The Detroit times., 1912-01-05

ing an Attack upon judges" But
feel II 10 my highest duty To speak
plainly on this subject so vital 70 our
common welfare.
Roosevelt declares he has the high
est respect for he judiciary as
body, holding that the attitude OF the
people toward the courts should be
that OF appreciation and respect, but
not OF sertility." He adds that in crit.
icising the decisions OF judges, he
does so only by applying the criticisms
of famous jurists. II have never
taken. he says, "a position In advance
OF Abraham Lincoln who
said: II the policy OF the government
upon vital questions affecting the
whole people Is TO be irrevocably fixed
by decisions OF the supreme court, the
instant they are made. in ordinary lit
igation between parties In personal ac-
lions. the people will have ceased to
be their own rulers, having TO that ex-
tent practically resigned their govern
ment into the hands of that eminent
tribunal"
In no other nation, Roosevelt de-
clares, have judges the power 10 mega
tive legislation, quoting an English
bishop, who said:
Whoever hath an absolute au-
thority 10 interpret any written or
spoken laws, IL is he who truly is the
lawgiver TO all intents and purposes,
and not the person who first wrote or
spoke it,
Here Tin America) the courts de
eide whether or not the people are
TO have their will"
The ex-president declares IL Is wise
to give judges the power OF judicial
Interpretation OF statutes TO see
whether they conform with the flnda-
mental law of the land, but that this
power, II abused, is sure to lead to
withdrawal.
Il am speaking" he says, "of the
peculiar function of the American
Judge, the function of no other Judge
in the world, the function OF declar-
ing whether or not the people have
the right TO make laws for themselves
on matters which they deem OF vital
concern. | am speaking OF the
Judge when, by virtue OF his posi-
ton, he declares that the people as
whole have, or have not, the right
to carry out given policy, a power
men, or five men the right to nullify
the wishes of the enormous majority
of their ninety millions of fellow-citi-
zens."
In such courses, Roosevelt declares,
judges are peculiarly untitled TO act
THE ordinary Judge comes to a
modern trust or railroad case Tor any
case affecting the conditions OF labor
he a
social and industrial life) with his
mind obsessed by these rules (of
law. He tries to cramp this great
public question to At rules devised
for set on q promissory note or
trespass case.
why is Judge able to decide or
binary lawsuits? Because he knows
something OF the actual life out OF
which they arise. A rate case, or a
trust case Cor q case involving such
a subject as workmen's compensation
or excessive hours or labor Is a prob
lem In administrative craftsmanship.
The training OF the law not only fails
TO aid in its decision, but, in fact, dis
qualities a Judge for such work He
ID constantly attempting to apply TO
It rules which were devised for con-
troveEsies between man and man"
Roosevelt then shows how the SUI
preme court of New York killed the
workmens compensation law and
laws governing tenement houses, as
unconstitutional decisionsesthat were
blows he said, Ito decent citizen
ship, TO the effort to achieve genuine
reform, genuine betterment OF social
conditions, of so severe a nature that
its mischievous effects can hardly be
overestimated." This court also
killed law making 8 p. m. the latest
hour woman might be employed.
Some OF these laws were declared
unconstitutional by vote of five to
four in the supreme court.
Roosevelt declares emphatically that
he does not question the integrity or
the court which killed these laws.
and adds
Il hold that If a majority of the
people, after due elaboration, decide
to champion such social and economic
reforms, they have a right to see
them enacted into law and become
part of our settled governmental pol
icy"
While he does not seek to appear
as champion of the laws thus killed,
Roosevelt maintains that il the peo-
pie desired them as laws, they had a
right to have them, and that no court
should have killed them
The contributing editor in particu-
lar, takes UP the workmen's compen-
sation law, Killed as unconstitutional
by the supreme court of New York,
and upheld on identically the same
grounds of constitutionality by the
supreme court of the state of Wash
ington. This same law, he says. has
been applied in nearly all the civiliz-