Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1923-07-06
THE final BOSS
UNCLE SANS SUPREME COURT
CONTROLS THE u. S.
British Writer Compares Democratic
America With MOnarchial
England
By Milton BrOnner

London-"In your free republic the
ultimate boss is your federal supreme
court, which is not elected by the
voters of America. In our constitu-
tional kingdom the ultimate boss is
parliament and the most. influential
part of parliament is the house of
commons, which is elected by the
voters of Great Britain"
That was the thought provoking
statement made by a prominent Lon
don lawyer apropos of the United
States supreme court declaring the
children in the District of Columbia
invalid, and also to change the laws
so that the court may no longer by
five-to-four vote knock out the en-
actmentS of congress.
A little research showed that my
British friend was right. No legal
body in Britain-and it has some very
solemn, very bewigged and very high
courts-has anything like the power
of our supreme court.
The biggest court in Britain---in
fact, the highest court in the entire
British empire-is the tribunal COM
posed of the law lords of the house
of lords, presided over by Lord Chan
cellor Cave. The other high court is
the court of appeal, presided over by
Lord Chief Justice Gordon Hewart.
Neither of these courts would dream
of setting aside law enacted by
parliament.
Long ago, in a famous series OF
lectures afterward reprinted in book
form, A. V. Dicey, of Oxford uni
versity and one of the greatest law
yers in England, said of our form of
government:
Federalism means legalism-the
predominance of the judiciary in the
constitution. The court is not only
the guardian but also at a given
moment the master of the constitu-
ton"
The great founders of the American
republic dreamed of dividing Che
powers equally between the executive,
who is the president; the Legislative,
which comprises the two houses OF
congress, and the judiciary, which IN
it's ultimate expression is the supreme
court. But as a matter of hard fact,
about 80 years ago the supreme court
commenced encroaching both upon
the prerogatives of the president and
of congress. At the present time it
is far more powerful than either.
For instance, when the president
vetoes a law it may not stay vetoed.
When the supreme court vetoes a law,
it is dead as Hector.
Similarly, the supreme court has
encroached upon the legislative
powers of congress. Everyone re-
members the famous decision some
years ago in one of the trust cases
where the supreme court actually
wrote into the law a qualifying ad-
jective which congress itself had de-
bated and voted down. But the court
virtually said congress didn't know
what it was about.
IF in our country the supreme
court has gradually worked itself into
the supreme position in. the nations
governing machinery, and a similar
process of time and laws has made
parliament the unquestioned outhor-
ity in Great Britain. Englishmen say
that is where their unwritten constl-
tuition is an advantage over our writ
ten one. I
Parliament-meanin king, house
of lords and house of commos-under
the English constitution has. the right
to make or unmake any law whatso-
ever and no person or body is recog-
nized as having the right to change,
override Or set aside laws thus en-
acted. Consequently there does not
exist in. the British empire any legis-
lative, judicial or executive person,
or body of persons, which can pro-
nounce void any law passed by par
lament, basing its action on the
ground that the law is opposed to the
ctitntiop