Montana labor news., 1935-06-13
A CONGRESSMAN
COMMENTS

BY Hon. Joseph P. Monaghan
Mr.. Speaker The MIRA was
great humanitarian act, designed t.
preserve liberty, promote decent stand
ards Of living, better wages, bette
hours, and abolish child labor. | be
lieve the thirty-hour week, the Wag.
ner-C onnery Disputes Act perhap.
would accomplish more in that direction
but if the Supreme Court declares tn,
lNRA unconstitutional it renders still
more doubtful the constitutional valid
ity of such acts as these as long as WI
permit the Court to be the ruler of oui
Nation. The Frazier-Lemke Act wa.
designed to save the farms Of million.
of citizens from foreclosure.
THE most alarming tendency OF thi
day." said Supreme Court Justice Har.
Ian in 1911 in his dissent to the Stand
ard Oil decree, in my Judgment, SO far
as the safety and integrity OF our in
stitutions are concerned, is the tend
ency to judicial legislation, so that
when men having vast interests ar,
concerned, and they cannot get tn,
law-making power OF the country
which controls it to pass the legisla
ton they desire, the next thing thel
do is to raise the question in some case
to get the court to so construe the Con
stitution or the statutes as to meal
what they want it to mean
You seem to consider the judges a
the ultimate arbiters OF all constitu
tional question: said Thomas Jeffer
son, "a very dangerous doctrine in
deed, and one that would place us un
der the despotism OF an obligarchy."
The judges have arbitrary power
and the corporations have taken pos
session OF it simply BY naming a ma
Ijority of the judges. These words art
not the words OF a Bolshevik or a rev.
dictionary. They are the quoted word.
OF Chief Justice Clark OF the Suprem,
Court Of North Carolina.
We'll, it does seem that the Suprem,
Court and other tribunals of justic,
following its lead have taken to them.
selves functions that they were never
intended to have, functions which ap.
pear to be entirely incompatible witt
the administration of justice and witt
democracy Of government so runs al
editorial note in Pearson's magazine
under the article entitled, "The UsurpeC
Power of Our Courts" mo court ha.
the right to declare legislation uncon.
s%titutional. -Four times the proposition
to give the Supreme Court this powe.
came to a vote in the Constitutions
Convention. Four times the PROPOSE.
ton was voted down. Yet the Su.
preme Court and State Courts Of Ap.
peals now assume this very power
Our judges appear to think that they
are better than lawmakers, better thar
lawyers, less apt to err than mere NOR
tails. Perhaps the public is responsible,
for this attitude. Perhaps we hav,
been too ready to think that when
man puts on the robe he becomes a
once a model Of wisdom and virtue
We must now put aside fictitious ira
dition and consider the courts in colC
blood. Their presumption of authority
is one of the greatest problems will
which we have to deal. They ar,
charged with laying down one law TO.
the poor and another for the rich
They have been called the "bulwark o
privilege"
Mr.. Truax. Rabble rousers wer,
mentioned. | wonder if the gentleman
recalls the rabble rousers out in low;
in 1888 when they pulled a Judge of
the Federal bench
Mr.. Monaghan. Mr.. Speaker, I MAJ
say to the gentleman from Ohio that
would not by any means suggest any
thing that would in any way lead t.
such activity as that which occurred
in Iowa. | believe that we in the Con
gress OF the United States do o t.
promote mob psychology in this coun
try, do more to promote revolution il
this country, than can be conceived b,
us when we fail to curb the power o
the Supreme Court in accordance will
article III, section 2 OF the Constitu
tion Of the United States, which pro
vides: In all the other Cases befor,
mentioned, the Supreme Court shall
have appellate Jurisdiction, both as tC
Law and Fact, with such Exception,
and under such Regulations as tn,
Congress shall make
Mr.. Blanton. If my good frienC
from Montana wants to help the farm.
ers Of the United States in the matte
of loans, let him make their loans Sc.
cure.
Mr.. Monaghan. If this Congress.
would establish a central banking sys.
TEN, wrest control from the Interna.
tional Bankers and restore it to Con.
gress where clearly the Constitution
meant it to be placed when it provided
its right to coin money and regulate it
value, it will do more to help tn,
farmer than by anything else it ha,
done.