The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-07-08

ItlCIlIlOHu, despite the nOlSep ana Ill
that we desire in this land of bliss is
that we may have the full JOY OF liv-
ing, undisturbed by needless din.
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THE NEW COURT AND THE NEW
JUDGES.
It may be said that the Fed
era1 Supreme Court has been rediscov-
cred during the last few years. Its
greatness had been forgotten and its
power had been eclipsed. Occasionally,
by great decision. the Court would
startle the country and set the people
thinking, but generally it wove Its
web of legal precedent, handed down
it's intricate decisions and construed
disputed laws unnoticed by men. Its
opinions were too complex for the av-
erage man to grasp; its work was too
unobtrusive for the average editor to
notice; it's Judges sat in the gloom
of their old courtroom and seemed the
creatures of another world.
Recently, however the people have
begun to realize that Congress may
enact laws and that the Executive
may enforce them. but that the SUI
preme Court, by its decision. must say
the final word. Mr.. Taft turned the
public mind to the Court during the
campaign Of 1908, and curious Fate,
striking three of the Justices in sue
cession, has made the people know that
the Court is and is changing. All over
the country people are wondering who
will be the new Chief Justice of the
the Court will do.
There are three reasons why this
should be the case The mere addition
of three new men to the Court is suf-
ficient to change the entire tenor Of it's
opinions. Association often results in
mental assimilation, and when the Jus
tiu.s of the Court have sat for years
together. some of them, perhaps ma
siority of them. begin to think alike
When the Court is invaded by death
and new Justices are appointed, old
habits of thought may be changed and
old customs laid aside. Then. again,
as we have frequently pointed out.
the Court is facing questions upon the
decision of which much depends. The
Court must say, for instance, whether
or not the complex machinery which
Congress has made to govern the trusts
is really operative; 1t must define more
closely the lines of Federal power in
the Bucks Stove case it must settle
vital question of labor law. Finally,
| the very spirit of the times is
likely to change the temper of the
Court. America to-day is not the
America whose laws the late Chief
! Justice had 10 construe when Cleve-
land called him TO the bench; new
problems are pressing for solution,
| new and unforeseen complications have
| arisen. socialism stands at the bar, i'm
! perialism threatens the country. In
eyitably, in meeting these new issues,
| in deciding the pending questions, the
| new Judges of the new Court may
| change the whole character of the
Government.
We do not regard this as menace,
but the country may well pause
and consider what the Court should
do and what the Court should
be, now that it is passing into new
hands. PERHAPS the functions OF the
Supreme Court, and. indeed. OF every
Federal Court. were never better de-
fined than by the late Justice Field.
when, in delivering an address at the
one hundredth anniversary of the
Court, he spoke of its place In the life
of the nation and its duty to the peo-
pie. We are indebted to the New York
Globe for the following extract from
his speech:
ITO retain the respect and confidence
conceded in the past the Court, while
cautiously abstaining from assuming
powers granted by the Constitution
10 other departments of the Govern
ment, must unhestatingly and to the
best of It's ability. enforce, as hereto
fore, not only all the Limitations Of
the Constitution upon the Faderal and
State Governments, but also all the
guarantees 1t contains of the private
rights of the citizen, both OF person
and of property. AS property and
wealth increase, as the inequalities
In the conditions OF men become more
and more marked and disturbing.
1t becomes more and more the imper-
atlve duty of the Courtto enforce with
firm hand every guarantee of the
Constitution. Every decision weaken
ing their restraining power is blow
to the peace of society and to Its prog
ress and Improvement. 1t should
never be forgotten that protection to
property and to persons cannot be sep
arated. Where property is insecure,
the rights of persons are unsafe Pro-
lection to the one goes with projections
to the other, and there can be neither
prosperity nor progress where either
is uncertain.
These words are as true day as
they were when the venerable Justice
uttered them in 1885, the Court must
be for the Constitution, line by line,
precept by preeept, and as long as
the Court stands squarely upon the
Constitution there can never be fear
in the hearts Of the people. There