The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-03-04
ABOVE TIE LAW OF. TIE Land

Tor the victims OF railroad accidents ever.
to recover anything through the courts,
For the Judges, realizing that the govern
ment will be forced to pay considera-
Bile part OF any damages awarded, natur-.
ally fear that by giving decision In
favor of the plaintin, thew will incur the
i'll will of the administration and, there
fore. always .endeavor to give Judgment
for the defendant"
1t was this Conversation that led to not
one but several most interesting discus
sions with that brilliant and enlightened
statesman on the subject of the lack Of
independence Of, the French judiciary,
Gambetta candidly admitting that jude-
nents against the government such as
are frequent both In the United States
and Great. Britain are practically u1f-
known In -1SEaacer Eor the ma ter~ot4f-
that, anywhere else on the continent. = +.
r. Another striking illustration of the SUBJ
ordination of the judiciary to the execu-
tive in France and In other continental
countries was afforded by the manner in
which Premier Dupuy gave his testimony
the other day IN the Dreyfus case. Here
IN the United States every cabinet Off.
c1al, and I imagine even the president
himself, would be compelled to furnish
evidence in court of law II. cited in due
form as a witness In England cabinet
ministers are In noWise exempt from the
jurisdiction OF the tribunals Of the land,
Queen Victoria has the prince of Wales
taken his place like an ordinary citizen
IN response to subpoena and furnished
testimony. But, in France. which Is re-
public, and where, according to the fun
damental principles of the Constitution
all men. including even the executive
should be equal especially in the eyes of
the law. the head of the state and all
OF his cabinet ministers are, by virtue
of decree bearing the signature OF the
First Napoleon. placed above the law and
exempted from the legal obligations of
bears the date Of May 4, 1912, and pro-
vides that in the event Of the testimony
OF either the chief Of the state or any
of his cabinet ministers being needed the
presiding judge of the court In which
the trial is taking place must first of all
submit IN writing to the executive or to
the ministers the questions which either
the court or the counsel in the case con-
s1der IT necessary to be asked Neither
the executive nor the ministers are under
any obligation, legal or otherwise, to an.
swer any question to which they NAV OBJ
3ect, their refusal to respond. however,
being placed on record; a couple Of days
later the president of the tribunal, ac-
compan1ed by one of his associate Judges
and by the principal clerk of the court.
Is obliged to hunlbly wait in person upon
the executive or the minister, at the resi-
to receive in person the written responses
to the questions. That is how Premier
Dupuy gave his testimony the other day
In the Dreyfus case when called upon by
the highest, tribunal in the land, the tri-
ounal which forms the French counter
part OF the supreme court of the United
States. to furnish testimony. -" = =
When one reads of this the memory
travels back to the story of that King
Henry v. of Great Britain. who, while
sttll prince of Wales and prior @teI his ac-A
cess1on to the throne, was actually com
by the lord chief justice of the realm. as
punishment for having failed to treat
the supreme tribunal Of the land with
proper difference and respect. The chron-
icles relate that King Henry ~, on hear
Ing OF the affair gave thanks to Providence
for having judge such as Chief Justice
Gascoyne, who was not afraid to minis
ter justice. and for having a son such as
Prince Hal. who. was willing to submit
thereto. The prince, as every one knows,
remained in prison, deprived of his sword,
until he had purged his contempt and
received a pardon from his father - -,'<
With regard to the case of Don Alessan-
dro Solar, mentioned in connection with
the subservience of the Spanish Judiciary
to the government of the day, it may pos
siby be recalled that during the admins
tration of the late Senior Canovas the
courts, on being called upon to pronounce
upon the validity of the will of Don Ales-
sandro, gave a decision against the queen
regent on some frivolous and altogether
preposterous grounds. The true reason
was that Premier Canovas and the mem.
bers of his cabinet, particularly the min,
lister of justice, were bitterly opposed to
the queen and, at one time in fact, were
on the point of depriving her of the
regency. in order to vest it in the hands
OF her sister-in-law, the widowed Infa11ta
Isabella. In giving Judgment against the
queen, the VIGOROUSLY corrupt courts OF
Madrid, therefore, merely. obeyed the be-
nests of the cabinet, and IN particular.
ths man who was then mnitser of JUS
tice. Before Sagasta had been at the
head of affairs six months, however. the
Madrid tribunals which had In the mean
while been Fe6rganized, the friends of the
Conservative administration being re-
placed on the bench by members of the
Liberal party, reversed the Judgment and
the entire fortune of Don Alessandro,
amounting to. several millions of dollars,,
was placed in the hands OF the Queen
regent who has newer maae any attempt
to conceal her marked preference for the
Liberal platform. -~~:''~ o..
TO the obedience Of the judges of CONT
mental Europe to the government of the
day must be: ascribed the fact that the
principal culprits in the great bank frauds
DIAL IN France have never been brought
to justice, those unfortunate people who
were convicted and punished having been
VIGOROUSLY either minor actors In the at Z
fairs. or else merely, the more or less 'un-
conscious Instruments. Indeed, Charles
de 'Lesseps, the most honest and chival-
rous of men, VIGOROUSLY offered himself
as a ,scapegoat and underwent two years
Imprisonment in connection with the Pan
ANA disaster, solely with the object Of
protecting his aged father, who would
otherwise have spent the close of his life.
behind the bars of a penftentfary. M: de
Beaurepaire, who resigned a few weeks
ago the presidency Of the civil division
Of the. court Of cassation-that is to say,
received his post as president Of that
court from the cabinet Of the day as q
reward for having, while procurator gen
B efforts to shield the friends of the govern
ment implicated in the Panama Scandal
+ or course, there is no rose without It's
| thorns, and therefore no one need be as
tonished to learn that this independence
Of the judges in England and in the
United States entails certain disadvan-
tages, not the least OF which are the diff
culties experienced In removing from the
/ bench any Judge who, through Illness,
mental or physical has become untitled
for the task of administering Justice.
Thus it was only with the utmost trouble
that the late Sir James Fftzjames stephen
was persuaded by his family and friends
to resign his place on the bench almost a
full year after he had first given public
manifestation of an unbalanced mind.
And one Of the strongest arguments in.
favor Of the grant OF q pardon to Mrs.
Maybrick. the American alleged prisoner.
now undergoing q life sentence IN Eng.
land. Is that Sir James was undoubtedly
amentally unsound at the time when he
presided over the court by which she was