Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1933-10-19
THE GOVERNORS SECRETARY
AND JURISPRUDENCE


THE GOVERNORS SECRETARY
AND JURISPRUDENCE
The secretary of a prominent
public official is usually not in
the public eye. But the wise and
shrewd public official knows what
kind of man he selects when he
chooses his private secretary.
And so it is in the case of Vince
A. Day, secretary to Governor
Floyd B. Olson. Mr.. Day is of the
quiet and unassuming type of men
but he knows Ibis onions" has
firm convictions, is a man of
ideals and lives up to the prin-
ciples for which he stands. He
is well grounded in economies and
is definitely and unalterably on
the side of the masses for better
deal. Besides all those good quail
ifications-much needed in public
life-Mr. Day is just a splendid
character personally. At dinner
given in honor of Chief Justice
John P. Devaney, recently ap-
pointed by Governor Olson, the
governors secretary gave splen-
did talk on Jurisprudence and law.
A careful reading of this article
reveals where Mr.. Day stands.
1t follows:
We are in the midst of what DR..
John Dewey calls the third great
crisis that has occurred in this ma
ton. The first was the revolutionary
period struggle for independence; the
second, the Civil war, which, as Abra-
ham Lincoln put it, was to determine
whether this nation was to continue
half slave and half free" The third,
the present economic and industrial
crisis, overshadowing in Importance
both of the others, which will deter
mine whether this nation is to con-
tinue nine-tenths impoverished and
One-tenth rich.
Institutions Crumbled or Crumbling.
The need for a new life is self-evi-
dent. Political, economic and social
institutions have crumbled or are
crumbling. The economic institutions
which control production, exchange
and distribution, have failed to give
society that security which they are
supposed to guarantee. They have
produced the opposite result.
Instead of order we have chaos; in
stead of prosperity poverty; instead
of peace-war. Despite the dire want
and poverty of our people our So
called SURPRISES are being destroyed
rather than distributed.
An Inconsistent System.
We have seen the paradox of the
government of a neighboring state
calling out the militia to stop and
prevent dairy farmers from dumping
milk; yet at the same time the fed
eral government is paying a premium
to other farmers for blowing under
millions of acres of cotton. Such con-
duct, according to the Associated
Press, is enough to confuse the mules.
l quote:
IAN unexpected problem attend
ing the Federal Farm Administra-
tons cotton reduction campaign
centers about the mules. F.. The
mules won't act right in blowing
up the cotton. All these years
they have been lambasted if they
walked atop the cotton row. Now
it is the reverse, and they are
being asked to trample down
stalks they have been carefully
trained to protect. They have re-
fused to do it. In our opinion the
mules in rebelling are showing
good horse sense"
Need New Social Life.
We not only need a new social life.
We need new liberal system of
Jurisprudence to maintain this new
order. Instead of perpetual growth
corresponding to the growth of the
human race the most distinctive trait
of our law has been it's immObility-
tendency to crystalline what should
be modified and developed day by day.
The accepted idea of the constitution,
the state and statutory laws can hold
no longer. We have abandoned the
gold standard, free competition of in
dustry, and enacted mortgage mora
forums. The old precedents provide
no guidance. They no longer control.
One of the favorite maxims of the
law of our time is expressed as fol-
lows: Equality before the law, obedi-
ence to the law without distinction"
This maxim was an advance over the
cruel and arbitrary power of the
feudal lord. 1t promised to lord and
peasant alike the equality of rich and
poor before the judge and court. 1t
finds expression in the 14th Amend
ment to the constitution of the United
States, which states that no person
shall be deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law.
The Abuses of InjunctiOns.
The injunctions issued by our courts
in labor disputes violate this provi-
sion. In the Bedford Stone case, it
was held by the Supreme Court of the
United States that the stone company
which refused to recognize the union
men at its quarry, could require them
to set its stone and serve it in the re-
hottest sections even against the will