The Red Cloud chief., 1904-09-30

how he could have made such an awful
blunder as /, have declared that the com
mon law would he found sufficient to deal
with all the trust questions which come
up. Parker must have known, but he
probably forgot. that, from the very ma
ture of things. you cant apply the com
mon law in u national court. Our federal
courts derive all their power from the
Constitution of the United States. Con.
greSS can only lcgislatc under the Consti-
tdtion. and. while we apply general prin-
ciplcS in interpreting the law. 1t is i'm.
possible to- secure any Affirmative action
in the United States court. except rs the
result of a statute law duly passed 10y
Congress and approved by the President
of Tia" United States. A man like OlncN,
who hiN been Interested in public at
fairs at Washington. would never have
made the hluudrr Parker made. He
seemed I" have written hS speech of ac-
ccptlnrr As il he were dealing entirely
in abstract questions which had been pre-
srntch for settlement by his W court.
His exposition of the general principles
OF the Constitution was not bad from a
legal standpoint. hut when he came to
deal with the question of trusts he seem
rl to have forgotten that ne was respond
ing 10 "a nomination from Il national CON
v%cntion. which had selected him to act rs
President of the United States. in which
capacity he would have 10 execute Unit.
cd States laws only. and would have alb
solutcly nothing 10 do with the common
law. This ~alluSion of Parker to the
common law. rs n means of attacking
the trusts, has been Il source of surprise
and ainazcmcnt to the profession all over
tn" country. Judge parkcr'S decisions in
New York State have always taken high
rank, and it was this which pladc the
amlHcmcnt all the greater. We could
not understand how it could possibly be
that any good lawyer could have made
such Il blnndcr. and we have been forced
To- the conclusion that Judge Parker alb.
s~olutely forgot that he was writing on
Il national topic. This il only an in
stance going to show the unwisdom OF
taking a man of the bench FOR n political
position. especially such n position as
that Of President of the United States.
Experience Necessary.
"ro administer the affairs of the gov
m successfully, experience is just
~ necessary as it is to run n hotel or a
railroad. \ lawyer in active practice is
necessarily thrown in To a large extent
with the ordinary business affairs of the
country. but with IA judge on the bench
il il entirely different. He deals with
matters of abstract right and wrong.
and all his training goes to remove him
from business problems. In point OF
fact. the successful judge in Il court of
last resort should be as far removed
from the influences of daily life as posi-
bic. The ideal judge is n legal machine.
settling abstract principles of law. where
IA the ideal President Is exactly the oppo-
site. He executes the laws as he finds
them, suggests new ones to meet new
conditions. and acts rs tho personal rep
resentative OF the people who make the
laws. IL is not his business to interpret.
but to do. and the things which make n
man Il good judge make him a bad Presi-
dent, AMI vice versa: Parker would new
or have made that awful blunder II he
had had any recent experience in Con-
gress or in an executive position at
| Washington. where he would have been
in touch with current opinion OH this
subject. | don't Wonder that RoOsc-
welt picked him mp on this, and. in my
opinion. the Presidents paragraph about
| the common law as applied to the federal
| 'tllNlbl VI lIu-lS ~ ~ HnbSl lliIlIlbuN VA
position of the powers and the limitations
of the federal government. But its GER
tainly n knockout blow for Parker"
The Tariff Issue.
II was glad to see." said Il successful
looking man. who explained later on that
he was u manufacturer in northern Yer
mont, Il was glad 10 see that the Presi-
dent made such a point of the tariff
issue. We had Il dose OF Democratic free
trade theories up our way about ten
years ago, which we will never forget.
We are so near the Canadian border
that we get the worst Of every reduction
in the tariff rates. We have to enter
into competition with the cheap labor
OF Canada. When the Wilson tariff bill
went into operation. just ten years ago,
IL shut mp my factory inside of six
months. and | tell you. gentlemen.
didn't open again until after Mckinley
was elected and the Dingley tariff law
went into operation. IL was a time of
panic. rs you know. thousands of labor
ing men were glad to work for any
wages. and yet, ut the same time, | could
not run my factory and compete with the
Canadians. who flooded our part of the
country with goods made by the cheapest
labor. such as | could not secure even
in those times OF starvation. There are
some places far in the interior where
freight rates protect them from foreign
competition in times Of free trade, but
those of us who are near the border are
the first to feel this competition. l got
it in the neck ten years ago. and got ],
good and hard. Ii there weren't any
other issue between the two parties. |
would vote for Roosevelt. because he and
the Republicans generally stand for the
protection Of American manufacture.
against the competition OF the cheap Ia.
Dor. not only of Canada, but OF the
world at lar<e. We all believe in reel
procity which is reciprocal. and not in
free trade under the guise of reciprocity
RoOsevelt's story OF the disastrous effect.
Of the Wilson tariff OF 1894 il not over
drawn in the slightest particular. and
am glad H. see that he has kept tn,
tariff issue to the front. because in al
this tllk Of Imperialism and extrava
gancc and the trusts. and one thing and