Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-04-08

henWOrthy, ". the Irl-CItY Halfway
company. commonly called the quo
warranto" case. and also newspaper
articles i'm the same vein, all more Oh
less cOndemnatOry Of my action "a
states attorney in fling the informa-
tion in that ease, there seems to he q
misapprchension both of the nature
of that suit and my relation to IT
Every one of those resolutions has
been passed without notice TO me or
giving me Il chance to be heard. To
my mind they all appear to be in
SpiTcd from Il common source. name
j.. the Tri-City Railway company.
A. general rule, either praise or
blame from persons who do not know
the facts and who do not take the
trouble to find them out, il of little
consequence and best passed over in
silence. But these people assume to
speak in a representative capacity.
They attempt to voice the views of
Others and to give what they say
weight for that reason. / think there
fore that justice to all concerned de-
IHanis that statement of my posi-
tiCn in the matter be made.
I. The statute in relation to quo
warrantO provides The attorney gen
eral or states attorney of the proper
county. either Of his own accord or at
the instance of amy individual rclator.
may present a petition to any court
of record of competent jurisdiction.
or any Judge thereof i'm vacation, for
leave to file an information in the ma
ture of quo warranto in the name
Of the people Of the state of Illinois;
and if such court or Judge shall be
satisfied that there il pruba BILE
ground for the proceeding. the court
or judge may grant the petition and
order the information To be filed and
process to issue"
The language of the statute * that
the states attorney may file the petit
tion and the judge or court may
grant il. These words seem to imply
a discretionary power both on the
part Of the judge ana the states at
torney; but it is legal discretion
and one to bc very carefully exercised.
And there * this difference. If the
judge permits AN Information TO be
filed which ought not to he. his orders
can he appealed from and are subject
To review by higher court. lf the
states attorney were to refuse To act
he would exercise 4 power wholly ar
bitrary from which there would be no
appeal. except possibly. by mandamus
10 compel him to act. or 10y the inter
Ncutinn If the attorney general. For
this reason il has never seemed to me
that states attorney ought to under
take To 1t a. Il court ON the public
policy of the filing of such a suit
able citizen DESTROYS of acting as a
rclatur. in a case which. on the AFT
daVit of such citizen. il ON its face a
good case from a legal standpoint. If
the situation i such a. to Justify the
court i'm permitting the case to he
filed. IL j. such as iustifies the states
attorney in filing it. y states attOr-
ney who undertook To say that he
would file petitions against individu-
ais who conduct saloons without Il
license or act a. Justice of the peace
without being duly elected. but would
not file similar petitions against
wealthy corporations for exercising
rights which citizens are willing To
swear such corporations are not en-
titled to would soon find his position
untcnahIc. | have never taken such n
position. ana if any states attorney
of this county ever refused the use of
the peoples name for a quo warranto
prucccdiu" il has never come To my
knowledge
And Yet people without any appar-
ent knowledge of the law or of the
u>agrs of the courts assume To de-
nuuucc the present states attorney
in t,I- ha
only position reasonable for him to
take. and following the only course
(as I bclieyc) that ever has been fol-
lowed in eases of this character. and
that. too. in ease where an cNcep-
tionally able judge has found that
there exists probable ground" and
ordered the Information filed. The
only charitable view of the individu-
ais who have rushed into print with
'rc>olutions" i that they have acted
hastily and without proper considera-
ton. They surely do not wish il to APP
pear that they undertake to super
wise not only the states attorney, hut
also the court itself.
=. But il j. urged that whatever
the situation may be from a strictly
legal and technical viewpoint the net
result To the community will I've bad
Ia have such suit begun and prose
cuted.
IL i a singular position for great
million and half dollar corporation
tn take that il cannot I've tried fairly
in the courts. They are not corrupt
,sor unfair. Ii has prayed and obtain
ed change Of venue from the only
circuit Judge resident of this county.
ON the ground that he is prejuiiced
against IL. But il seems to prefer to-
try its case before the Tri-City Labor
Congress. the Retail Merchants as
sociation and the village council OF
Sears rather than before any judge.
whatever / submit that If the posi-
ton of the company is right suit viii