Montana labor news., 1937-03-11
Spiegel, Mulholland and
Other Liberals File Suit
in Court Alleging Illegal
Practices.
MARSHAL OF COURT
THE CONSTITUTION
BE DAMNED

liz CONSTITUTION plONldSo tldt III
legislative assembly shall continue
for o than sixty days, and it has
been held that sixty days means
sixty consecutive days. The legisla-
ture having started on January 4,
1887, the sixty days ended at mid
night on March 4, 1887. In other
words, by operation of law, the leg
islature ceased to exist as a legisla-
tive body at midnight on March 5th.
Mr. Spiegel gave formal notice to
the Senate and to the House at least
two weeks before the session ended
that he would object to the passage
of any laws after the constitutional
limitation had expired-that is, after
midnight of March 4th-but Mr..
Rolph, the Speaker of the House,
treated Mr.. Spiegel's statement light
ly, and when Mr.. Spiegel, after mid
night, called to the Speakers atten-
ton that it was after midnight and
that the session had automatically
ceased 70 exist and would adjourn
sine die, the Speaker ruled him out
of order and would not put his mo-
ton to adjourn, but permitted a mo-
ton to recess for nine and one-half
hours, which recessed the legislature
until ten o'clock March 5th. Mr..
Spiegel then warned the members
that he would take the matter into
the Supreme Court the next morn
ing.
Accordingly, Mr.. Spiegel and Lee
Metcalf of Ravalli County, A. A.
Alvord of Sanders County, M. ].
Mulholland of Silver Bow County,
VIM. ]. Nelson of Golden Valley
County, H. A. Lambert of Hill Coun-
ty, H. H. Hess of Hill County, M. A.
McClain of Missoula County, J.. A.
O'Shea of Carbon County, Hugo
Anderson of Lincoln County, Jasper
D%eDobbelier of Valley County, Emil
G. Bjorneby of Flathead County, w.
M. Cusick of Flathead County,
George w. Ruffcorn of Valley Coun-
ty, Ambrose G. Measure of Flathead
County and Andrew E. Anderson of
Chouteau County, filed suit in the
Supreme Court through their at
torney, Wellington D. Rankin, in
which they asked for an injunction
to restrain the legislature from ex-
pending money illegally, and to re-
strain the Clerk and Speaker from
falsifying and %fabricating the rec
ords, that is, to restrain them from
falsely claiming that the legislation
they YER about to pass on March
5th was passed on March 4th when
in truth and in fact it was being
passed on March 5th.
The members of the Supreme
Court personally directed Mr.. Small,
the Marshal of the Supreme Court,
to serve this order on the Speaker
and others to show cause why they
should not be restrained, but Mr.
Rolph and a number of others went
into a sit-down huddle and would
not permit the Marshal to serve the
writ. In fact, when the Marshal of
the Supreme Court tried to serve the
writ he was pushed and elected
bodily from the legislative chamber
and treated as a common thug and
trespassed.
This was called to the attention of
the Supreme Court-how its Mar
shall was bodily thrown out of a
rump legislative body which was
meeting in defiance of the constitu-
ton, but so far the Supreme Court
has taken no action to bring the
parties before the Court on contempt
charges.
The case came on for argument
at 1880 on March 5th before Chief
Justice Sands and Associate Justices
Samuel v. Stewart, c. F. Morris,
Ralph j. Anderson, Albert Angst
man. Eddie Booth, for years a rep
re%sentative of the Anaconda Copper
Mining Company and allied inter
ests, argued ostensibly as a friend
of the Court, but in fact as the at
torney for the corporations, that it
made no difference how crooked or