Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1901-02-22
THE WORLDS GREATEST COURT.

On February ., 1870, tho Supreme
Court OF the United State met ID New
York for the first time. with John
Jay as it's Chief Justice. lu the III
years OF its existence it has rendered
decisions curhinR the action OF P:esi-
dents. annullmR laws OF Congress and
OF State Legislatures. setting limits
to the powers Of the Federal Govern
ment and the rights OF the states.
and ovcrturning the decisions of
State Supreme Courts. II has larger
and more sweeping powers than any
court III the world, aud yet. as Justice
Miller, writing Of this tribunal, has
hptIy pointed out: -lt has no army,
no navy, no purse and no patron.
age
The Sun prints nm interesting re-
view "f some of the most notable dc.
cisionS OF the court-its judgments
III cases that have made American
history. In the past, when develop.
mcnts IN the life Of tile nation credI cd
"''N' '"uh''pIS 'pI WHICH no pre-
cedents existed to guide the President
ana Congress, the Supreme Court
made new laws FOR the new crisis. Il
IL now called upon To mtcrpret and
apply the Constitution in cases in
Voiving the gravest questions winch
1t mas had to settle III the course of
Its existcnce. a brief survey O. what
may be described as the landmark
decisions Of this tribunal IL Of reasor.
able interest on the eve OF the courts
uschIon III cases affecting the 60
!onial policy Of the government.
The first "celchrPtcd case" decided
by thu court vas that ni Ware vs.
Hylt0n. when 1t WIS held ,hat the
treaty ObliL atoms of tho fcdcrnl
government were paramount To the
laws Of individual states Later the
court decrecd that II sovereign state
could be sued without its consent in
the federal courts. In tie Aaron
Burr trcnsOn cascB in 1900 Chief
Justice MHrshail de fined the power
OF the Court with regard to the ISSUE
OF the writ Of habcas corpus and also
interpreted the law Of treasnn. or
f"r'r"achinP importance WIS the de.
clsi0n in 1919 III the case nf Me.
Culloch vs. the StHtc Of Maryland.
when the court held thai Il state Ind
no right To tax an agency of tho
federal government. Underlying this
case WINS the great political coutro.
vcrsy between Thomas Jefferson and
Alexander Hamilton as to the res
pective limits or federal supremacy
and stntc suvcrcignty. In tie famous
Dartmouth College case. decided in
1919. til" court established the broad
principle tina! Il charter granted by a
Legislature cannot HftcrwHrd he re-
Vokcd or altered. Ia 1924 the court
upheld the authority Of Congress tn
regulate commerce III all it's forms
on all the navigable waters of the
United States.
Not few Of the decisions ar Chief
Justice Murshnll's period were in win.
dicatlou Of the reserved rights nf the
stntoe, though ns n whole they tended
to enlnrgc the Federal power. \ dis.
hEcily new era III the history OF the
court wna inHuGuratCd in 1896. when
Roger B. fancy, Mnryland's great ipr
ist, became Chief Justice. Under his
presidency the decisions of the court,
aa whole. from 1885 until the out.
break uf the Civil War leaned toward
strict cOngtruC;iLG Of the Constitu
tion and tlo upholding of the reserved
righis OF the stntcs. Chief Justice
T"ney rendered decisron greatly
modifying. mud, to some extent, re-
vers'ng Marshnll's decision IN tho
Dartmouth College case. Iiis most
memorable decision, however was in
the Drcd Scott case. for which no wns
abused without sense or jnstice nv
anti slavery champions. With the
beginning Of the CIVIL Wac the cour,
passed under Rcpubli nm control. md
new era OF decisions on mn entirely
different set ~ questions began. The
court has CoDstr urd the war amend.
moDis to the Constitution and has de.
claroG that the right Of seceRsion does
not cxist. In several ino'ancos. how.
over, It hRs upheld the rights OF The
etatCg. Rs IA tho Now Orleans elnugh-
tcrliouse cases and tho Civil Rights
act. In 1868, and again IN 1880, tho
court decided TINT nm income tax
could bo levied constitu,ionnIly on the
bamc essential lincs no was provided
10y Congress in tho Wilson tarilr act
OF 1894. In 1905, however, the court
pronounced the Wilson income tax
law unconstitutional. Baltimore Sun.