CURT COMMENT OF THE TIMES
Those democrats in congress who be
lieve that the consumers of the country
are more interested in revenue than they
are in free wool, ought to consult the con
sumers. This talk about inadequate
revenue if wool is put on the free list is
all rot. Wool is a prime necessity,
therefore should not be taxed. And,
again, the woolen schedule is the rankest
orbbery in the whole tariff list. If Uncle
Sam can not run his business without
permitting the people to be robbed under
the guise of "protection," it is time he
hired somebody to put his business on
a new basis.
The American Tobacco Co. has been
declared a trust in restraint of trade and
ordered by the supreme court to get good
inside of six months. The decision is
the same as in the Standard Oil case,
Justice Harlan dissenting on the same
grounds.
Let it be borne in mind that the Sher
man anti-trust law is a criminal as well
as a civil law. If Standard Oil and Am
erican Tobacco have violated the monop
oly sections of that law their managers
have been criminal violators as well as
civil violators. The penalty for their
lawbreaking is notice not to do it again,
coupled with six months in which to so
reorganize their business that they can
keep right on doing the same sort of thing
in a slightly different way. And trust
the shrewd lawyers employed by the
trusts to devise the way.
We trust no man will have the temer
ity to charge Justice John Maynard Har
lan of the United States supreme court
with being an "enemy -of the courts."
Yet few men have taken such a terrific
slap at the tendency of modern courts
to usurp authority as Justice Harlan.
Head what he says in his dissenting opin
ion in the Standard Oil case, and repeat
ed by inference in the American Tobac
co case:
"In the now not very short life that I
have passed in this capital and the pub
lic service of the country, the most alarm
ing tendency of this day, in my judg
ment, so far as the safety and integrity
of our institutions are concerned, is the
tendency to judicial legislation, so that,
when men having vast interests are con
cerned, and they cannot get the law
making power of the country which con
trols it to pass the legislation they desire
the next thing they do is to raise the
question in some case, to get the court to
so construe the constitution or the
statutes as to mean what they want it to
mean. That has not been our practice.
The court, in the opinion in this case,
says that this act of congress means and
embraces only unreasonable restraint of
trade in flat contradiction to what this
court has said fifteen years ago that con
gress did not intend. Practically the
decision I do not mean the judgment
but parts of the opinions are to effect
practically that the courts may, by mere
judicial construction, amend the consti
tution of the United States or an act of
congress. That it strikes me is mis
chievous; and that is the part of the opin
ion that I especially object to."
That is couched in choicer diction,
perhaps, than the average criticism of
the courts, but it really gains force be
cause of that fact. .And no more force
ful exposition of the wrongful tendencies
of the courts has been given to the Am
erican people. It is not the language of
an agitator, but the language of a man
who is, admittedly, one of the greatest
lawyers and judges this country has pro
duced. The American people should
study that Standard Oil decision care
fully. Then they should read and re
read Justice Harlan's dissenting opin
ion until it is branded deep on their
memories. The sooner the American
people realize that they must put an end
to judicial ursurpation of authority, the
better it will be for them and their children.
The Fairbury Journal protests against
opening up the presidential campaign
now, and begs for at least twelve months
rest. What would the Journal have a
lot of political papsuckers, strong-arm
men and manipulators do in the mean
time? And what almanac does the
Journal use when it says "it is more than
two full years yet until a presidential
election?" This is June, 1911, and we'll
elect a president in November, 1912. Ac:
cording to our count the presidential elec
tion is considerably less than two years
ahead of us. "Have we Americans noth
ing else to do but make presidents?"
plaintively inquires the Journal. Well,
if we have, and don't make any better
success of it than we have in the matter
of making some president, we might
just as well be fooling our time away in
president making as anything else.
The consolidation of the Columbus
Tribune and the Columbus Journal was
about the wisets journalistic move ac
complished in Nebraska in recent years.
It means that Columbus newspaper men
will now have a chance to prosper ac
cording to their merits, and that Colum
bus will have two strong English news
papers and one German newspaper
quite enough for a city of the size of Co
lumbus. The example is commended to
the newspaper men of several other Ne
braska cities and towns.
Governor Wilson made a decided hit
with those Lincolnites fortunate enough
to hear him. His address was free from
political bias and was most scholarly.
Governor Wilson is exhibiting some new
phases of character since he entered po
litical life. As a scholarly recluse he
often jumped at conclusions, as a pub
lic man he approaches them carefully,
with the result that he has experienced
some decided changes of views. Whether
the experiment of "the scholar in poli
tics" proves successful remains to be
seen. I Jut with such scholars as AVil
son taking an active part in political life
we can be assured of one thing the re
sult must of a certainty be an improve
ment upon what we have had.
Senator Martin of Virginia seems
slated to have his election investigated.
There is a suspicion, founded on the fact
of Senator Martin's well-known repre
sentation of certain special interests,
that there was" something behind his
election other than his ability to repre
sent the people of Virginia. The sena
tor from Virginia is labeled "democrat"
but his political pedigree does not bear
out the quality of the goods indicated by
the label. His democracy looks so much
like the Aldrich brand of republicanism
that it will. deceive no one who does not
want to be deceived. Let the investiga
tion proceed.
While regretting the removal of su
perintendent Stewart of the school for
the deaf at Omaha, we are pleased to
note that his successor has been appoint
ed because of his peculiar fitness and not
because of his political pull. Governor
Aldrich is to be commended for taking
this step. The new superintendent,
Frank W. Booth, come to Nebraska from
Washington, D. C, where he has been
engaged in similar work with more than
the usual success. He is one of the fore
most educators of the deaf in this coun
try. Of course there will be those who
will object because the governor went
outside of the state to find a man to put
upon the state's payroll, but these ob
jections will not have much weight with
those who are more interested in the
well being of the pupils of that institu
tion than they are in getting some fa
vorite on the payroll. Superintendent
Stewart has given the school a splendid
administration, and it is to be regretted
that it was deemed necessary to displace
him.
King George, recognizing J. Pierpont
Morgan to be something of a king him
self, has honored Mr. Morgan with an es
pecial invitation to occupy a seat in
Westminister Abbey for the coronation
ceremonies. "King Pierpont I." Well,
it doesn't have quite so harsh a sound as
it would have had a few years ago before
we embarked in the king business to
some extent on our own account.
Every once in a while some man
dreams a dream about a church that will
be universal. Sometimes he wakes up,
and sometimes he just keeps on dream-