The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1922-08-18

tlCo 10 the opposite party ana only
then after an opportunity given him
to appear in court and state his side |
of the case. The fathers of our coun- |
try said mo taxation without rep
resentation." The Montana supreme
court has said mo injunctions until !
both sides have had their day in
court" And even then the policy of
the court has always been to use
every precaution to prevent the abuse !
Of this extraordinary remedy. Our
court has always recognized that no
power lodged in the courts is more
liable to be abused than the power
Of issuing injunctions. In states
where this fact has not been recog-
nized, anarchy has sometimes result
cd from the abuse Of injunctions dur
ing labor disputes.
The humanitarian spirit Of the
court was also plainly shown when
Il held that debtors have q year in
which to redeem real estate from q
sher1ff's sale. In early days the stat
ures Of Montana did not give debt
or this right. Many Of the foremost
lawyers OF the state were Of the opin-
ion that until the legislature passed
such statute, the right did not exist.
But the supreme court boldly took
the position that a year to redeem
was no more than every debtor was
entitled to, and they gave it to him.
All authorities now agree that
under . broad construction Of the
principles Of the common law, the
court was entirely justified in giving
this privilege to Montana debtors. A
technical or narrow view Of the COM
mon law, however, would have caus-
ed the court to deny It. Then the old
story Of delay and confusion would
have had to be gone through with un-
til the legislature could meet and en-
act the necessary statute.
Consistency Of Decisions
But perhaps the most remarkable
thing Of all about the Montana SUI
preme court is the wonderful consist
ency Of its decisions. The supreme
court Of the United States has re-
yersed itself time and again. Nearly
all the state courts have done the
same. California, the state from
which Montana copied nearly all of
it's early statutes, has reversed itself
so many times that even a Philadel-
phia lawyer can hardly tell what the
law Of California is today on many
important questions.
But no such condition prevails in
Montana. Not once has our supreme
court reversed itself. On the con-
trary, its decisions have been uni
f0rmly consistent and harmonious.
In some states il you hire three diff
foR0VAt 00wrVynWc 70 D{vA AnfntQn q
to what the law is on a certain point.
you. will get three different answers,
and the worst of it is that each
answer will be right. The three law
yers simply guess differently as to
which one of its own decisions their
supreme court will follow.
But in Montana one lawyer and
he novice. can generally tell you
exactly what the law is. If our SUI
preme court has ruled on the ques-
ton. Its decision will be so clear and
plain. and SO in harmony with its
previous decisions. that almost any
youngster just out of law school, car
tell Just what the law Is.
Students Of Jurisprudence say thai
there are three principal reasons FOL
this most fortunate condition of the
Montana decisions. First the judges
OF the Montana supreme court hav'
almost without exception been mel
OF unusual ability. The publisher
OF the great law encyclopedias ant
text books have continually cited tn,
decisions Of our judges in a wa!
which shows they consider them som,
OF the ablest In the union. Not In
frequently . decision by one of GU
judges will be referred to by thes
publishers a. the best decision o.
the point involved to be found in tn
law books. Repeatedly Montana de
ctsiohs are accepted as good law b
the courts Of states much older an
TAR moro important than Montana.
Continuity Of Service
The second great reason for tn
; continuity and uniformity Of tn
Montana decisions has been the Ion
periods OF continuous service Of on