East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1916-06-28

Whether a man Is a republican or
democrat counts not so much as
whether he is Bourbon or progressive
in thought according to Judge R. NJ.
Wannamaker of the Ohio supreme
court who is here today to speak on
the chautauqua platform. The AM
erican people are becoming more and
more to select progressive courts, he
thinks and thus he believes that sub
stantial justice, rather than justice
based upon mere technicalities, is
coming into its own.
Judge Wannamaker, who will be
remembered as the author of 1--WE
the Courts of We the People" in the
Saturday Evening Post recently, ar
rived this morning from La Grande
and this afternoon is speaking at the
chautauqua tent, sharing the program
with the international operate Com
pany.
Judge Wannamaker is one of the
truly big jurist of the country His
own judicial ty-progressive
every inch Of it-has gone far to work
reforms in judicial procedure Of
Ohio, and he foresees the day when
public sentiment will be aroused to
the Point where all courts will heark-
en- to the trend of times and them
selves remedy present faults. He as
serts that these reforms cannot come
frp,,, "a ha
courts. In his speech this afternoon
he said in part:
Lord Macauey. a great English
scholar and statesman, said many
ways in which any community can be
representative governed - one by
the sword, the other by public opin-
ion. We are now witnessing a gov
ernment by the sword, the great
worlds war, involving, more or less,
every continent on the globe. In Am
erica, thank God. we still adhere to
public opinion. Forty-six of AS state
constitutions laid low the political
proposition that all political power is
inherent in the people.
The first three words in the fed
oral constitution are We, the people.
When this political power of the peo-
pie is applied to the governmental ma
chinery what, pray. are the leading
objects to be accomplished
IF, however, it is important that
the executive be representative of the
people in recommending policies for
legislation; if it he desirable that the
legislative branch be representative of
the people in enacting such recon-
mendations in public law. it is infin-
itely more important that the judici-
al branch Of the government shall be
likewise representative; it has the last
word
NWhether there is any law at all
how much of a lawLwhat it means
What is its scope and action?
IAN these are determined not by
the executive branch of the govern
ment, or the legislative branch of the
government but by the judicial
branch of government
RIP Van Winkle, it is said, slept
a score Of years, woke up, found that
everything had changed. Evidently
Rip was not a lawyer else he could
have slept half century and awoke
finding himself quite familiar with
court practice and procedure.
What is the matter with the
courts? We speak of the laws de-
lays. This is a misnomer. 1t is not
the laws delay in the majority of
cases, it is the judges delays. The
uial judge should be first a minister
OF justice, The trial of the case
should be the exception, not the rule
over half the cases tried should be
speedily and equitably settled. The
cases that are tried that occupy a
week, two weeks, sometimes months,
should be tried in as many days.
God Almighty established the first
court. We know it as the court of
conscience. There is one primary but
paramount rule in this court to which
all Others are subordinate. This is
the Golden Rule, Whatsoever you
would that men should do unto YOU,
do ye even so to them That brings
nature, which is sometimes called
Gods justice, based on each particu-
lar case.
THAT is what the people are call
ing for today Justice in reason and
right rather than law by some rule.
especially a code of technical rules
that too often deny or prevent justice.
"A judgment to respond to justice
must be early, economical and equit-
able.
"One side in every law suit loses,
and not infrequently by reason of de-
lays, the expense and the labor both
sides actually do lose, so that iuga-
tion is too frequently luxury"
Numerous cases were cited show.
ing the lengths to which courts of
last resort have gone in setting aside
verdicts and judgments because some
technical rule or law is violated
THE founders of the federal con-
stitution specified the great objects
that we are seeking in the making
Of that constitution. towit: In order
to form a more perfect union. es-
tablish Justice, insure domestic tram
guilty, promote the general welfare,
and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity.
NEARLY four score years later the
leading objects of government were
specified in more humane language by