The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1902-01-16
A MELANGE OF
LIVE TOPICS
Penned for Journal Readers
by a Local Scribe,
THE SUPREME COURT.

ing nowadays some very unsound
opinions, and many other persons
and newspapers in the state are
beginning to take the same view
Thus the Albany Herald in refer
ring to the decision of that tri-
bunal in the recent case invented
to test the question as to whether
the interest on the public debt is
such part of this debt as would
authorize the treasurer to pay the
same from the public property
fund, says:
"But on this question amanda
mus case filed by the state school
commissioner to compel the treas
urer to loan the state, from the
public property fund, enough
money to pay the teachers) the
supreme court sustained the treas
urer on the question of constitu-
tional law raised by him. Now,
however, the supreme court, with
out seemingly reversing. itself,
sanctions the use of the public
property fund for the Identical
purpose for which the governor at
tempted to use it last fall. The
Howell resolution turned the case
around and presented it in q new
light or a different shape, and the
supreme court has given its APP
proval. "
In regard to the mandamus case
filed Ill the interest of the teach
ers, the court took the ground that
it was the intention of the consti-
tutlonaI convention to hold the
public property fund intact, not
even allowing it to be temporarily
borrowed for other purposes by
the state, till the bonded debt Of
the state should become due.
They based this opinion upon the
| addresses Of one or two members
of the convention who held this
view. The worthlessness of these
views OF individual members of
the convention as an index of the
will OF the whole body is evident
when we remember that it is hard
ly possible, in large general
meeting of any kind, not to find
persons with divergent opinions
relating to the same subject mat
ter, and it is manifestly absurd,
because few speakers upon a GER
tain proposition take certain views
of it, to attribute these views to
the entire body in it's corporate
capacity. A very large majority
of the persons not speaking but
voting for the proposition might
have very different views from
those entertained by the speakers.
Black on "The Interpretation of
Laws" alleges that evidence of
this kind is entitled to very little
weight.
Law is said to be the ambodi-
ment of common sense. The SUI
preme court, in the mandamus.
case, took view of the matter
that is utterly opposed to common
sense and to plain business princi-
pies. 1t was shown during the
Trial of the case, that the deposi-
tories were using the public prop
erty fund, for which they paid the
state two per cent. per annum in
tel9st. In order to pay the teach
ers, it was shown that it was nee
essary to borrow money (perhaps
from these same depositories) for
which the state would be charged
four per cent. The court would
not decide that the act creating
the repositories is unconstitutional
is far as the public property fund
is concerned. Hence we have the
anomaly of the repositories being
able to perform acts which the
state cannot perform, of the
creature being greater than the
creator, or the agent than the
principal. Common business sense
1T would seem should have allowed
the state to use temporarily it's
own money instead of forcing it
to borrow at four per cent inter
est.
The Howell resolution or that
relating to the proposition to pay
the interest on the public debts,
from the public property fund, ig-
nored the fact, as was clearly
shown during the trial, that the
trainers of the constitution, acting
as a body, and as indicated by
their proceedings and the provis-
ions of the constitution, created o
regular system of finance feature
of which is that taxation is to be
the means employed to raise funds
to pay interest on debts of the
state. Because such a require
ment was not inserted in the part
! of tho comet tufio,, rolo +;,,ce - n 81.