The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-07
JUDGE EVANS'S DECISION
 IN TELEGRAPHERS' CASE

! through Chief Justice Marshall the court | adds
 powers of the government are limited. and | that it's limits not to be transcended.
 But we think the sound construction of the l constitution must allow to the national | legislature that discretion with respect to
 the means by which the powers 1t confers
 are to be carried into execution which wall 1 enable that body to perform the high du- ties assigned to 1t. in the manner most ben
 sfGial to m the b Let the end o be
 constitution. and all means which are ap-
 pripriate which are plainly adapted to
 that erd which S is,s.r are not but ! constitution are constitutional"
 1 In respect to the legislation now In uues-
 tion emphasis may profitably be laid upon
 the elements of the rule recurring that leg
 islation shall be within the scope of the
 constitution" that it shall be plainly
 Certain other elementary and well under
 stood propositions may also be noted at this Unless Congressional legislation be
 supported by constitutional authority it cannot be supported at all. The rule in this 1 respect is different from the rue applica- ble to State legislation. which Is usually valid unless expressly forbidden. In oth-
 CT words. congressional legislation must I have warrant in the language of the con ! stitution while state legislation may be ] g. Every Congressional enactment is pre- l sumed to be a constitutional exercise of
 power until the contrary is clearly estab- | iished and proper respect for coordinate branch of the government requires the
 United States to give effect to this pre-
 sumption. unless the lack of constitutional
 authority to pass an Act in question is clearly demonstrated. United States vs.
 Harris. 1o6 U. s. s35; Trade Mark Cases. 3. But If the unconstitutionality of an act | is demonstrated. the courts of the United of them. and especially the former. have not hesitated so to decide. The well estab- lished rule for our guidance in such cases is stated by Chief Justice Fuller in Pollock vs. , Farmers Loan and Trust Company. 157 U. s. at page 554. follows:
 Necessarily the power to declare a law unconstitutional is always exercised with
 reluctance: but the duty to do so. in a proper case. cannot be decined, and must ! liberate judgment of the tribunal in which the validity of the enactment is directly drawn in question"
 have been held to be void. Several in stances might be referred to. but we will i note only a few of them. such as Hepburn vs Griswoid. Wallace 610. which nullified the legal tender legislation: the Trade Mark Cases. 100 U s. S2 which overthrow the Civil Rights cases. I09 IT. S. 3. Which de clared the legislation of Congress design Id to protect Civil Rights under the Four r teenth Amendment t" be invalid: the ease of Pollock Farmers Loan Trust Company. I57 L. & 42s. which disposed. in the same way. of the legislation importing income tax. and the of James vs. Bowman. 19o Y. $. l27, which held that the legislation designed to protect the right of suffrage under the 18th Amendment. which expressly gave Congress the power to en- force the amendment by appropriat" iegs- lation was unconstitutional.
 We can hardly fail to observe that the legislation in each of the cases just named of much greater moment than that embraced in section 10 of the Act of June 1. 1898. although that fact of itself might not he particularly important in It's effect upon judicial action
 While the tide of advancing events has wisely and inevitably forced upon the courts the necessity of giving broad and apparent lY ever expanding latitude to the commerce clause of the constitution. still 1t may be that there should be limit to its elastic ity. and possibly 1t might not be an alto gether unmixed evil for some of the people now. as was the habit to call for a strict construction of that instrument. If such call served other purpose it might be useful as the occasional hoistng of a cautionary signal. As our government was organized and has greatly pro spered under system of checks and balances" poss, bly, 1t might stnl be well. once in a while to