Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1911-11-01

not for the fact that our supreme
court has. as a rule, kept in step with
the desires of congress and the chief
executive, In this connection Mr..
Murphy asks:
"Wiu Major Carr instance an. in
dictment which may be drawn
against the people to compare with
that which may be drawn agains'. the
Supreme Court for it's decision in the
bred Scott, in the Dartmouth College
case, in the income tax case, in the
insular possessions case, in the To-
bacco and Oil trust cases? Having
agreed that one, or more than one, if
not all, OF these decisions was
wrong against human rights to the
profit Of property rights per-
version of constitutional intent and
contemptuous Of public opinion, VII
Major Carr persist in appearing as
counsel for the courts as against the
people,
The opinion in the Dartmouth Col
lege case was delivered by Chief JUS
tice Marshall, admittedly one of the
greatest lawyers OF the century in
which he lived. AS we recall the
case it had no application to public
or quasi public corporations. It
simply placed contracts OF private
nature, entered into between the pub
lie and a private individual, on the
same basis as contracts entered into
between two private parties The
case was decided upon its own pecu-
liar state Of facts, and so far as we
know it has never been used as a
precedent to prevent the public from
regulating public service corpora
tons.
The bred Scott case was submit
ted to the Court before the election
CT James Buchanan as president It
involved question of far reaching
political importance, and the court
carried the case along until after the
presidential election, then ordered q
| re-argument and finally decided the
case according to the expressed
wishes and desires of President
Buchanan and majoriy OF the mem
bers of the recently elected congress.
Little can be said in defense OF
the Income Tax decision. The court
first decided by five to four vote
| in favor of the law, and then multi.
fled it by change in the opinion Of
a single judge. That was at a time
when the influence of swollen for
tunes and predatory wealth was al
flood tide in this country. The taa
was opposed by many Of the, leaders
of the republican party, and by some
OF the leading men Of the democrat
ic party, notably Senator David 3
Hill Of New York. A popular ele<.
ton at that time would probably havt
resulted in as even division of the
voters as the division in the mem.
bership Of the supreme court Ever
at this late day the people, acting
through their state legislatures, have
not as yet been able to secure the
constitutional approval of an income
tax resolution.
1t is true that the recent Tobacco
and Oil Trust cases are the subject
OF present day criticisms, but it is
equally true that the. ultimate de.
crees Of the, court in those cases &C.
cord With the wishes of practically
everyone. The court condemned tc
death these giant offenders. What
greater sentence could have been i'm.
posed? No one, except the defend.
ants, has any reason to find fault
with what the court actually did.
The criticisms are, or at least
should be, directed against the some.
what Wabbly statements to be found
in the opinions of the Chief Justice
who announced the decisions of the
court. If these waIbbly statements
90 not lead to an incorrect decision
in some future case, the general pub
lie has no occasion to find fault. And
the fact that some of the reasoning
of the Chief Justice is being question
ed may be productive Of much good
The constitution guarantees to every
American citizen freedom of speech
Or of the press And the free ex-
ercise ct these rights does more to
sway the course of future events in
this country than any other force.
Our court of last resort has never
acted arrogantly, and If any part OF
the opinions of the Chief Justice in
these recent cases is out of line with