The Cairo bulletin., 1910-05-19
Order for Reargument Of Tobao-
CO Company Case Was Pleas
ing to That Monopoly.
PRECEDENT SEEMS BAD ONE
Willis Abhct Criticizcs the Unlimited
Fewer OF the Tribunal and Quotes
the Opinion Of Chief Justice Clark
Of North Carolina.
BY WILLIS J. ABBOT.

court Gree wrote ABOUT that dtgnl-
fed--if dilatory body. and about the
reople OF the United States for whose
good the court presumably exists.
these words:
The people are always the rulers.
More than once have they reversed its
THE Supreme eourt'sl judgments. but
by reason of its stability and inde-
peEdence II has always stood check
upon al hasty action, a brake on the
swiftly moving wheels of popular pas
sion and holding ever the republic
close to the ways prescribed by the
fathers In the Constitution"
AS to the service Of the Supreme
court as a check upon hasty action,
wellnrdered machine for persistent
delay in bring great criminals to JUS
tice. there can be no doubt Justice
Brewers untimely death gave the
court an opportunity to show its capa-
bilities for service Of this sort. For
more than year the cases of the ad-
ministration against the tobacco and
oil trusts have been pending before
the court Most eminent counsel ar
gued on either side. The briefs and
the published reports are encyclopedia
In volume and in information. But be-
cause Of the death Of Justice Brewer,
who had sat throughout the argu-
meEts, the court demands that both
cases be reargued. Every justice on
the bench has heard the arguments.
Their repetition will use up another
year at least, and In the meantime the
two trusts will continue their chosen
task Of grinding down the producer,
ard fixing extortionate prices to the
consumer
They say that the bench was SO
evenly divided that to hand down a
decision might faint that verdict with
suspicion Perhaps II would. The
court was divided five to four on the
income tax though two days earlier
the FIVE were in favor Of the consti-
tutionality Of the tax The electoral
commission of 1876 was eight to seven,
but there was no reargument. and the
| Republican candidate for the presis
dcncy was seated.
Why Is there such sanctity hedging
about Standard OIL and Am. Tohac.
/ prf'rrd'' that a close vote In the court
gives these monopolies new lease OF
life--a valuable gift for both In New
York and Chicago their stocks went
sharply up from six to ten points
when the action of the court became
known.
The court postponed action and de-
manded a reargument because of JUS
tce Brewers death He had sat
! through the cases and his vote, had 1t
been cast. it Is said would have been
the determining one on the one side
or the other SO It was within reason
and propriety for the court to refuse
to render decision which. had Jus.
tiee Brewer lived as yours longer,
might have been dramatically oppo.
site to the opinion Of the court today.
Nevertheless the precedent seems a
bad one. ReargGment Of these cases
cannot begin before fall of this year
probably after election. Chief Justice
Fuller is today seventy-seyen years
old; by the time these cases are
disposed of he Will be seventy.
nine. Justice Harlan is few
months older than be Every one who
knows these veterpp iurIsts of I'M
blemished standing will hope that
they may remain indefinitely on the
bench And yet 1t is quite within the
natural possibilities of the case that
before another year of argument shall
have passed one of these distinguished
justices will have gone over into an
UNEMPLOYED world where we think the
courts are not, and Standard OIL and
Tobacco not yet established Indeed
there are younger men on the Su
preme bench, Oliver Wendell Holmes
with his sixty-nine years. and Moody
with his flfty-elght. If the death OF
one man is to postpone a court de
cision for year or more It might be
wen to pick younger men whom the
Insurance actuarles would credit with
a chance for more prolonged life.
That the immediate postponemenl
Of the decision pleased the trust mag
mates. and the gamblers In their
stocks. VAS shown by the course Of
the stock market As soon as the
i demand for a rcliearing was made
4 public by tho court American pre-
lerred Jumped gatsAh points 1--WE gel
4 one more year oEaDmunty from this
| law" cried ;hciasHh magnates, and
4 all the little gamblers Joined In boost
ing the stock.
Not all public men hold the high
opinion of the Supreme court ex
pressed in Justice Brewers remarks
quoted above Chief Justice Walter
Clark of the supreme court of North
Carolina said recently on the subject.
THE nine members Of this court
have entered into an Inheritance ol
unwarranted powers greater thar
those conferred upon any body OF mel
in any other country No judge Ii
England ever draap Cd that he has
the power 10 SET aside al act OF parlia
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