The menace., 1914-07-18
A Remarkable Decisioa

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The hps rcooguits a eouirarf IN vkicA
an intiridual signs away al kh o~u
rights 20 property, ard al.o the
rights 81 Ms hcinf he writer Il not
lawyer, but believes that The letter
and spirit of our lau 10 suck ~ % for.
bid ths enforcement % such q ecutrart
II hA reFrs;tahis fart that he plain
provisions of legal ehArtmcut nay b
twisted and misinierprcted 10 fearful
and uonderful eonclusious but vkea sBch
thing happens Il is evident that sons
/ special and powerful interest IL Involved
Which n-cs its power And inflaenos 10
distort and perrert the rules which Law
abiding people enast A similar ea,s
has recently ben passed upon by the
supreme court of the United States.
One wirth Joined the Romish Ben.
dieiine order. In doing 20 he took the
vow Of poverty BY which he surrendefed
he income during life and his arcumu.
lations A death 10 the church. A. HE
death he had accumulated several thou.
sand dollars which the church claimed
bccause Of the vow taken. Legal heirs
contested the claims Of the church, and
their rights were recognized and sus.
tained by several lower courts But che
supreme court held the legal heirs 10 the
vow, which they had not made or con.
sented 70, and gave the property which,
IN equity, belonged 10 them, 10 the
church.
That decision no doubt saved millions
Of dollars 20 the church for many other
similar cases were involved In the out.
come OF this one. But Il takes away
the birthright of millions now living and
billions unborn. II permits an indi.
vidual no, only 20 give himself into
peonage for life, but 20 give away the
rights Of blood relatives, no, yet born
or not In q position 10 defend their own
rights.
II the laws of the land permit a man
20 give his life and property, aud en-.
force the gift, we are certainly getting
far away from the principle Of protect.
ing the individual by preventing unjust
and socially destructive agreements. Il
Is just as reasonable for an individual
10 give his life and body for a sacrifice
on a heathen altar a. 10 do what Wirth
did. II every contract is 70 be binding
no matter what the consequences, fan.
aties who are willing might legally be
offered up as bloody sacrifices. There is |
no limit 20 which such folly might not
logically lead IL the principle Is once
established in law or by judicial de.
cisions.
There Is great Joy expressed by the
Romish press over the wirth decision;
and the papists generally feel. no doubt, |
that the Laotare Medal recently bestowed
by the popcs representatives upou
justice Of the highest American court
was a good investment. IL certainly
saved millions of dollars 20 Rome that
now, and In years 20 come, would nat.
urally 90 10 the heirs Of papist poems.
And what are we to DO about itf There
Is no use raying at the court for doing
what IL did. The court renders decisions
according TO its own ideas Of propriety. |
II its members are saturated With Ital. 4
ian conceptions Of law, and are 30 far
from harmony with American ideals as
70 give Rome the benefit Of their dis.
eretionary power in interpreting Amer.
ican law, the one and only lesson taught
by the incident is 10 impress the neces.
sity Of elscting a president and an ad. |
minis'ration who win appoint Americans
20 the snpreine bench