The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1936-04-16
PROGRESSIVE REPUBLICAN
BY r. w. Hitchcock

Il IbOoIsG0CAv - AsAIA CASA<AN<AAN
BY r. w. Hitchcock
The Minnesota supreme court has
a fine new feather in its cap.
The most eminent authority IN
the world upon the rules Of evil
dence, John H. Wigmore, dean
emeritus of the law school of
Northwestern University, has anal
yzed and graded the supreme
court of the several states Of the
Union, and places the Minnesota
supreme court in the first and
highest group.
The appraisal Is based on a study
of the opinions of the courts on
points of evidence law covering an
eight year period from 1925 to 1882.
All present members of the court
were then sitting judges except
Chief Justice Devaney and Justice
Julius Olson.
Judges cited by Dean Wigmore
as "habitually writing masterful
opinions" are Stone and Wilson
(former chief justice) in Minneso-
ia.
Dean Wigmore's noteworthy an
alysis, entitled Grading Our State
Supreme Courts; A tentative Meth
3D." Is published in the April num-
Der of the American Bar Associa-
ton Journal.
The publicity which members Of
the state administration and their
eleemosynary supporters are get
ting in reference to the excessive
prices which the highway depart
ment has attempted to pay for var
ious land purchases-this publicity
seems to annoy these gentlemen.
They have even appealed to the
courts to have it hushed up.
In the memorandum attached to
his conclusions of law and decree,
permanently enjoining the highway
department from paying to Mrs.
Elsie M. Appleton, of Redwood
Falls, and her attorney, Frank w.
Murphy, $1,000 for property not on
any state trunk highway, Judge AL
bert H. Emerson says:
Counsel for the state suggest in
their last brief that in my memoir
andum should suggest something
to still certain propaganda about
this case. I do not know that there
is any, nor do have any power to
do that"
The court in its memorandum
also chuckles along with the rest
of the state over the inept but ar
rogant assumption by the attorney
general that the commissioner Of
highways rules by some divine
right. The court said in its memoir
andum: Under the decisions of
our courts heretofore very proper
ly rendered Gin view of our statut-
esq, the highway commissioner may
well have felt himself a runner-up
to Alexander Selkirk regarding
whom one little verse was read to
the court in the argument of coun-
sci:
II am monarch Of all I survey,
My right there Is none to dispute;
From the centre all round to the
sea,
I am lord of the fowl and the
brute"
And If am wrong in my under
standing Of the law, If the highway
commissioner has the power claim
ed for him by the attorney gener-
al, then the power that Alexander
Selkirk thought he had has nothing
compared with that Of our highway
commissioner"
Judge Emerson, however, checked
the highway department up pretty
short with a permanent injunction.
His declaration that when the high
way commissioner "wanders off the
right of way" to buy land he Is
performing an illegal act is highly
significant, for the highway depart
ment has done this, and other cas-
es, somewhat notorious, are now
pending in the courts in which this
same action is involved.
The Redwood Falls-Appleton-
Murphy case is in itself highly il
Eliminating. It's outcome is a COM
plete victory for Stafford King,
state auditor, and Julius Schmahl,
state treasurer, and for citizens of
Redwood Falls, all of whom OBJ
jected to the payment by the state
of $1,000 to Mrs. Elsie Appleton and
her attorney, Frank Murphy, for
property at Redwood Falls not
upon any state trunk highway.
Mrs. Appleton's property at Red
wood Falls is just off the right of
way of state trunk highway 10. APP
praisers awarded her 5000 dam
ages in December 1884. The high
way department, through the attor.
ney general, objected vigorously to
this award, claiming that it was
grossly excessive, unreasonable and
contrary to law, and also asserting
that Mrs. Appleton suffered no
damages of any kind or nature
whatever of a compensate nature"
From this emphatic opinion the
highway department and the attor-
ney general in October 1895 execut-
ed a right-about-face by STIMULATING
with Mrs. Appleton and her attor-
ney, Frank w. Murphy, to pay
them $1,000 for an outright pur-
chase Of the property, Mrs. Apple
ton to remove the buildings. It was
shown at the trial of the case, and
so appears in Judge Enerson's find
ings, that the property, exclusive Of
the buildings, is not worth more
than $500.
DR.. Ellis Evans. 81, of Cleveland,
o., has enrolled in Western Re