The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 19, 1916, Page 9

'5Supreme°” Makers of the Constltutlon D1d Not Intend It-So; Learning May Blind the F.yes to Facts NG N THE iomtzon of our repu];hc the people delegated certain powers ‘to’ the republic -and retained all power not thus delegated to them- Belves. Thus, our government is one of & purely delegated powers, from . the - people, in whom all political power xs vngmally and inherently ; The powers thus delegated were o' be the basis .upon which- a: republic should be ' builded and these delegated powers: were’ by onr immorinl forefathers, - the’ founders of our ‘glorious ° repnbhc, arranged, subdivided and organized 'into’- the fundamental law of ‘our country, our’ written constitution, ' the most important political’ document ever - possessed by han. “ The constitution 1s the fundamental’ law upoh which our repubfic xsts and - the various states rest mmflarmformtoournahenalconshtu tion 'and large}y agreemgw:flxltm spmt. Our forefathers, having received from' fl:e ‘people the delegated powers, were very cautious in drafting the ‘constitu- tion to divide ‘and distribute those powers intp’ three separate classes.’ .. By R. H. GRACE Ca.ndldate Indorsed by Nonparhsan League for Snpreme Court Justice 'Th;s is. a government of “delegated powers.”- - The courts and the legislatures get all their _powers from the people. 'Decisions of the North Dakota supreme court indicate that the court the people. are entitled only to such :"rlghts as the court and legislature are willing . G to g'lve ‘them. - ] legxshtmgmaddmonto&esoverelgn "_power of |interpretation, 'and if courts indirectly legislate, the govemmentwfllbeoutofbdmeand wi.llweakenanddetenmbe. tfie quahty of the law. The legxsla'ave -branch of the government may pass a law that may in fact not be a very good In Jaw, but if it’should happen the judiciary: the first class was placed legislative has no power to make it batter or by its power, the pdiver to ‘enact laws;’ second class. was placed the executive power, the power to enforce law; in the: third'class was placed the judicial power, flle power to interpret law. '!'HREE KINDS OF POWER : KEPT ENTIRELY SEPARATE ‘in the decision indirectly~ to repeal ‘it. The judiciary can only say what the legis- lative hdy meant when it passed the. ‘law or, in other words, interpret it. If the law is not unconstitutional it remains -a hw, until the weight of public opinion . - its repeal by the same power requires " that-enacted it, the leg:slahve branch of- These powers m:e entu'e]y aepaxate g’ovemment, and until any law is so .anddlstmetmthdrfunchone,andi! ;epeqled or -modified, it stands as the either of these divisions of governmental > expressed will of the people and the power does not properly . fun:twn the . people in their sovereign capacity by and government _ will weaken in , proportion | tl'trough their legzslators, their appoi ted'v to the failure of -any such division of | government properly to exercise 1ts dele- gated power. = { It ‘may, theretbre be assumed; that it ls _absolutely esseuhal to the pu'petmt of free government that the executive, leg«slahve and " judicial branches: of _' ‘whether . It has been’ cmmed'bymuotvhe presa, by eminent,” writers, . by many © p'nbhc spekkers and by others that the ; . by t another w If the surgeon trled to perform an amputation _rules latd down by some sawbones of ‘the fom'teenth century he would soon land in ' the ) '_'ntlary, wouldn’t he? But the highest | _courts still gravely decide cases on the basis of pronouncements uttered - ‘by one bigwig or X ,’,vdlspensed Jjustice. for the king ,”e Amerlca was dxscovered " alll lega[ machmery be m the mamh of proxre§S’ 5 the. mtmmentahhes by wmc‘l»to detee lngh esteem or have not the confidence of the people in as high degree as in earlier times, such-condition,.if it exists, may have . been cansed by the lack 'of ‘progressiveness on the part of the Judiciary. It may be that the Jndncml mind still elings to techmeahty, believing he is the greatest: judge who is' the most erudite in mere technicality, and who clings the closest to ancient ‘forms and who hedges himself about with the most technical rules of proeedure. COURTS. LINGER BEBIND WHILE SCIENCE PROGRESSES Ifsuchbetme,wecanhardlyexpect the progressive spirit of the twentieth century to- harmonize with such anti- quated customs. The twentieth century _- < demamls progress. . Every otber professxon has made great progress in the past half cemtury, and why should not the professmn of law and ~ Take the professxon of medicine, for t~hae mcreased /in: effective- ‘of disease, in - etect dot of . the twentxeth century and the machinery of the law remains unwieldy and cumbersome and fettered by technicality. The law iuelf is. weighed down by . uncertainty, It is as changeable as the winds of winter, with rules as numerous as the sands of the sea. It is slow in operation, doubtful in application and in its dispensation has become a burden to humanity. The law should be 2 blessing to man- kind; it should protect man fully in his personal and property rights; in the spirit, as well as in the Aegter of the law. ' There ‘should be absolute’ equality of all . ‘persons before thé law. rights of each individual must be meas- ured by the same yard stick of law in order that free institutions may hve in perpetuity. Therefore the judiciary everywhere must dispense with technieality, simp- hfy rules of procedure, gquicken the exer- cise of the remedies of law and equity and the people of the commonwealths throughout our land will assist in brmg- ing about these beneficent results by placing such men only. in judicial posie tions whose ideals, a.splrntlons and con- sciences harmoize and are in sympathy _with the ideals, aspirations and desires “of th@ great majority 'and mass of humanity. Courts are not zmber than their creator, the people. THE HIGHEST COURT . THE GOVERNMENT KNOWS "We must not forget that the highest court in our land, though it has no clerk to make minutes of its proceedings’ nor marshal to execute its mandates, yet proceeds with its work swiftly and surely, reversing when . it pleases the decisions of all other courts and in the final- analygis is really the court of. the last reso Y Thls court . is. the court of. publie .;opinion: ' The rules that govern its pro-- cedure “emanate from the conscience. of - the ‘whole people ‘and from ifs final man- date there is 1o escape or appeal. It is the final guardian of our liberties - amd property, our free institutions and. personal right and when it exercises its Junsdxct:on all other courts must. aequiesce in its findings of fact and con- clusions’ . of . law. Its judgment is supreme, It demands justice’ for alil the people at all times everywhere Vote “No” On This Referred Bill (Continued from page 2) OUT THE STATE. The tax has. almdj . wput qbomt $70,000 in' the' treasury for terminal elevators. - Do you want to let the legislature get by ‘with_this tepeal 50 that the eme ' The “absolute - DN | i