The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-08-31

TOT Independence.
Contrast With France.
What order of men they were who
framed our constitution is shown in the
ngnt OF historical contrast which is
1uu OF drama tic interest. France was in
uouble-d trouble more serious than
any which ever before confronted an ex-
-it;r- order of things.
On the very day that George Wash
mgton was elected president of the con
vention the great assembly of the not
dbleS adjourned They had sat two
months md utterly failed TO do anything
W4ich G. lld save France. Then came an
other meeting of the notables and of the
states general, the national assembly
the constituent assembly, and that fruit
lesS ana utterly abOrtiVe effort to make
I. coIal-tut-on which should save the
kings crown and the peoples rights.
Thls attempt at Observation-Disclosures
I ta-led, for 1t could not rally to its sup
port any faith in its inherent strength 1t
S sun collapsed when put to the pitiless
test of those pitiless times. Great hopes
mad been centered in it. hopes of deliver
ance, hopes of happiness and hopes OF
peace; but Carlyle sums up the result in
a single sentence, which he makes the
heading for one of his grandIy pictures
march
But, gentlemen, the constitution our
fathers made had the marching quality
IN 1t; and our history records how it has
marched in good and evil days sometimes
through Derils and difficulties. some
times seeming almost ready to halt, but
/ always moving forward"
Grave Question Is Raised.
The speaker then discussed the eondi-
! tons surrounding the adoption OF the
American constitution and the first ten
amendments and said:
when Chisholm VS.. the state of
Georgia was brought before them, the
country was afiame with excitement
Mingled feelings of establishment and
Indignation filled mems minds, at the
thought of bringing a sovereign state
into court like an ordinary debtor.
This is case of uncommon magni-
tude,' said Justice Wilson. "One of the
parties to it is a state; certainly respect
able, claiming to be sovereign. The ques-
ton to be determined is whether this
state, so respectable, and whose claim
scars so high, is amenable TO the JuriS-
dictio3 Of the supreme court of the
in itself, will depend on others more i'm
portant still; and may, perhaps, be ulti-
mately resolved into one no less radical
than this-'DO the people OF the United
States form a nation?
when the court held the state of
Georgia to be Suable by a private citizen,
an overwhelming demand went up for an
amendment to the constitution, and 50
! the eleventh amendment was straightway
adopted.
NJ. Peck traced the history Of the
various amendments to the constitution
L
questions by the supreme court.
EuIogy for John Marshall.
And so, gentlemen" he said. "the
constitution marched; and without eX-
aggeration it may be truly declared that
John Marshall was its guide, it's light
/ and its defender. Our profession looks
uucn him with a somewhat idOlatrous
feeling, but l do not think it is excess
siVe- When we consider what might
have been our fate if another and not he
( had occupied that great seat, We may well
believe that providence watched over the
republic. He interpreted the cOEStitu-
ton. but he interpreted il in the COM
prehensive way winch made it a thing of
| life instead OF death; chat Of gov
eminent instead of a collection of mean
ingless phrases. No Judge ever had a
more lofty idea of his office, or upheld ii
with firmer hand. Only two Americans
are better entitled to the gratitude of our
peOple-GeOrge Washington and Abraham
''aIarshaIPs judicial temperament was
such that il was not possible for him to
see any question Simply on ITS technical
side. He had. in its fullest measure, that
large DISCOURSE of which Shakespeare
speaks, looking before and after
Kind Word for fancy.
Roger B. fancy, who succeeded Mar
shall was q man emiuently fitted for that
exalted position. Learned, able, patient,
honest, he filled the ideal of a great
judge. But, Ike Marshall, he had
temperament; like Marshall, he belonged
to a school Strict construction was as
dear to him as it was odious to his pre-
After referring with regret to the
bred Scott Case the speaker said: Let
us be lust Judge fancy was sustained
by the entire court, save two, Mclean
and Curtis. II matters little now who
was right and who was wrong; for the
issue went to a higher court and was
settled forever.
After bringing TIE history of judicial
INTERPRETATIONS of the constitution to the
present time, Mr. Peck concluded;
Throughout our constitutional history
we have carried on the most complex
system of government known to man
and today / venture to assert that not
withstanding its compleXity, II has been
so administered as to combine more OF
liberty to the citizen with more OF power
in the nation than any other conStltu-
tional government. The states, unlm-
paired in their just powers, carry on the
due operations of local administration I'M
fettered and the uniOn-Whlch Is a
union both OF people and Of stateS-has
long since passed the time When any
court or any statesman may renew
Justice Wilson's inQuiry:-Do the peo-
plc of the United States form a nation|
At the afternoon session the reports
of standing committees were present
ed. The one on jurisprudence and law
reform was read and adopted.
Inc same dlSDOSlllOH was ildoS VI
the report of judicial administration
and judicial procedure. reports on
legal education and admission to the
bar and on law reporting and digest
ing was passed. The report on COM
mercial law was adopted after extend
ed discussion.
In the general session tonight an ex-
haustive paper was read by John Bas-
settmoore of New York on "A Hundred
Years of American Diplomacy"