The times., 1901-06-09
Circulation Statement.
After a Hundred Yenrs.

After Hundred Years.
The tensile strength of the Supreme
Court of the United States to withstand
the desire Of the political departments
of the Government for a particular de
cision in a given case has been found
inadequate This result is more pa
thetic inasmuch as the court in the
matter wherein its weakness was dis
closed had before it the instructive and
guiding influence Of former judgment
of that court pronounced by Chief Justice
Marshall, the most ilIustrious jurist
this country has pgoduced. The court
was also conscious lat the conclusions
of Marshall which a majority disre-
garded had the sanction of one hundred
years Of national approval. Yet, by a
majority of one, with four powerful
members dissenting. the court broke
through all opposition and precedent to
respond to q distressing political situa-
ton. The matter Of the decision was
not of casual Importance merely, but
involved the most vital principles of the
Government itself
The position Of the Supreme Court Of
the United States is unique in history.
In this great tribunal the people of
new hemisphere, forming an expert
mental constitutional government rest
ing upon the principle that all men are
created equal, reposed the extraordi-
nary power To declare all legislative
enactments illegal that denied such
equality before the law. The audacity
of this system OF constitutional gov
ernment impressed monarchicai coun-
tries throughout the world and COM
manded the respect and applause Of
lovers of liberty everywhere. The peo-
pie declared by this system to be SOW
ereign inaugurated it by placing in
legislative office the ablest men Of the
times; in executive authority the peer
less Washington. and on the Supreme
Bench men of the ripest legal knowl-
edge. Of cloudless patriotism and intel
ligence. These great men found no
occasion to measure their official power
by the pretensions Of foreign monarch
ical States, but looked to the Consti-
tuition as their chart and guide. Under
the administration Of written consutu-
tional government liberty has been
promoted, happiness realized. and
boundless wealth attained. There
would seem to be little occasion to dis
turb the philosophy on which American
institutions rest.
But it is now decided that constitu-
tional government does not meet the
exigency Of the present time. A System
Of arbitrary power in certain portions
Of the dominion of the Government is
assumed TO be necessary. 1t is now
held that :he Constitution is a local af-
fair, admirable in its domestic sim
plicity, but not the companion or guide
of Congress in the acquisition and gov
ernment Of additional lands and peo-
pie. The Constitution is good within
specific States. but is bad within the
Territories. The charge against Hast
ings was that he ruled arbitrarily in
India. Burke denounced this: he de-
clared that arbitrary power was tyr
amy; that no Government could pos
sess or confer it; that no public agency
was eligible TO receive il. The opinion
of Burke is now judged a delusion.
Written constitutional government is
exceptional under the theories Of the
Brown decisions. It is to be remem-
bered in the States. but forgotten in
the Territories. The unity of the old
Government has given away 10 a du-
pick system. In Virginia a citizen
leans with confidence on the Constitu- /
ton, while in the Territories the same I!
person under the same flag finds him |
self in q constitutional vacuum
A majority Of the Supreme Court |
now holds that a written constitution |
is irksome; that it is on-expansive;
that ali presumptions run against it;
that in the acquisition Of new countries
and in national intercourse. interna-
tional law is the single source Of juris-
diction. and not the Constitution. It is
held that though the Executive, Con-
gress. and the Judiciary draw their life
and activity from the Constitution, in
the Territories there is a transcendentaI
use Of power in respect Of which the
Constitution is dismissed, in which all
these great constitutional organs Of au-
thority can Tevel in unbridled induI-
gence.