The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-03-15
Has Reason Killed law

ABy an extension of its famous rule
q reason" the supreme court decides
ihat although the steel corpora ton has
teehnlcaily violated the Sherman anti
trust law, nevertheless ii would be con-
uary 20 public interest" to hold the
company guilty and order its dissolu-
ton, The corporation is not now vio-
lating the law, but on the contrary is
performing valuable public services
which would be lost Ii the law were
rtigidly erforeed-sueh is the gist of
TO all intents and purposes the anti
into cooked hat" says the LAFAYETTE
Journal Courier Qnd. Rep.) 'inasmuch
as the law has apparently been made
secondary to matter Of policy" and
this paper fears that 1.-THE application
Of the rule of reason which takes into
consideration a question of policy In
one direction, may later provide back
fire because Of questions OF policy per-
haps equally important but at pres
ent not so much In the public eye" The
Nebraska State Journal lind, Rep.) be-
leves, moreover. that the court has
overstepped its functions, for;
THE deciding of what is or is not in
the public interest Is strictly a legis-
lative function. It is the preroga-
tive of the people themselves, acting
through their legislative representatives,
to say what is in the public interest.
Suppose a majoTity Of the people
now. decide that 1t Is to their interest
to dissolve such Combinations as the
not only the law or the constitution to
accomplish this, or, with the court as
Stunning the power to say what is and
what IL not in the public interest, must
they change the court also?"
Or, to state the doctrine in another
q n Iane fatin 4Eaa TtalSs -
Eagle Ind.] submits that the decision
is tantamount to saying: This trust
is too big for US to tamper with. If we
should knock the steel kings off their
thrones they might jar the foundations
OF our economic structure in their fall.
1T is a doctrine that many city police
administrations have long held invio-
Table the Eagle continues. "A ring of
gangsters and thieves is permitted to
hold sway In city because the police
believe that 1t would not be compatible
with public interest (Qf private interest)
to destroy 1t. The theory is that the
gang is too strong for the police, there
with the local, ring of thugs to keep
all outside thugs off the reservation"
The Detroit Free Press Qnd.) won
ders, too, If this opens the way to a
court custom of passing mot only on
the constitutionality Of statutes. but
also upon their general deSlranllity from
the standpoint of public policy and
whether in the end such a tendency
may not blossom into the exercise of
veto power on the one hand, and of
amending power on the other--in which
case both the executive and legislative
branches of government would find
their prerogatives infringed." On such
a basis 1.-The equilibrium originally de-
signed to be established between the
three coordinate branches of the gov
eminent inevitably falls, and into the
hands of the supreme court passes an
authority almost without limitation"
The New York American Qndl declares
that such an infraotion Of the con.
stitution and invasion of the rights OF
a coordinate branch of government Is
definitely and distinctly revolutionary"
The Greensboro Daily News Qnd.)
points out that the government rode
ruthlessly over the rule of. reason and
held the defendants severely to the let
ter of the law in the reeent Indian
apolis case when 1.-THE defendant was
not a billion dollar corporation, but an
association of working men, the coal
miners" and asks, what more beautl-
full illustration of his theories could q
soap box orator have than thisF
Yet though its basic soundness is
thus questioned, the immediate effects
of the decision are generally regarded
as good. The Baltimore News (lnd.g
believes "a decree dissolving the United
States Steel corporation could have been