Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1906-03-31
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE
, STATE OF NEVADA
In the matter of Alfred Chartz, ESQ.
for Contempt
nEHIcJNN
DECISION

Respondent was commanded ID
show cause WhW he should not be
adjudged guilty of contempt for hav-
ing. as an attorney Of record in the
matter Of the application OF Peter Kair
for Writ of Habeas Corpus fled in
this court a petition for rehearing IL
which he made use of the following
statement:
In my opinion, the decisions favor
ing the power Of the State TO limit the
hours Of labor, on the ground Of the
police power of the State are all
wrong, and written by men who have
never performed manual labor. or by
politicians and for politics. They 10
not know what they wrote about"
Respondent appeared in response to
the citation, filed brief and made an
extended address to the Court in
which he took the position that the
words in question were not contempt
i0uS; disavOWed any intention to COM
nit contempt of court; and. further
that if the language was by the court
deemed TO be Objectionable. he apOll
giled f0l its use and asked that the
sac he sIric...n from the petition
In considering the fOregOins state
ment it is proper to note that in the
briefs filed by Respondent upon the
hearing of the case in the first n
stance. he used language of similar
import which this court did not take
cOgnizance of, attributing its use 10
over ZealOusness upon the part OF
counsel. but which was Of such M
ture that the Attorney General in his
reply brief referred to as insinuat-
ing that the Legislature in enacting
amt this court in sustaining the law
were being ''impelled or controlled by
some mythical political influence II
fear. which exists only in the pyrO-
technic Imagination OF cunsel
Also. the case and its condition at
the time the objectionable Language
was used. should he taken into cOnsd-
Grafton The proceeding, in which
this petition was filed, had been
brought to test the )nstitutionaIity
of a section OF an Act OF the Legisia-
ture limiting labor 10 eight hours per
day in smeiters and other ore reduc-
ton works, except in cases Of eme'-
gency where life or property is n
imminant danger STAT. 1903, p. 80.
This Act had passed the Legislature
almost unanimously and had receiv-
ed the Governors approval. At the
time Of filing the petition, respond nj
was aware that the court h35 Ntn
vIously sustained the validity Of tn :
enactment as limiting the hours If
labor in underground mines. Re
Boyce, Z New. 327. IS P l.. 60 l.. r
a. A. and in mills for the reduction
Of ores, Re kair IS New. 50 P. 46l.
and that similar statutes had been Up
held by the Supreme Court Of Titan
and the Supreme Court Of the Unite
States in the cases OF State V. Holden
a Utah Il and Sc. IS p. 757 and 1105
81 l.. r. A. 102 and 10S: Holden V
Hardy 1863 L. s. 366, is Sup. CT 3S3
Short V. Mining Company. - Utah, -
81 P 720 As L. 7. A. COS. and by the
Supreme Court of the State of Mis-
souri, re Cantwell, l79 Mo. Pas. IS :
w. $50. 1t may not be out of place
here, also to note thai the latter case
las since been affirmed by the :
preme Court Of the United States. anC
more recently the latter tribunal. al
herring to its opinion therein and il
the Utah cases has refused to inter
fere with the decisions Of this CO
in re Kair
1t would seem therefore. a natura
and proper. if not a necessary De
Guc.iOn from the language in question
when taken in connection with the
law Of the cases as cnurciated hy
this and other courts. that counsel
finding that the opinion Of the highes
court in the land was adverse inst ea(
Of favorable 10 ms contentious. in tba
it specifically affirmed the Utah de
CiSicD in Holden vs.. Hardy which
sustained The statute from which ours
= ~
ed were adverse TO tie views he ad
vooated, had resCrted to abuse of the
Justices Of this and other courts. and
to i1nputauons of their motives
The language quoted is tautamC-nt
to the charge reat th,e tI,h}r"1 an
the Supreme Courts of Utah Missouri
and Of the United states and tle JUS
tees thereof who participated in the
opinions UNFOLDING statutes limiting
the hours Of labor in mines smelters
and othc" ore reduction works. were
misguided by ignc. aDce or base poll
cal considerations.
Taking the most charitable view
if counsel became so imbuad and mis-
guided by his own ideas and cOnc'u
sions that he honestly and erOneOusly
conceived that we were controlled by
ignorance or sinister motives instead
Of by law and justice II determining
constitutional or Other questions. and
that these other courts and judges
and the members OF the legislature
and Governor were guilty of the accu
sation he made because they and W.
failed to follow the theories he ad
vocated, and that his opinions ough
to outweigh and turn the scale agains
the decisions of the four courts nam
ed including the highest in the lant
with nineteen justices concurrine
nevertheless it was entirely inapprt
pirate to make the statement in brief
If he really believed or knew o
facts to sustain the charge he mad
he ought to have been aware that tn
purpose of such a document is to eI
tighten the court in regard to tn
controlling facts and the law. an