The sun., 1902-10-06

coal ownership plank inserted IN me
Democratic State platform is clearly
unconstitutional. ms being in violation
Of the safeguards # the Federal
Constitution.
The pl ink declares
We adup,h'r tr, ul,.on1. w., ship amt op,r
alton o' 90, anthracite coat rinr> b, tn" exercise
OF the r.yHi %, ruIncl, domain WITH Just comp'n
sa'lon 20 oN1c-. Nu.tE prr cent. of the anrhra
cite cpaI Id.pY.'.o' 'r. world being m the state
o' rcnn,l lya.r u1l.pnll oVur. strip can het be- In
the Interest, o' ~" ntn'r people
Now. whlr II j, true that in every
nation or NtuH the ownership Of the IN
dividu9l = sub!cc' 10 the control Of the
sovereignty. exercised in one of three
forms, the power Of taxation, the police
power and he right oi eminent domain.
yet under our theory Of government
neither ia" nation nor any state. or
component part of the federation can
exercise any on" of those powers in
Cont"Hy"urI1n to the express limitations
imposed by tine written instrument called
a Constitution. upon which the whole
organism l. based
The right Of "m,uou' domain has been
wei defined by The Supreme Court of the
United States ~ a right belonging to
sovereignty 10 take private property
for LIS own public uses and not for those
of another" Beyond that, there exists
no necessity, which alone is the founda-
tion Of H." right
Here II Is proposed thai he coal lands
OF Pennsylvania, now under control of
the sovereign people Of that State, shall
be taken from that State and its people
and appropriated To Federal uses, 1t
is the first time in "A Democratic con
rentlon that proposition so distinctly
violative Of States rights has been
adopted or has even found support
in this country there are two con.
current rights Of eminent domain, that Of
the state Ia take private property for
public use. and that Of the National Gov
ernment 10 acquire lands within state
or Territory for purely Fedora purposes.
Even the State Of Pennsylvania could
not destroy the individual ownership in
the coal mines for the purpose Of Opcr-
ating such mines, and marketing the
output. Why? Because the sale of a
commodity or dealing in fuel or any
other necessary of life is in no sense a
public use. That the public has an in
terest in the supply Of fuel and that 1t II
for the common welfare thai there should
be an abundance of cheap coal do not
make the product or sale thereof pub
lie use, because the expressions public
interest and public use are not
synonymous
As our Court of Appeals in we'll
known case said:
The establishment o' furnaces. mill, and manu-
faclureS the building u churches and hotels and
other similar enterprises are more or less matter,
Of public concern. and promote in a general sense
the public welfare. Hut they ue without the do
main Of public uses for which private ownership
ms, be displaced by comTul'ory proceeding"
or the State of PENNSYLVANIA shall at
tempt to take the lands of individuals
for other than a public Use, the taking
will be declared unconstitutional bv
the Supreme Court of the United States
because it will be in violation Of the
Fourteenth Amendment, which provides
that no State shall deprive any person
OF life, liberty or property without due
process of law. As Mr. Justice PECKHAM
said; The citizen Is deprived of his
property without due process of law. if
il be taken by or under State authority
for any other than public use, either
under the guise of taxation or by the as.
sumption Of the right of eminent domain.
In that way the question whether private
property has been taken for any other
than a public use becomes material in
this court, even where the taking is
under the authority of the State instead
of the Federal Government
We thus see that even State soy
ereigntv could not take coal lands or
any other land within its own borders,
whether its own Constitution permitted
u VI W. uoH' vi npl, IoI uSeS Hol IluDllt,
without violating the Fourteenth Amend
mcnt Of the Federal Constitution. And
vet even more difficult is the proposition
to have national ownership Of the coal
fields, because the Fifth Amendment
of the Federal Constitution provides that
private property shall not be taken
for public Use without just compensa-
tion, which is distinct and specific
prohibition against taking private prop
erty for any other than public use, and
which as has many times been decided.
applies directly to the Federal Gov
ernment. This Fifth Amendment oper-
ates exclusively in restriction of Federal
power, and, while il remains in force no
private land can be taken bv the nation
for any other purposes than those which
are strictly Federal in their nature.
The Government of the United States
has an eminent domain in all matter,
within the scope of its sovereignty,
and in order that it may fully carry out
the object and purposes of the Constitu-
ton, but no further The purpose for
which the land is acquired must be ncces-
sary To the execution of the powers be-
longing To the General Government, and
its necessity is the test of the validity