The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1911-03-03

ADDRESS BY HON. ]. E. CAMPBELL
Member from the 4Sth Legislative
District, before the twelfth session of
the Washington state legislature Feb.
8, 1911, on House Bill No. l3: "No act
or proceeding of the Legislature or part
of any act or proceeding, shall be set
aside or declared unconstitutional by
any justice, Judge or court whatsoever.
The will of the people as expressed by
enactment of the legislature, or by the
people, shall be the supreme law"
Mr.. Speaker and Members of the
House of Representatives
The unbridled powers now assumed
by the various courts, wherein they as
sumo to be responsible to no authority
whatever, assuming superiority over the
people themselves, the sole source of
all authority, has grown to such an eX-
tent as to threaten the very founda-
tions of the state.
The legislature is directly responsible
to the people who elect it; while the
governor and other executive officers
may be impeached by the people and
removed, acting through the legislature,
but the courts have undertaken to set
themselves upon pinnacle apart and
above all, answerabe to no one whom
soever for their acts. Among the checks
and balances devised by the great fran
ers of the constitution of the United
States. and the later trainers of the
constitution of our state, we seek in
vain for the foundation of, or iustifica-
tion for, the present assumptions of
the judicial department of the state.
Enactments of the legislature at the
demand of the people, oftentimes after
years of effort, are arbitrarily set at
naught by the process of declaring them
unconstitutional by practically every
county court in the state; even justices
of the peace are assuming the same
powers as the higher courts, and it
might be added, with about as much
authority.
| Sections and of the constitution
of the state define the limits of power
of the supreme court and the various
superior courts. Section 3 of the con-
stitution provides that supreme court
Judges shall be elected by the people,
in the same manner and at the same
time as other state officers, unless the
legislature shall fix some other time
Section 5 provides until the legislature
otherwise decides, a certain number of
judges. The legislature is also to pre-
scribe the jurisdiction of the inferior
courts. 1t is also authorized by the con-
stitution to raise the salaries of the SUI
preme and superior court judges.
The constitution further provides that
the legislature may increase the num-
Der of judges of the supreme court, and
may provide for separate departments
thereof. Article 4, Section %, permits
the supreme court to appoint a clerk
of the court, but provides that the leg
islature may provide for the election
of such court clerk whenever it sees fit.
Supreme court justices are also re-
quired by the constitution to advise
the governor in writing of any defects
or omissions in the laws of the state
Section 25, Article 4, while the governor
by Article 3, Section G, of the consti
| tuition is required to communicate to
] the legislature the condition of the af-
fairs of the state, with such recommen-
! dations as he deems necessary for inn
provement. Lastly, the power of i'm
peachment and removal of Judges is
vested in the legislature.
] In all the above provisions the peo-
Pile have seen fit to place the deciding
power in the hands of the legislature,
responsible to the people directly, and
elected it at frequent intervals, and it
is reasonable to believe that the peo-
Pile intended to retain the controlling
hand in the affairs of state.
The power of impeachment and the
removal of supreme court judges, placed
by the people in the hands of the legis-
lature, is unsatisfactory and, in prac-
tice, practically impossible. As evil
dence of this state of affairs, witness
the late disgraceful scandal within the
supreme court of this state, involving
Supreme Court Justice Milo A. Root,
former Supreme Court Justice M. j.
Gordon, and the Great Northern Rail-
way company. The Legislature appoint
ed committee to investigate the mat
ter and report. Nothing was done. The
supreme court itself passed the matter
up to the State Bar association, but
without giving the association power to
summon witnesses or jurors. After two
years of delay, the State Bar associa'