The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, December 21, 1916, Page 4

‘D. 1916.” This certificate is signed by the secretary of state, the attorney general " and unconstitutional beeause Judges Bruce Ehd"Chfistiehson, hold-ove‘rs,w were just as much interested in the case as the: retiring judges. They held election certlficates entltlmg them to:office beginning on' the first Monday in December; but they-heretofore had submitted’ to the supposedf custom which overrode the constitution. . They: intend to .contend, no doubt, with their successors for an extra month-—as the other three already have done. P R U ud\gs Bruce and Christianson 1gnoxed ‘section 100 of the eonstltu’tlon.‘ ' This section provides ithat when any .-mdge is " interested in a case he can not sit on that case, : and it" provides::that when distric ges t _Ij\ ey called in _in place of dlsquahfie judg ’& be called in by dxsmteres ested. and'they admitted 1tA ; Robinson, Birdzell and Grace. o\ /'hen 1t came tlme for this kangaroo court to hear the case the two BWismarck 1 o Al to Thom These Presents Shall Cone, Sreeting: Rnow Be, That we. L. 8. amma, Governer. and Thomas-Jall, Secre mdemo{d\eSma(NcmDaknn.dohuebywufymfm the dfimlmddnm ‘cast- hdnw = lwhmddxym sormencing: on - the fi:’)hfllyhbmw A'D.1qib. 2 ", BaSestisuny Wyereol. W have herennto i State 10 be affixed, ot Bismarck, this Fifth deyol December, in the year of. our: Lord .Ont MN&WNM Thls is an exnct photograplnc reproduehon of the cerhfiute of electxon of J. Robinson to. the supreme court: of North Dakota. Each of the three new mstices , Teceived a certificate exactly the same, except. for the name of the judge-elect.’ I will be noted that this certificate provides that ¢J. E.- n of the county of - Cass' was duly elected to the office of judge of ‘the supreme ‘court: of. the state: of ‘North' Dakota for the term of six . years, commencing on the first Monday in December, A and the governor of the; state, the attorney xenen! gning as a member of the can- usamg board. 5 0y of their districts have a chance-to -act upon it at the next election : and had no nght to choose the dlstrict Judges that were to '1ssue the wnt : and hear the case.. In place of Bruce and Christianson two other distriet judges were called in, making five district judges to hear the case, three ) of\whom had been chosen® by mter;ested ‘parties, Prope;;ly,x with due- “regard to their rights and the constitution of the state, Judges Birdzell, 4 Grace and Robinson refused to recogmze the authonty and dxsmte;est- edness of this improvised court, . - & : The court heard the" ‘side of the retu'mg Judges and rendered' declsmnp It Was never. doubted for a mome.‘nt what thls decxsxon I THIS HOWLING FAREE conducted in the name of v o w1th solemn~faces and . much red tape at Blsmarck lS the DlsmCti trough of North Dakota for years, and who ‘Judges - o on fattening thede had not the people 'Heh-')ed’; - them into the discard November 7.. For pe the i F arce spite and an extra'month’s pay—the wag’ cheap pohtlelan—,]udges of the supreme co 7 North Dakota are wxlhng to prostitute the machmery of a great commonwealth and drag the constltutlon mire; What can be said of the district: Judges who lent themselves kangaroo proceeding: and’ of theu‘ decision upholdmg, as they appointed to do, the claims of the retiring judges? These ]udges info it with open' eyes and they: ca.n not escape the stigma which attach to their acts and decision.. It lel follow them until the of them, Judge Pollock of Faruo, a reactionary pohtxclan, has alj been retired by an overwhelmmg vote in splte of the prestxge years, serv1ce on: the bench §- ® % it is dlflicul‘ 103 AS TO THE ‘decision og; ils: to mentmn the reason Why v refused to serve with the e was’ honest:and’ knew: the court was without author- ity. It falls to show what has- become of the month which has been . lost into: ohhvxon, read out of the calendar and destroyed by the decision. _In other werds, the court, to stand by its decision, must admit it was nght and lawful: and constxtutlonal for some judges, elected to only: six- .. year terms, to hold terms of six 'years'and one month, in violation of the - constitution. They: -fail to mentlon which judges they were who profitted by this extra month which the new. Jfidges, elected by the people last .November, must lo.,e from thexr s1x-year terms, 1f ‘the declslon is. to be‘ But an absurdlty of thls\kmd did not bother Judges called to. perform G certain acts and who hewed to ‘the liie without: regard to decency and to constitutions. The decision as & whole; ‘written by District Jndge’w : ‘Pollock, is'typical of that g'entleman’s entire pohtxcal career, . The Leader does not know what the outcome will be; but if_the :incoming judges ; allow themselves to be bound in any way. by lugh-handed poht.cal trick- ery of this kind they will not live up to the expectatlons ‘of the people of North Dakota who gave them such splend1d ma:on’aes Novemher 7 e