The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-01-10
COOLING AND THE PRESIDENT.


GooOING AND THE PRESIDENT.
IL there had ever been any doubt as
TO the righteousness of Idaho's action
in the Moyer-Haywood cases. it would
be settled forever by Governor Good
mg's inaugural address. or that portion
of it referring to these cases. To be
sure the courts had already sustained
the contention that the method of ar
rest and secret transfer of the prison.
ers from one state to another was per-
fectiy legal; but there might still have
been some doubt as to whether the su-
preme court of the United States was
right i'm its ruling if Cooling had not
furnished the final word.
Commenting on the cases. the COVER
nor says:
The proceedings had. together with
all matters OF interest in the case, were
the subject of strict inquiry by the
president of the United States. Hon.
Theodore Roosevelt, who. acting
through his personal representative.
the first assistant attorney general of
the United States, visited Idaho and
made a careful and painstaking inves-
tigation Of the whole matter. He re-
ported to the president, and Mr.. Roose-
welt has since that time by word and
action expressed himself as heartily
i'm accord with the state in prosecut-
ing this case"
Some governors might think it an
impotence, even in the president of the
United States, to undertake an inves-
tigation as TO the legality and regular
ity of an act initiated and executed by
a sovereign state. To the captious law
yer, familiar with the proceedings. it
would seem to be none of the presi-
dents business what a governor might
do in criminal case, particularly as
the question of law was in under con-
sideration by the courts having juris-
diction. Purely as a matter Of law. the
president had as much right to institute
a strict inquiry" I'm this case as he
would have to make "strict inquiry
in a mining case between two western
companies or a police court case in
Boise. or any other case in which
neither he nor his office had any oficial
concern.
Yet, with swelling chest and pleased
air. Gooding pats himself and AYERS
that he is all right, Idaho is all right
everybody is all right because-weII,
because Roosevelt has looked into it
and says it is all right. If Idaho's
governor had had any real regard for
his Office or for the dignity of his state
he would have advised the president
that Idaho could take care of it's own
affairs and administer its own laws
without any inquiry" from anybody
who had no authority in the matter.
II was foregone conclusion the pres
republican state administration, but,
suppose ne had decided that Idaho was
wrong, that it had done an injustice to
Meyer and Haywood, what would
Gooding have done? Would he have
abandoned the prosecution and return
ed the prisoners to Colorado where they
were when the crime was committed
for which they were arrested? Would
he have repudiated his own action and
discredited the prosecuting officers?
Wouldn't he have told the president to
mind his own business and let the law
take it's course without interference?
OF course there is only one answer
to the suppositious question: the ap-
proval or condemnation of Roosevelt
had no more bearing on the merits of
the Meyer case than it has on any other
judicial question The presidents Of
flee is executive, it has no proper re-
lation TO the courts or the decisions
of courts; constitutionally the chief
executive of the nation is prohibited
from attempting to interfere directly
or indirectly with the course of justice
in any court i'm the land; and II Good
ing had any gumption he would prefer
to pass by in silence the presidents ''in-
quiry'' as a piece of meddlesome fool
ishaess.
Governor Buchtel of Colorado, having