Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1907-10-02

postponement OF the remedy is unfair
to the people. The suggestion that
the tariff should be revised by its
friends is In line with the request OF
the highwayman that he be tried by
= jury of his peers which he insisted
meant a jury composed Of men Of his
own calling. If this oppressive sys-
TEN that taxes the people without
their consent and usually without their
knowledge, is ever to be remedied it
must be done. not by those who think
it is right, but by those who know it
is wrong and who hate monopoly"
Governor Folk discussed the i'm
proper influences which have grown
out of the tariff regulations and the
evils that have followed and then
turned to the discussion of the rights
of the states in all matters not dele
gated to the federal government. THE
federal government" he said, de
rives its authority wholly from the
people of the states, and beyond this
express grant of authority and that
necessarily implied from it it cannot
justly go. The states are limited only
by their constitutions and by the pow
err conferred on the federal govern
ment. Many instances have arisen OF
late where the authority of the states
to make and enforce just and reason
able laws has been limited or taken
away. The rule has been that the pre-
sumption is in favor of the sovereign.
Laws have always been presumed to
be good until found to be bad Under
the new doctrine state statutes are
suspended upon the mere application
of a railroad or some other interest.
The effect of this practice is to place
in the hands of special interests
power to veto any state legislation
they do not like. The presumption is
now reversed; instead of laws being
presumed to be valid until found to be
invalid, under this practice they are
virtually held bad until determined
good. Any court has the right to de-
clare a statute of a state unconstitu-
tional, and it's ruling should be re-
spected. But no court should have
the right to suspend the operation of
that statutes of a sovereign state that
cannot be declared invalid. A state
should have right to enforce its
laws until those laws are declared by
a court of competent jurisdiction to
be contrary to some provision of the
national or state constitutions. This
practice If suspending state statutes
upon exparte application has been de-
Tended by high authority on the
ground that if the laws are eventually
found to be invalid. On the other
hand if after weary years of litiga-
tion during which statute OF state
is rendered imperative by injunction
1t is determined that the statute is
valid, who will make the loss good to
the people of the state? The question
is simply one as to which has the su-
perior right-a sovereign state or spe-
cial interests. The presumption
should be in favor of the people Of
the state unless all the rules of iuris-
prudence are to be abandoned"
In conclusion Governor Folk gave a
wJrd of encouragement to the demo
cratic party. He said:
I'm the dawn of this era when the
moral law is becoming the standard
of governmental action, the democrat
ic party is seeing the triumph of the
60 in,, Inn
commended In this epoch so important
to the liberties of the American peo-
pie the democratic party should be
neither radical nor conservative. II
to be conservative means to stand
still, then the democrtic party should
not be conservative States and ma
lions like men should never be salts
fled but ever strive for higher devel-
opment If to be radical means the
indiscriminate destruction of the
things that are, then the party should
not be radical 1t should 1e conserv-
alive in charging wrong 1oing lest by
charging where it does not exist injus-
tice be done But once sure o. the
evil it should be radical in its exter-
limitations. The democratic party
should go before the people Of the
country asking for support, not mere
ly on the ground Of partisansfip, but
on the ground of patriotism for it
represents the rights of all as against
the privileges OF the few. Clothed in
the srmor of a right opinion the
den, ocratic party if true to its ideals
should triumph, for its principles are
enduring because they are just; irwin
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