intelligence" he says, at is we'll
known that the stocks and bonds do
not. as a rule, represent the money
actually invested" But, aside from
this, the case is important in the as
sumption by federal court of jurisdic-
ton to inquire into and pass judgment
upon the taxing power of state. When