The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-08-22

OF lawyers that every county attorney
mas the same authority. as full, ade-
quate and complete, to invoke the
states prerogative writs that is vested
IN the attorney general. Within his
jurisdiction the county attorney is the
state's attorney, its law officer, and
| Wherever the state is interested he
needs neither permission nor consent
OF any Interior authority to prosecute
or detend: There is no Interior au-
thority. True. the attorney general
may also institute or defend such a
suit, and in certain cases. he must do
so. Don't worry about lack of au-
| thority. 1t is limitless. Aside from
the decisions which are numerous. I
| happen to know the personal opinion of
| at least one member of the supreme
court-the Sage of Ottawa-that the
attorney general has all the powers of
such officer at common law, and that
| means that the county attorneys of
Kansas have like authority within
their counties. The county attorney
Is the principal law officer of his court
and as courts have reserved with jeal-
Gus care their own common law pow
ers, they will no more limit their law
officers powers than they will that of
| their bailin or special marshal.
Hits All Corporations.
THE more secretive and insidious
encroachments upon the states sover-
eigntv. such as corporate usurpations,
com binations in restraint of trade. and
laws which reflect what Mr. Jerome
characterizes as merely the moral
yearnings of the rural communities
have received practically no attention
at all. do not refer to the railroads
and Standard Oil. for the states law
officers, lawmakers. and the sovereign
citizenship have now for soma time
been looking in their direction. and
developing solution of those particu-
lar matters is likely to tranSDire; but
to the ten thousand other corporations,
combinations and conditions which
live. act and exist without the law, in
defiance of it. and are conducted as
if the law of the land were a mean
and presUmptuouS thing, only to be
tolerated for the occasional prosecu-
ton of a forger, a burglar or a horse
thief-these are the matters which
need our concern.
81 protest against this perennial
spawning of corporations from the
loins of the state. this raiding and
marrying and uSurping of the states
franchises and privileges with not so
much as by your leave to the COM
monwealth. Aside from banks, rail-
roads, insurance. and loan and trust
companies, which are more or less sue
cessfullv supervised by public officers,
what visitation of corporations is exer-
cised by any public agency. The state
charter board issues to any f1ve men
who apply and who pay in some
nominal fees hundreds of charters
every year. granting the states fran
chises, liberties and privileges; ana
turns loose these soulless. fictitious |
people without any supervision or
visitation by any public officer or
agency
The InOuisitorial Writs.
Speaking of the inquisitorial law en-
acted at the last session of the legls- |
lature, Mr.. Dawson said:
1.-The last of the states prerogative |
writs which I will mention is the in
quisit orial subpoena issuable abso-
Iutely at the demand of the states at |
nd wi SI1T1l before the |
Judge of any court of general juris- |
diction whoever the prosecuting attor-
ney has reason to believe has knowl-
edge of the violation of the antitrust
laws of the state 1t runs throughout
the state and the humblest county at
tOrney of the rsmoIest county of the
state may compel the biggest trust
magnate in the commonwealth to APP
pear and produce any books or papers
which do or may contain evidence Of
the Vaccinations of trusts or combines
in his jurisdiction. This inquisitorfal
subpoena is distinctly a modern inven-
ton, although it's prototype is readily
recognized in the writS of star cham
Der and in the grand jury systems of
the older states. In its use and the
Investigations held under it, the trusts
may have their attorneys present at |
the inquistion before the Judge; but
tho examination is purely ex parte,
and to use cOlloquial figure of
speech, such attorneys have no chips
ministerial officers, the states attor-
ney and the fellow on the witness
stand are the whole show.
Gave an Immunity Bath.
Just a word of caution about the
fellow on the witness stand. however.
When you examine him, he is immune
I regret to say that 1 have had an
unfortunate experience of this sort. I
have had one pernicious trust promo
ter, one of their most persistent hire
1iDDd tho witness
gave him immunity; when, later. other
eral character developed which would
have been sufficient to send him to
Jail for forty years. But one male
factor in Jail more or less is not ST.
important as the development of evil
dence sufficient to tie up one trust
with a perpetual injunction.
Another important feature of the
use of this prerogative of the state
is that the investigation itself is often
likely to break up the trust. The mere
fact that it is under official examina-
ton, and the consequent notoriety anc
exposiure-even if not sufficient to
warrant a prosecution-has a demor-
alizing effect upon the combine. The
county attorney OF one county a year
or two ago issued inQuiSitorial SUBJ
pOenas to investigate a milIers' COM
bine of more or less gravity, and the
upshot of the matter was a hasty
dissipation of the combination. I
would strongly urge the use of this
state prerOgative in dealing with local
trusts in the different counties of the
state