Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1909-07-12
STATE IN A BAD Way
LONG CONTINUED REPUBLICAN
MISRULE BEARING fruit.
Supreme Court Said to Have Seen
Packed with Corrupt Judges; with
Records OF SChively and Nichols,
1t is ruIl Time for q Change OF
Parties.

OLYMPIA, July THAT the SUI
preme court was increased from five
to seven in 1907 for the purpose of
breaking down or reversing in the
interest Of employing corporations
its early decisions in personal in
jury cases Is the startling testimony
offered to the legislative committee
investigation the court. The state
ment was made by Representative
Davis of the committee, who made 1t
on the authority Of Attorney Teats
of Tacoma.
Davis told the committee he be-
lieved Teats would be willing to tes-
tify to the same effect before the
committee. The committee ordered
Teats summoned for tomorrow,
Teats' Astounding Charges.
Teats was in Olympia today and
said:
''The statement that the court
was changed in order to change de-
cisions of this character in the in
terests of employers is matter of
more or less common knowledge
among attorneys and politicians.
made 1t recently in arguing before
a Pierce county jury in Nelson vs..
the Little Marshall Lumber company.
a personal damage case. The case
will be appealed by defendant and
this statement of mine cited as re-
versible error. l have made it fire.
quently before and my authorities
are members of the 1905 legislature.
Il mean no disrespect for the
court, nor do l imply corruption nor
do l imply improper motives for
their opinions.
The same thing was done twice
by the United States supreme court,
once by the Dred Scott decision and
once in the greenback case. De-.
He Cites an Instance.
THE specific decision which these
SAAAA6Co AA tAC COuAt WClO lALcuuCu
to reverse was that in the case Of
Green vs.. the American company,
and the best evidence of this pur-
pose is the fact that when the same
principle came before the court in
Hall vs.. West & Slade Mill company
the court divided on the question,
the four old members deciding for
the plaintiff employe and the three
new ones concurring in a dissenting
opinion by Root, holding for the
defendant company. The majority
followed the courts former deci-
siOn."
The principle enunciated by the
major opinion in the Hall case, fol-
lows decision by President Taft
while on the federal bench, known
as the Larrimore decision. 1t is
that an employer who violates law
requiring him to provide guards for
dangerous machinery cannot, in an
action for damages, offer on account
Of that violation that the employe,
knowing the machine was unguard-
ed, assumed the risk of employment.
The dissenting judges were Root,
Crow and Rudkin.
DeWolfe Makes More Charges.
The committee listened six hours
today to Attorney H. n. DeWolf of
Tacoma continue his evidence in
support of charges that the court dis
regarded the law, the facts and the
constitution in the West Seattle
cases, which brought out that the
town was eXtinguished to open up
the field it occupied for street rail-
way franchise exploitation by the
Seattle Electric company. In con-
circumstances in the case of Sher-
man versus the Mutual Life Insur-
ance company, in which he charged
that the court disregarded both we'll
established law and the facts pre-
sented in order to decide the case
for the powerful corporation defend
ant.
Palmer Can't Head Him Off.
Palmer of the committee sought
this morning to shut DeWolf off by
a motion that he be not allowed to
read authorities but merely to cite
= nj
tion, whereate DeWolf said: palm
er wants to limit me in presenting my
case and to whitewash the court, but