New-York tribune., 1907-12-25
COURTS PROGRESSIVE.
Justice Woodzcard Shoes HO7C They
Stand for the Peoples Rights.

Review.
heard only recently the assertion that The , courts qG
ress and popular reform; 90 cnoriing nor to De
Lolme the prevalence OF Corruption in the Roman ian
judiciary in the time Of the comm9nweath anu es
from punishment, owing neither TO the luxury
o wfn tb pafuqe of th which was alto
gether without effective checks and balances, & AS
tinued aggressions OF the executive gave
ndependent Judiciary to conserve the constitution
could have prevented their final absorption into the
In the history England it is true it is not
hTs use 70 but hd this Ma Before the judiciary had
tanned separate identity OnIy WIN, MIieat ,,,as vts
executive WAS @ sh3Tn OF It's nybsd by IeSsave
and judicial bounds did English liberty become "a
the crow the there could be no stability And
ascertained. defined and Established by law. the
rights OF the people. as with us, are secure: ;.,
eisn m 'os fhSn9651 sasEs he
which full scope to the judicial system. they
Conduct and impartiaity of deliberation There
fore. cannot but believe that the prevailing mis-
apprehension of their function are due to s lament s
Shall We account for the growing demand that the
courts follow the platform instead of precedent.
nent ne1i 'iih the iocal for the qnivsrsale
of the courts in correcting corporate abuses They
have upheld the freedom OF contract; have recog-
equality, the privileges and the mmunities of the
citizen. and declared the limitations necessary to
have confirmed the rights Of the states and deter
he have a 1h the 'hs state a
Congress in their successive attempts to regulate
BY its decisions in the Trans Missouri Freight
Association a1d The Joint Trails Assocaasen lat cases
Court upheld the Sherman antitrust law, which
oenspracy Ss IN restraint Of trade 70 ali
Of the decisions which declared that the govern
he IL
roads is not necessary here Sufficient 10 say that
Fertiizer Trust the Beef Trust the Federal sa
Company and nd, the Elevator Trust affirmed the
of the Paper Trust and of the Nome Retail Grocers
that the are with the people in their de-
sire to control those gigantic combinations of cap
f IN he twenty 'ge ere have Gr 'e Been p
s nr a and ae hgnFH 1 nS
judiciary has not failed to sustain the government
ers in the West. and it was the supreme court of
the United States that restored the city Of Chi
obfansd 70 the yaius q SOD 10000 ana that save
damages from the elevated railroads.
According 10 a recent writer. only twenty-one
ginning Of the government TO the present year
nave s Deen en- declared uneonsututonaL In three
gress invalid because it interfered with the rights
was declared unconsiuonai because it interferea
with the residuary powers of the states; in eight
judicial power The two others haxs since been
federal
Supreme Court OF the United States declared ios
state laws uneonstitutional and when we compare
found valid. 1t must be admitted that there is little
In the state Of New York; wherein exists prob
ably the most complex civilization In the world
passed by the Legislature one year the Court
OF Appeals between 1897 and 1903, determined sixty
age OF only ten cases a year In twenty-six Of
against. the validity of the legislative enactment
NJ Most St Of rt these Involved the rights
to legislative usurpation
Though the courts ara 50 often criticised for the
approval Of the e1eeptivs for the exercise OF the
function yet interesting TO note that W While tis ths
ths thsn edrs xe Of aTs Ss s our at
alteration to fail for want OF his signature " That
in .essSn es'sS
the Court of Appeals during the period Of our
per uncOnstitutionai is the win Of the people:
power, that out Of the vast number Of statutes
s there ay III or
letter lett the Consttution with infsrentai violao
ssssSa Ess0Ss OF
brook the and pryeps I5a se Of court b
ss aa and that
The Very existence both of the veto and Of the
judicial function presupposes error IN Judgment
bias or Liability 70 mistake the part Of the rep
resentatives Of the people. II, then the use Of
the executive veto has SO often been found ueces-
sary to protect the people from the unwisdom Of
the LEGISLATURE IS not even more Important that
delegate to their represe. tatives the court shan
have power to declare what is and what Is not con-
does not necessarily imply that It is the viii OF the
people as that VIII Is expressed by the Constit,I-
tion and whether the legislative power has been
exercised within tho limits which the people In tfer
question for the courts. "
The courts have never sought to embarrass the
the contrary their decisions bear witness that they
have uniformly defended the ri7hts of the indiviG
ual and the rights of property. that they aave
systematically developed limitations upon the
judiciary, and that they have tended to give the
largest lass scope possible within the bounds pre-
department. This Is evidsnced by the rule that
II there be two construcrDes. sas OF which WIN
render an act constitutional and the other void
saas intasUsstasioa = - - chosen vAiah GiVS