New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-05-01
HIGHEST COURT HELD
TREATIES ABOVE LAW
Moore Cites Justice Swayne-Bryan's Mission
Disappoints Wilson-Cuthrie Selected
for Toxic.

was delivered by Justice swayne' was m
part. as follows:
The efficacy of the treaty is declared
and guaranteed by the constitution W
! the United States. That instruIneh'
| took effect on the fourth day OF NATL 81
| 1883. In 1896. but a few years Iate''
| this court said: ,o,-
| "If doubts could exist before the auop
ton or the present national eoverhiiie ~, -
| they must be entirely removed py ny
| sixth article Of the Constitution Whicn
provides that all treaties made or WhlcRs
shall be made under the authority OF
the United States shall be the supreme
law of the land. and the judges III esel
state shall be bound thereby, anytnln6
I'm the constitution or laws OF any STATE
to the contrary Notwithstanding. IHel 9
can be no limitation on the power on
the people of the United states. ~!
| their authority the Constitution or the
United states was established, and they
had the power to change or abolish the
state constitutions or to make tneil
yield to the general government ana 10
| treaties made by their authority a
treaty cannot be the supreme law or the
land-that is. of all the United states
If any act of a state legislature can
stand in its way. If the constitution OF
a state (Which is the Fundamental Ia" ol
the state and paramount TO It's legia5i
latuTe) must give way to a treaty ana
fall before II. can 1t be questioned
whether the less power, an act OF the
state legislature, must not be prostId'e
II is the declared VIII OF the people OF
the United States that every treaty
made by the authority Of the United
States shall be superior to the constllu-
tion and laws of any individual state
and their will alone is 10 decide. III a
law Of state contrary TO treaty -
not void. but voidabie only by repeal
or qualification by state legislature.
this certain consequence followS-that
the will of a small part of the united
States may control or defeat the VIII or
the whole. Ware agt Hylton' DALI
1879"
1t will be observed that the treaty max
ing clause IS retroactive as well as pro
spective. The treaty In question In ware
AIT. Hylton was the British treaty OF
l7SS. which terminated the war of the
American Revolution. II was made whlle
the articles of confederation subsisted
The Constitution. when adopted. applied
alike TO treaties made and to be maze.
Precedent Weshty.
We have quoted from the opinion of Mr..
Justice Chase In that case. not because
We concur i'm everything said In the eX.
tract, but because IL shows the views OF
the powerful legal mind at that cary
period when the debates In the conVen-
ton which framed the Constitution must
have been fresh in the memory OF tho
leading jurists of the country.
II the national government mas not the
power TO do what is done by such treaties
il cannot be done at ALL for the states
are expressly forbidden 10 enter into any
treaty, alliance or confederation tCon-
sttution, Article !, lO).
IL must always be borne In mind that
the Constitution. laws and treaties OF IN"
United States are as much a part or the
law OF every state az its own local laws
and constitution. This is a fundamental
principle In our system oil complex ma
tional polity. (See also Shanks agt Du-
pont. Pet. 22: Foster and Exam agt
Nelson, id 2j3: the Cherokee Tobacco.
II Wall GIG: Mr. Pinckney's speech. FL
lots constitutional debates 81. the Poo
pie. ETC. agt. Gerke and Clark, Cal.
officials here commented to-day on the
apparent fact that anti-alien agitation
was not confined to California, but eX-
tended over the whole Pacific Coast and
Rocky Mountain section, even as Tar
north as Alaska.
II also was pointed out that recent Ut
terances Of Southern Senator'S and Repre-
sentatives in Congress Indicated that the
sympathies Of that section were with the
CalifOrnians
Meanwhile. beyond quietly admonishing
the territorial authorities Of Alaska 70
abstain from discrimination against Jap
anese fishermen, there is little that can
be done in Washington until Secretary
Bryan returns.