The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1929-03-08

In the marble pile on Wabasha Hill
] in st. Paul every day sees three ring
circus in progress.
On the third floor of this beautiful
building, reputed to be the finest state
capitol in America, are spacious cor
ridors and a marvellous vista of majes-
tic columns in native, Grecian and
Italian marbles. In addition to these
there is the three ring circus.
At the back of the building, in a
wing jutting out from the main struc-
ture is the spacious house chamber,
ing As you face this truly noble room,
you may look to the left thru a cor
ridor of columns to the main entrance
Of the senate chamber at one far end
Of the building while to the right
thru another marble collonade in the
extreme distance is the supreme court
chamber.
At $3.50 every morning seven justices
of the supreme court, clad in black,
flowing, silken robes file into the SUI
preme court room and take their seats
on a dias before long mahogany bar
of justice. There they sit while at q
mahogany table in the center of the
room counsel stand and argue the mo-
ton before the court. Occasionally in
the seats at the rear sits some rather
awed and uninterested spectator. But
crowds never throng to this ring of
the circus Seldom, in fact is there
any imposing array of counSel-uSually
lone figure at the mahogany table
makes his pleadings before the impas-
sive court.
After some three hours of this the
court rises, the robed Justices file out,
they doff their robes with sigh of
relief, they scurry for food or they
assemble in an inner chamber and IN
executive session discuss the issues
that have been presented to them.
After that each retires to his private
den where he settles back in a big
arm chair before a desk laden with
reports and decisions and statutes and
other awesome things. Calf bound
law books line the walls, sprawl over
the floor or yawn at one from every
possible point of vantage. The learned
Justice reads and reads and reads. In
time he writes an opinion on the cases
that have been assigned to him. On
Fridays these opinions are handed
down" thru the Office of the clerk of
the supreme court.
That's one ring of the circus.
Far down the italian and Grecian
marbles at the other end of the capt.
tol is the garish senate chamber. In
size 1t is duplicate Of the supreme
court chamber, but is more deliberately
marbled and far more freely garnish-
ed with gold or what glitters in its
place. A steep gallery looks down upon
the chamber. Each senator has ma
hogany desk to himself. The heuten-
ant governor sits in great chair
and yawns. The senate does this and
that. Occasionally 1t bursts into ora
tory. Carley and Sullivan, j. D., or
the bittertongued senator from Vel
low Medicine thunder until the re-
verberations thereof resound thruout
the great building.
This is the second ring of the cir
Gus. Here it is that the lions most
ly roar.
But the center ring of the circus Is
the heart of the whole show. There
the mob of 131 performers, with their
sisters and their cousins and their
aunts in waiting to the number OF lob
or more, is sometimes raging mob,
Indifferent to all that goes on one
moment and the next instant noisly
stoning a passing bill to its death.
The house is a bediam of confusion to