Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1904-09-30

derstand when we read Parker's speech
how he could have made such an awful
blunder as to have declared that the COM
mon law would be found sufficient TO deal
with all the trust questions which come
mp. Parker must have known but he
probably forgot, that. from the very ma
tire of things. yen can't apply the COM
mon law in national court. Our federal
courts derive all their power from the
Constitution OF the United States Con-
gress can only iegislate under the Consti-
tuition, and, while we apply general prin-
ciples in interpreting the law, 1t is i'm
possible to secure any affirmative action
in the United States court, except as the
result Of a statute law duly passed BY
Congress and approved by the President
of the United States. A man like Olney,
who has been interested in public af
fairs at Washington, would never have
made the blunder Parker made. He
seemed to have written his speech of ac-
ceptance as II he were dealing entirely
in abstract questions which had been pre-
sented for settlement by his own court.
His exposition of the general principles
of the Constitution was not bad from a
legal standpoint but when he came to
deal with the question of trusts he seem
ed to have forgotten that he was respond
ing to nomination from a national con-
vention, which had selected him to act as
President of the United States, in which
capacity he would have to execute Unit
ed States laws only, and would have alb
solutely nothing to do with the common
law. This allusion of Parker to the
common law, as a means of attacking
the trusts, has been source of surprise
and amazement to the profession all over
the country. Judge Parker's decisions in
New York State have always taken high
rank. and it was this which made the
amazement all the greater. We could
not understand how it could possibly be
that any good lawyer could have made
such a blunder, and we have been forced
to the conclusion that Judge Parker abb
solutely forgot that he was writing on
a national topic. This is only an in
stance going to show the unwisdom of
taking man off the bench for political
position. especially such a position as
that of President of the United States.
Experience Necessary.
ITO administer the affairs of the gov
eminent successfully, experience is just
as necessary as it is to run hotel or
railroad A lawyer in active practice is
necessarily thrown in to a large extent
with the ordinary business affairs of the
country, but with judge on the bench
it is 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 court of
last resort should be as far removed
from the influences of daily life as possi-
BILE. The ideal judge is a legal machine.
settling abstract principles of law, where
as 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 as the personal rep
resentative of the people who make the
laws. 1t is not his business to interpret,
but to do, and the things which make a
man good judge make him a bad Presi-
dent. and vice versa. Parker would new
err have made that awful blunder il 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 on this
subject. / don't wonder that Roose
welt picked him up on this, and in my
opinion. the Presidents paragraph about
the common law as applied to the federal
control of trusts is most luminous ex-
position Of the powers and the limitations
of the federal government. But it's GER
tainly Knockout blow for Parker"
The Tariff Issue.
II was glad to see," said a successful
looking man, who explained later on that
he was manufacturer in northern Yer
mont. Il was glad to see that the Presi-
dent made such a point of the tariff
issue. We had 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,
ii shut up 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. 1t was a time Of
panic, as you know, thousands of labor
ing men were glad to work for any
wages. and yet. at 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 l 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. / got
it in the neck ten years ago. and got it
good and hard. IL there weren't any
other issue between the two parties. l
would vote for Roosevelt. because he and
the Republicans generally stand for the
protection of American manufactures
against the competition of the cheap la
Dor, not only of Canada, but OF the
world at large. We all believe In reci-
procity which is reciprocal, and not in
free trade under the guise OF reciprocity.
Roosevelt's story OF the disastrous effects
OF the Wilson tariff of 1894 is not over
drawn in the slightest particular, and /
am glad to see that he has kept the
tariff issue to the front, because in all
this talk OF Imperialism and extrava-
gance and the trusts. and one thing and