The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-09-23
coy, BALDWIN WOULD AMEND
 CONSTITUTION Makes Public Letter Sent To Executive
 Of Missouri In Conflict Of State And Feder- al Laws Supreme Court
 "ShOuid Act At Once

Hartford Sept. 23-Gov. Baldwin, to- day, made public a letter which he had written to the governor of Mis- souri in answer to one from the Mis- souri chief executive which proposed an amendment to the constitution of the United States by resolution adopted by the Missouri general as- semb1y which in brief is that any question involving a constitutional law in which state and federal laws are in conflict shall be certified immediately to the supreme court of the United States and shall be given precedence over all other business; that no fed- eral court shall issue any writ of injunction restraining the execution of any state law and that every question involving the rights of a state or the constitutiona1ity of a state law shall be decided by the concurring opinion of every member of the su- preme court.
 Gov. Baldwin says in his reply that he thinks there are points in the res olutfon susceptible of improvement. He says in part:
 ''The adoption of such an amend ment would necessarily cause great either party in any cause in an infer .ior federal court claim that a. state statute .or constitutional provision, which might come in question in the cause cOnn1cC9Q W1Cn the statutes UT constitution of the United States. The question, thus caused, would have to be certified immediately to the supreme court of the United States for decis- ion. It is frequently claimed in the district courts of the United States that state statute which one of the parties relies, is open to such objections. The trial court can now dispose promptly of the claim, sub ject only to an appeal to the supreme court of the United States. Such an appeal cannot be taken to the circuit court of appeals of the United States.
 "A frequent ground of objection to a state statute is that it is inconsis- tant with the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States, because it assumes to take life, cess of law or withho1ds equal pro- lection of the laws. Such claims are often put forward for delay and ap- pear on their face to be frivolous. The proposed amendment to the consti- tuition would Five them the effect of suspending the jurisdiction of the dis trict court, entirely, until in the course of time the matter had been heard and disposed of in the supreme court which might not be for years.
 'tNo federal court can now issue any writ of injunction restraining the ex- ecution of any state law under the authority of any state court, except as to matters before the district court as a court of bankruptcy.
 ''The proposed amendment would keep in full force pending an appeal from it to the United States supreme court all judgments of district courts holding state statute to be uncon- stitutionaI. Valuable rights might thus be lost accruing under such a, sta tute.
 scr1- 4r.ozo a-,o--. o4ho~ ,-oocore i+ would seem to me that the resoI1- ton of the general assembly of Mis- souri proposed an amendment to the constitution of the United States the adoption Of which might do more harm than good to the cause of justfce.''