The Connecticut labor news., 1924-07-26

tory, the |. $. Supreme Court only declare unconstitutional any act of Congress which was of general appli- cation. All other acts or portions of acts ;nvalidated by the Court related only to the organization of courts ana so drew little public attention,
 The one exception was the famous Dred Scott decision, the decision said by many writers to have precipitated the Civil War. In this case the Su- preme Court vetoed an act of Congress. The people then vetoed the action of the court after four years of blood shed. It was not possible to correct the court at the polls, as could have been done in the case of Congress.
 Dred Scott was a slave His master moved from Missouri to Illinois and for two years in each of these juris- dictions, before returning to Missouri The claim was set up on the negro's behalf that residence in Illinois where slavery was prohibited by the state con- stitution, and in Wisconsin, a free soil under the Missouri Compromise Act, had made the negro free. The claim was sustained by the local court, but reversed by the State Supreme Court, and so reached the U. s. Supreme Court.
 Prominent free-soi1 advocates press ed the negro's case for him. How ever, it is doubtful if a decision by the Supreme Court that temporary resi- dence outside his state had not freed ! Scott would have caused any serious outcry. But the U. S,fSupreme Court ,, went further It declared the Missouri Compromise Act itself unconstitutional It was unconstitutional, said the court, | because 1t interfered with the natural property where he pleased and because 1t interfered with the constitutional | equality of citizens of different state 1 Two of the judges, dissenting, held that the Act was a rightful exercise of I Congress power to legislate for the l been questioned; and that it did not violate the equality of citizens because citizens could only hold slaves in states I that permitted it.
 l It IS related that, recognizing the ex- plOsive character of the case, the origi- nal intention of the Supreme Court was simply to uphold the Missouri courts decision, treating the issues as local questions with which the Supreme Court should not concern itself No constitutional questions were to be | raised.
 Frederick Trevor Hill has written this account of what happened;
 Before Mr. Justice Nelson could prepare this opinion, however, the ac- tive agents of the slave power inter cial functions they waylaid the judges, adroitly importuning them to change their plan, hattering those whose vani- ty gave the opening appealing to the ambition of others, and generally en- phasizing the opportunity which lay be- fore the Court to fulfill public and patriotic duty by forever quieting a dis Cussion injurious to the nations wei fare. Declare all restrictions such as the Missouri Compromise unconstitu- tional, it was urged, and the North will acquiesce, and the Union will be pre- served. All of the judges were honest and conscientious, but some of them were far advanced in age, and the pres sure which was constantly brought to bear upon them was well calculated to disturb their judgment"
 Alexander H. Stevens, a Southern politician, wrote to his brother:
 q have been urging all the influence i could bear upon the Supreme Court to get them to postpone no longer the case on the Missouri Restriction be- fore them, but to decide it. They take 1t up today. If they decide, as I have reason to believe they will, that the Restriction is unconstitutional" etc
 The opinion finally was written by Chief Justice Fancy, who made it the occasion for an extensive review of the [ whole slave question, in the hope of ending the agitation against slavery The decision denied the existence of | negroes as "persons," 1t declared them to be merchandise or property and tha, their condition as such was fixed and unchangeable.
 The announcement of the decision was made two days after President Buchanan was inaugurated. It was openly charged in the Senate that Blu chanan had advance knowledge of the decision and that in his inaugural ad- dress he pledged his support to it. Ex- ceptlon was taken to the Courts at l ter11nt tn decida .f ....Ll:..