The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1901-08-29
He CHAMPIONS THE
U. S. SUPREME COURT
Judge Townsend Talks on Porte
Rican Tariff Cases Before
Bar Association.
The CONSTlTUTlON-FLA6 "HERESY'
He Declares 1t Was Settled During the
War of observation-disclosures Pre-
cedents Cited In Favor of
the View.

Denver Colo, Aug. 26-The Amen
can Bar association concluded the bust
ness of the main organization yester-
day. The following nominations were
reported:
Presidential. NJ. Rose. Little Rock.
Secretary-John Einkley, Baltimore
Observation-Disclosures Rawle, Phila-
delphia.
Vice observation-disclosures. Adolph,
Moses; Iowa, j. O. Crosby; Nebraska,
ElcaZer Wakely; South Dakota, Bart
lett Tripp.
The nominees were unanimously
elected.
The executive committee decided that
the next meeting of the association
shall be held It Saratoga, August 81, Is
and 90, 1902.
The final Letting of the section of
legal education was held yesterday
afternoon. The following officers We're
elected:
President-E. w. Huffcutt, New York.
Secretary-Chas. NJ. Hepburn, Ohio.
At the annual dinner last night a
large number of toasts was responded
to. w. II. Hensei of Pennsylvania was
toaStma Ster
The most notable response WIS by
Judge William X. Townsend of the
United States district court, New Ha-
Ven, Conn, who originally decided the
Porto Rican tariff cases, the decision
Of which by the supreme court has
caused SO much comment. In his ad-
dress last night he said:
Il was greatly interested in the satir-
ical. though forceful address yesterday
of the eminent gentleman from Maine.
l honor his courage, ability and indie
pendence, but l listened in vain
throughout the entire address for any
statement of law or fact to support his
assertions that the decision of the su-
preme court was contrary to precedent
and authority. From the time of the
Louisiana purchase in 1S03 down to
the treaty of Spain in 4S9S, the treaty
making power Of the government has
exercised the right to deal as it saw
fit with the status of the inhabitants
OF coded territory, and, as Mr.. Justice
Brown says in his opinion, the statutes
passed in pursuance of the Louisiana
purchase show the view of congress
that a discrimination in favor of for
eign vessels trading with the ports Of
newly acquired territory is no viola
ton Of the clause of the constitution
that declares that no preference shall
be given to the ports of one state over
those OF another. The same practical
construction was put upon the con-
structlon in the case of the purchase of
Florida and in the annexation of Ha-
Waii.
"Ona hundred years ago the supreme
court of the United States said that
cOntemporaneouS annexation, especial
1y when long acquiesced in, was very
strong, if not controlling, With refer
ence to the provisions of the constitu-
ton. In Insurance company VS.. Cauler
Chief Justice Marshall expressly left
open the question whether any act of
congress was necessary to incorporate
the inhabitants of newly acquired ter
ritory. For 100 years we have acted
upon the theory that such act of con-
gress was necessary, that the imposi-
ton Of different rates of duty was not
in violation of the constitution, and in
our civil war we stamped out the
heresy that the constitution followed
the flag.
And so I rejoice in this great deci-
sion Of the supreme court that the
trainers of the constitution must have
intended that this country should not
come forth born as a cripple into the
family of nations, but that she should
possess all the essential attributes of
sovereignty which would enable her to
govern her possessions according to the
best interests of the American people
ana subject only to those prohibjtive
provisions of the constitution which
guarantee protection against interfer-
ehce with natural rights