The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-05-10
IS IN A new ROLE.
Secretary of State Writes SUI
preme Court Brief.
Supports His Contention About
Change of Venue.


Charles Sessions, secretary of state,
has filed his brief in the friendly suit
brought by the attorney general in the
supreme court to decide whether or not
the amendment to the constitution
passed by the legislature of 1908 can be
placed on the ballot this year for the
people to vote upon. The amendment
provides for change of venue by the
state in criminal cases.
1t is not often that a state officer
not a lawyer writes his own brief in
case of a lawsuit regarding state mat
tiers. He generally gets the attorney
general to do this work. But in this
case the attorney general is on the
other side of the case. Sessions did
not want to spend the money from his
office fund for a lawyer, and besides,
he said he could not afford it. So he
wrote the brief himself. And he did
a better job than most lawyers can
do. Sessions used to be a newspaper
man and he is versatile and competent
In what he undertakes. His brief is a
remarkable piece of work for a lay
man.
Law Is Common Sense.
I'm view of the opposite opinions
held by the two attorney generals on
this question, the only thing left for
the secretary of state to do is to let
the court settle the controversy.
IF the court should hold that the
the defendant asks that, the writ be
denied, because it is now too late to
submit the amendment. to the people.
Law is common sense. Not only
that, but it is supposed to be couched
in common sense language so that it
can be easily understood by the COM
mon people. The ordinary citizen is
not expected to have a lawyer en-
ployed constantly to tell him what
every new law means. The law is sup
posed to mean what it says and say
what it means. And state officers,
like other common people. have a
right to believe that it does mean what
it says.
THE attorney general admits the
weakness of his cause when he says
that he does not approach this prob
lem with that degree of assurance
which he usually assumes in uphold
ing his side of a lawsuit
The only peg which the attorney
general hangs any hope on in this
amendment itself is directory not
mandatory. 1t seems to the defendant
that the lawyers overwork old tDirec-
tory Every time they get in a hole
them out. They should give old 'Di-
rectory a rest by doing things when
the law says they should be done.
''The defendant has always been led
to believe by lawyers and Judges that
Judge Cooley is as great an authority
on constitutional law as Dick Cooley
Is on baseball.
Shot at Dawson.
"The plaintiff says in discussing this
resolution: The governor could not stop
it That may be true, but the defend
ant will not admit it. 1t has been de-
cided in the past that the governor
could do a lot of things that the at
torney general did not think he could
do. and the defendant is making no
prediction as to What the governor
"a n or oar T1flf do
The applicant ayers that the pro-
posed amendment is one of great i'm
portance to the people of Kansas and
that the lapse of time has lessened in
no degree the wisdom, expediency and
necessity for such a change. The &c
PENDANT aims to keep reasonably we'll
posted as to what the people are de-
manding. He comes in touch with
many men who claim to be close to
the people, and he reads quite a num-
Der of newspapers, which are sup
posed to be the palladium of the peo-
pie. And he confesses that he has
discovered no general uprising of the
whole people for this amendment.
The demand. so far as he is able to
locate it, comes from the Hon. Attor-
ney-general, Professor William E.
Higgins and District Judge ]. c. Rup-
penthal. The State Bar association
may have an Incidental interest in the
matter. Now, those three may be the
voice of the entire people, but the de-
PENDANT is from Missouri and must he
shown.
The fact is the present secretary
of state has enough troubles of his
own trying to administer the laws and
business relating to his office, as he
now finds them, without digging back
into the remote past trying to find
something to do that his predecessors
forgot or failed to do. He is ready and
willing at all times to do his duty, but
ne will not reflect upon the judgment,