Devils Lake weekly world. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1911-1914, 1912-02-23
proper decision. Every public servan

proper decision. Every public servant,
no matter how valuable, and not omit.
ting Washington or Lincoln or Mar.
shall, at times makes mistakes; there
fore we should be cautious about re-
calling the judge, and we should be
cautious about interfering in any way
with the judge In decisions which he
makes in the ordinary course as b.;
tween individuals. But when a judge
decides a constitutional question, when
he decides what the people as Il whole
can or cannot do, the people should
have the right to recall that decision
II they think it wrong. We should hold
the judiciary in all respect, but it is
both absurd and degrading to make a
fetish of Il judge or Of any one else.
Abraham Lincoln said in his first inau-
gural: eff the policy Of the government
upon vital questions affecting the whole
people is to Ea irrnvncahly fixed by de-
cisions uf t..a :i;l:,::''aa::-:e court
the people ": -, sod 70 be their
own r;.::-i,,, --!ns; - That extent prac-
tically r.s' ..l ,.i..r government into
the hauIs cf thot c,2l;ncnt tribunal
Nor is there in this view any assault
upon the courts or the judges" Lin
coin actually applied III successful fash
ion the pri:,ciplc Of the recall in the
Dred Scott case. "
Trust the People.
Many eminent lawyers who more or
less franEly tlisbelieve in our entire
American &S.-stcm Of government for,
by and Of Che people violently antago-
nize t.!:;; proposal. They believe and
sou.e, iu.Hs assert that the American
people, are not fitted for popular gov
erlln,enr ;l,l that It is necessary to
Keep t'ic ju,liniary independent Of the
majority ~ Of Ill tie people" that
there inuSt lN.no appeal to the people
from the decision of n~court in any
case and that ,hercforexthe judges ara
to be established as sovereign rulers
over the people, l take absolute issue
with all those who hold such posi-
ton. i regard it as a complete mega
ton, Of. eur. whole, system Of govern
ment, and II it became the dominant
position in this country it would mean
the absolute upsetting Of both the
rights and the rule Of the people. If
the American people are'not At for
/ popular government and IL they should
Of right be the servants and not the
+! masters Of the men whom they them
selves put in Office. then Lincoln's work
was wasted and, the whole system Of
government upon, which this great
democratic republic rests Is a failure.
I believe, on the contrary, With all my
heart that the American people are st
for complete self government and that
In spite Of all our failings and short
comings we Of this republic have more
nearly realized than any other people
on earth the ideal Of Justice attained
through genuine popular rule. If the
courts have the final say So on all leg
islative acts and If no appeal can lie
from them to the people, then they are
the irresponsible masters Of the people.
The only tenable excuse for such a
| position Is the frank avowal that the
people lack sufficient intelligence and
morality to be ft to govern themselves.
In other words, those who take this
position hold that the people have
enough intelligence to frame and adopt
a constitution, but not enough intelli-
gence to apply and interpret the con-
etftution which they have themselves
made.
l do not say that the people are in
fallible, but I do say that our whole
history shows that the American peo-
pie are more often sound in their de-
cisions than is the case with any Of
the governmental bodies to which, for
their convenience, they have de'egat-
ed portions Of their power.
just as the people and not the su-
preme court under Chief Justice fancy
were wise In their decisions Of the vi
tai questions Of their day, so I hold
that now the American people as a
whole have shown themselves wiser
than the courts in the way they have
approached and dealt with such vital
questions OF our day as those concern.
ing the proper control Of big corpora.
tons and Of securing their rights to
Industrial workers.