The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-02-19
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| the law and the Constitution. then indeed
| is this government, with it's hoasted in
| stitutions and three coordinate indepen-
dent branches come to naught
1T is poor player that struts and
| frets his hour upon the stage and then
| is seen no more.
| 1t is a tale by an idiot, full of sound
and fury signfying nothing
! And tomorrow, and tomorrow and to-
morrow creeps in its petty pace from
| day to day till the last syllable of re-
corded time and all our yesterdays have
| lighted fools the way to dusty DEATH
I'VE are here to protect our Constitu-
ton That is our first and highest duty.
! There is no politics in this proceeding.
We have not allowed politics to be
| dragged into it. The official heads of
the Republican parry have denounced this
| proceeding as wicked, and declared that
| it was instituted for the purpose OF pack
| ing the Supreme court to consumate a
scheme of disfranchisement. In the name
| of every honest man in this Legislature,
| in the name of our great constituency.
| | denounce that as a vile slander (Ap-
| plause.) If the Supreme court, as Pritch-
| ard and Pearson and Linney have inti-
| mated intend to declare our amendment
! unconstitutional that this court has been
| packed for that purpose, ii ought TO be
| unpacked. (Applaee) We adopted that
great measure. After thirty years of
| struggle we came up to it through trib-
ulation and tears and heroism The peo-
! pie of this State ordained as amid fire
| aud trumpet voices that it ~h""id ho
! law unto us and to our children, that
| ii should bring peace and good goyein-
ment and a feeling of security; and
o vh Pritpb9 ri and Pearson naf
| down before this House as guage of bat
| tie we pick il up, we will defend it, we
Will maintain ii at all hazards. We will
! strip from the shoulders of unworthy
! judges the ermine that was worn by
| CASTOR. and Battle, and Merrimon, and
! Smith and Ruffn, the great judges and
| chancellors whose learnings and virtues
| have adorned the juridical history of the
| English speaking people. Loud applause.D
| We may build monuments to the
| great men of the past; we can best
honor our fathers by preserving the in
! stitutions which they have left us In
stern condemnation of this crime against
! our law. in dutiful respect of our fathers
| whose traditions have been ignobly
| thwarted, in the name of the Constitution
| which has been outraged-of the laws
trampled down--of peace destroyed. of the
| WI u tht lCbpiC CIHouFu " ediAI, anu
in the name Of the Heavenly Father.
whose service is perfect Justice l de-
! mend that David NJ Furches Chief Jus
! tice of North Carolina, and Robert NJ
! Douglas, Associate Justice of the SUI
| preme Court Of North Carolina, be inn
| peached of high crime and misdemeanors
| in Office. loud and prolonged applause).
MR.. EBBs' SPEECH.
| Upon the Chairs announcement.
| promptly at 10 O'clock, that the question
On the impeachment resolution was be-
before the House, MIR. I. N. Etbs, of Madi-
| son, who submitted the minority -nBart
of the Judiciary Committee, and who is
regarded as the leader of the Republicans
| in the House, arose to speak in behalf of
the accused judges. He commenced by
referring to the great importance and
seriousness of the question before the
House. Il have been taught" he said
from my earliest childhood to have the
most profound respect for the courts of
my country. and l have never forgotten
the impression made upon me as boy
when l attended the courts with my
father,
We are confronted today with a Ques-
ton that / think is unprecedented in the
hlstory of legislation, not only in this
State, but in any State of the Union.
There is before us the proposition that
the Legislative department can infringe
at will upon the judicial. 1t is the funda-
mental idea of our government that the
legislative, executive and Supreme Judi
cial powers of the government ought II
be forever separate and distinct from
each other
'"Thfc claarI, ebou+e 4t,o4 A.
department of the government is not sub
ject to arbitrary instructions of the legis-
latiye department. and it seems that "a
legislative body of average intelligence.
and think this to be body of that kind.
should know that the court, of it did not
resent, would at least ignore an effort
on the part of the Legislature to in
street the court as to how it should con-
strue a statute.
In this country, where the legislative
and judicial apartments are entirely dis
tinct, neither one is even permitted to
intrench upon the authority and domain
OF the other. The court never looks at
the declarations that Legislature makes
but 1t looks at the substanAS of what il
does' ana renders its judgment according
~. The Supreme court of North Carolina
in the case of Robinson VS.. Barfield, (2nd
Murphy ignored such declaration on
the part of the Legislature and In the de-
clslon said that the court would allow
such declarations attempting to instruct
the Judiciary to remain as dead
letter on statute books. Further on
in the opinion, Judge Daniels. one of the
ablest judges of the State said: The
court can neither nibble at the Legisla-
tive power nor can the Legislature stride
over the judicial. In the case of the
United States vs. Clahin (97 U. s. Re-
ports) the court says; "A recital is a
statute that a former statute was re-
pealed or superseded by subsequent acts
is not conclusive as to such repeal or
supersedure. Whether statute was re-
pealed is a judicial. not a legislative
question:
II do not think there is a single men,
ber on this floor who will say that the
act of the Legislature of 1899 was for any
other purpose than to get out of office
this man White. That being the case, /
say the Legislature did undertake tOs
stride overland exercise judicial power. IL
mn DO Jo IA mn