Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-06
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL y. COLLINS.

! powers as are specifically delegated 10
! il, and all ether powers, not prohibited
! by the Constitution, are left with the
| States or TO the people-not TO "the
people thereof" as citizens IF a State,
but to the people" of the whole
! United States. argues Prof. Arthur y.
| Holcombe of Harvard Law School, IN
his book. State Government OF the
United States
HoIcombe says page 81: Certainly
the tenth amendment to the Consti-
tuition of the United States was not
intended thus TO transfer To the PEG
pie Of the several States all the powers
OF the people OF the United States not
delegated by the people Of the United
States 10 the Federal Government. on
the contrary, the trainers Of that
amendment must have intended TO re-
serve a portion of the powers not dele
gated either 10 the Federal Govern
ment or to the governments OF the
several States, for future use in case
of need, by the people of the United
| States, themselves. 1t was
thereby settled that the people Of the
United States. and not those of the
individual States, are the final judges
of the extent of their powers: IN
short. the United States is not con
federacy, but a nation
Constitutional lawyers advise that
since the people are the final judges
of what power they retain, not having
delegated it to either the Federal or
State governments, nor Ito the people
thereof" then the people-the whole
people OF the United States-reServe
an "unwritteu constitution" superior
10 that which merely deals with dele
gated powers. Public opinion. there
fore, they argue, has a real place in
cur government as a republic. Public
safety and welfare are real obliga-
tons Of the Executive. adjustable to
meet any emergency, and superior In
sacredness to all legalistic interpreta-
tons.
:, x x
It was upon such q view of his
powers and duty that President Roose-
Welt acted in planning to seize the
coal mines and by military force
ignore all injunctions of Pennsylvania
courts-not in disregard of law, but
under what he esteemed the supreme
law. which requires a President TO
meet any emergency in defense of the
security. the health and lives of the
people
The Sherman antitrust act pro-
hibits ANY contract or combination in
the form of trust or otherwise, in re-
straint of trade or commerce among
the several States or with foreign
nations"
The argument that coal mining is
not interstate commerce, but is
only production within the State,
is denied by lawyers today, where
the general community has be
come dependent upon It in com
merce, and the courts have held
that Il conspiracy may operate beyond
q State boundary without the physical
~,
overt act IS committed. In such cases,
prosecution may be made where the
overt act takes place. rather than
where It was originally conceived and
Conspired. Hence, a conspiracy in
Pennsylvania between the miners or
the operators, or both, II it results I'm
constraining the coal supply of 1.-The
people of the United States, is sub
ject to prosecution in every State, and
it may be Continuing evil" from
day to day, enabling the plaintiff to
prosecute. regardless OF the size OF
his damages. and to collect three times
his damages. plus costs, including at
torneys' fees.
Under the Sherman law as in
terpreted, it becomes the duty of
every district attorney, acting under
the direction of the Attorney General,
to prosecute the conspirators in every
State and district where the conspir-
acy or strike causes a restraint of coal
supply. The constitutional lawyer on
whose advice this outline is based
adds in writing:
Although the Federal commerce
power does not reach productions or
manufactures as such, and said prod
ucts are considered apart from the
flow of commerce between the States
(see Coronado VS.. United Mine Work
ers, 259 u. S., 244), yet combinations
In restraint of trade whose effects
appear in the commercial conditions OF
the Nation can generally be reached
under the Sherman law, although they
are primarily combinations In produo-
ton of manufacture. (See United
States Us. Reading Co., 253 U. s., rs,
or almost any big case under the Sher-
man law)
In general. where conspiracies are
formed in one State and carried out
by overt acts in another, all the con-
spirat tors may be punished in the State
where the acts occurred, although
some of them never set foot therein.
Hyde VS.. United States, 225 U. g.,
347l
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