Evening star., 1915-04-14

! had merely indicated where Mr.. New
!! man happened to be working at the
I time. He said that Mr.. Newman's de-
| clared intention to return to Washing
ton to live had kept alive his residence
! in the District.
In closing his argument against Mr.
| Newman yesterday afternoon Senator
| Bailey declared that the argument OF
| the other side that the action of the
| President and Senate in appointing and
| confirming the nomination of Newman
| could not be reviewed in the courts
was Irrelevant and impertinent."
| IF is curious and startling doc
| trine to advance in an American court :
| said Senator Bailey. ours is gov
ernment of laws and not of men. Is
there any man SO high up that he may
violate the law and there be no forum
/ in which his Illegal acts may be chal-
lenged? This government is more than
100 years old. and such doctrine has
never before been heard in an Ameri-
can court. And now il is being adj
vanced by the government itself. 1t
may well cause alarm that such a doc
trine is put forward in Il brief to
which the name of the solicitor gen.
eral himself is signed. 1t teaches US
that at least one man and body. the
President and Senate, are above the
law. The fathers taught US the su-
premacy of the Law was the safety of
the state. And | devoutly believe that.
The end of this government will come
when the officers of the law disregard
its inJunctionS. Better far that the
District of Columbia be wiped from
the face of the earth and its officers
sent back to the people, than that the
highest court in the land should say
that the President may disregard a
law of Congress and his action cannot
be reviewed in court"
Senator Bailey's Position.
Senator Bailey said that in many
states the right to institute quo war
ranto proceedings had been extended
to the citizens interested in the offices
from which custer was sought.
There is progressive theory about
this matter" said Senator Bailey. 1T
lis clear that if the right to bring GUS
ter proceedings is confined to officers
of the government the right to chal-
lenge usurpation of Office would sell
cutting officer would be of the same po-
lItical party as the challenged officer"
In support of this argument Senator
Bailey mentioned the fact that Solicitor
General Davis was in court to repre-
sent Newman. and declared he believed
such appearance improper.
Senator Bailey Suggested that this
was the first suit of its kind ever
brought in the District of Columbia
III thirty-Seven years
so It does not seem that the officers
of the government will be much
harassed by proceedings of this kind in
the District of Columbia" said Sena-
tor Bailey. ITO go little further into
politics. the act of 1878 was passed
when a good deal was being said about
carpetbaggers. Two former members
of Congress had been appointed to
rule over the District. and the District
was becoming a hospital for disap-
pointed politicians. So Congress, in
taking away the right of the citizens
of the District of Columbia to elect
their officers. wrote into the law that
the Commissioners appointed by the
President should be actual residents
of the District for three years. And
Congress threw an additional safe
guard around the matter. inserting the
provision that the appointees as civil
Commissioners should not have claimed
residence elsewhere during three years.
The form of government here grew
out of peculiar conditions. The lately
enfranchised race had repaired to the
District of Columbia and the nearby
states in great numbers. Congress
saw many turbulent scenes in the cleo
tions of District officers then carried
on So it set aside the old form of
government for this District and es-
tablished the present one. Conces-
sions were made by Congress to the
desire for local self government in
writing the laws for the District"