The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-08-30
BIGsT1CKING THE SUPREME COURT.


If we are not very much mistaken, the cry Of
"Judicial Anarchy raised against William Jen
nings Bryan in the campaign of 1895 found it:
most violent expression at the mouth of Theodore
Roosevelt at that time hand in glove, cheek by
lowl, with Mark Hannah, with Thomas Collier
Plat, with Timothy Woodruff, and Benz amin
Odell, and all the crew that now survives to b.
by him denominated political Crooks.
The Democratic platform of that year had seer
fiji to declare in the face of decision of the Su
preme Court It's adherence TO the principle of al
income tax. As the candidate of the party
Bryan in bis public speeches not only affirmed
his devotion TO the principle of the tax, but crit
icized the decision of the Supreme Court, which
declared it unconstitutional by majority Of one
the majority having been secured by the shift
In opinion of Justice Shiras in one night
For this platform declaration of the party ane
the public speeches of its candidate, both party
and candidate were denounced as being in oppo
sition 10 the courts. They were held up in i'm
FASHIONED diatribes as the forces melting to an
arcly in this country. 1.-The preservation of The
judiciary" was a battle cry that rang loudly
above the din. And in the red war of denun-
citation no voice sounded louder than that o.
Roosevelt
Yet in less than ten years upon this same ques
ion of an income tax, this same Roosevelt was de
elaring in public utterance President of tn
y United States that-the decision of the Suprem
Court TO the contrary notwithstanding Con
gress should pass again the bill establishing th
tax. relying for its operation, if necessary, upo'
judicial construction. In other words the cleal
inference Of the advice to Congress was to do
thing in the full knowledge of its declared un
constitutionaity, and depend upon the Chic
Executive to secure, by appointments based upor
promise to decide IN advance. the re
.sersal of an opinion from the one department. o
the government which had not then, and has no
yet, been even tainted with dishonor
Now, however, the ex-President has gone
step In advance of either Bryan or himself
Speaking in Denver, he accuses the Suprem
Court of standing in the way of the reform
which ~ would work He charges it with hay
VI Ing established neutral zone for the exercis
of pernlclous practises-and this by what -
man, whose interest Is chiefly in sane construc
tive stewardship only call a highly technica
legal subtlety'. And not content with a crit
cism of this tenor, he cites Two leading cases o
the Court-that of the Knight sugar case, ant
that of the New York bakeshop case-whch h.
attacks as in the one instance ''nominallv agains
national rights. but really against popular
rights" and in the other against popular rights
while nominally against State rights. If W,
are to take the Colonel at his word. the Supreme
Court stands, not the guardian of the consti
tuition, but the shield and buckler of oppression
and crime. Having thus so far ut-Bryaned th
Bryan whom he so tiercev denounced for advis
ing course not remotely so revolutionary as this
n the Colonel pauses to say:
IF such decisions as these two In
dictated the courts permanent atti-
tude, there would be real and grave
cause to give alarm. for such decisions
If consistently followed up would up
set the whole system of popular gov
eminent. ! am however, convinced
both from the inconsistency of these
decisions with the tenor Of other de-
cisions and furthermore from the
very fact that they are in such fla
grant and direct contradiction to the,
spirit and needs of the times, that
or later they will be explicitly
or implicitly reversed
II mention them merely to illustrate
the need of having truly national
system of government, under which
the people can deal effectively with all
problems, meeting those that affect
the people as whole by affirmative
Federal action, and those that affect
merely the people of one locality by
affirmative State action
Having thus disposed of the Supreme Court
and pointed out what it must necessarily do, now
that he has pointed the way, the ex-President an
nounced himself as in favor of national rights
md Of State rights. His attitude is dennncaory
botD ways. His inference is that it is he-.I''
who alone can bring the people to hand on the
- ado. the trusts to "MYv knees on the other,