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The Commoner.
VOLUME 12, NUMBER
n i uj
mro
LlffivBi-wm fl
Anv tni1n1 nifiohtno fdlllHwd rltfllt to
your homo forfi rt,w' ti mln'noivlrlu
rvff pn mnnry tinvn-nn r"i-nw.u..
UiiliirnaMoat otir oxtirnMi. Jftfuo-
tor, ijrunaloutinii iV nmiiuf tiirrr'H u nt kt
incnii or if rum oi i monrA. i-.titv ninn. mu -antood
porfoit an tlio dy It lift tlm i.l. i' '
rf ft tiotn for r pedal clrrulnr Mid full i mlculura.
TYPEWRITER GALE9 CO. ()
185 N. Dearborn at., Chloaao III.
fct'w!BisMp "fifM ?OT"' ? 7 a f ? ft
(l...iliiil..J' 4-4- lUlr- ........ ji
jL " I 1 "fr ' ' ' "riKTTTTTr ; TTTrT 'Httt Tf
rtRNflMFNTfll IRON FENCE
Strong, dtirabln mid cheaper than wood. Hundred of
paltcrniiforlawiM, tliuri'liod.rcinoforlPB.nubllcRroujids,
otn. Writ for frn catHlogim mid anuria! offer.
WARD FENCE CO., Box 063, DECATUR, IND.
ORNAMENTAL FENCB
25 Deiltns-AII Steel
llandtomc, cmt Irti tlun ocxJ.
mote iluuble. Don I bur ticne
until r'xi rn our Frca CttaJotu
tml Sprcitl I'ricrt.
W ran ttve yon money.
Kokomo Fence Machine Co
Oi Noilh St. Kokomo. UiL
reara
!al.ikJ3J
UpQlp-
I MF"fP'AI!!dm Jr-STnf)NREST
f &LSW(l0L MADE. Faring
I'nilll -xr n M II
f I IMIIIIJ U tl
I nwn. VA In Mi lliiir rfonOM 1 lt 47 limit
Farm Kituo 23 1 2o. CnUlogmi free.
CUILLD BPR NQ FENCC CO..
;Doi 234 Wlnohttor. Indiana
TIMOTHY SEED 99 Pure
CLOVER SEED 98 Pure
Our pood nIiiikIn nny tost In tho world. Wo Imiidlo
nil IcIiuIh ol'odi. Wilto us for wimplcH mid puces.
Stoockor Seed Co.,
Box G. Poorift, 111.
$gs?oo worth m
Ja SAFETY M1M
I nil will thivr in.t iiui .. .... cenn .. I-
!!uttiili4 Aont Mn.pl., inclmlii.g &Mtit I'U.lf., iluntvU
pn.p.,J.i l.,.Mn.uc. 8flUl.UI.ntci.lntl ;i. at SIM
A- ,,,UJ BROWN MUSIC Ctt 9IW C.-Gml.l A, Cb.c
00 OreeaS chlcWoni. Ducks
(locsc. TmKoyN, iilso I lU'iilmtoiH, .Sup
plies mid colllo Dons. Send Ac for lnrn
1 otillrv honk, Itirtilmlor fiunloj;, mid
prlco llhU H. II. JIIMKMt, Hox 7J,
MiuiUnti), Minn.
rtKSwCJw
flSETiffiWI
KHiS&LWH
BmJ I
"' r gl
IT drterlltti I
p 125 Egg Incubator $
and Brooder "f
IVoruarod tosothor..
-& Vrclcht paid ctit of
.5 17.1.1.. ll.M.t..
.hv.iim ..u. i..gi.
ctijiner tsiiVs, Joutilo
walU. doutila eltt
' doorv Froo cttaloe
thorn. 8nd for it todtr.
Wisconsin Incubator Co.,
Jinx i.i,' Kncmo, wi.
m
" tl nil
' "f " L '1
4 5!S3rpIS1
aViS3;jrn
ft-'71-"'""??1r
fca-.t.t.,7Tji.(
rlllulUllilKitll!!
ii
35 BUYS BOTH
$H
y 125 EGG INCUBATOR $7.35
1XO CHICK BROODER $4.00
A Bsrgaln-TIIE NATIONAL
Mado of shoot stool. Double lined with
'' IlHllfHtn nil fllirn
Bwii i'ii.i; ji
I I I
tinnrvl. nnlil wlln.l hH.H ,
Deop uurnery. Host Incubator
mado. UIk hatclicB ffiiarantccd.
Bond for free catalog and poultry
book. National Incubator Co.,
,1212 19th St.. Rnclnt, WU.
MmaBmmaammmmmmmmmmmmti
Tobacco Habit Banished
Dr. Elder's Tobacco Boon Banlshts All
Forms of Tobacco Habit In
72 to 120 Hours.
U;i..4. "B--I n ....?L. ,.1""
...,, tuuacco uoon will DO."
A tvoeltlTo and quick rollof. A Homo Treatmont Mn
Tobacco Boon has ourod mo after uslntr toJivn 111
years." H. B. Evan., of Meridlan.jfC, iffa had
boana hoary chowor for 61 ycari After taking von,
treatmont 8 days I was comperrouMd Shnh
Hr'S.r w,hBO0d your Tobaoco Boon did mo" Him!
BBiViS110"? rr?m wtisiled patlonta.
"MKMIER-Wo glvo legal blndlnffCu.ran of
2iUJS 21orrt iB.0.or mony rofundld? anUo 0l
PRffP g010.4 on tho.Tobacco Uablt and 1U
flcrtnTent w;,,t alPt my
Do not .i tZrV -'.V ??' ."Be to
niii.Timn -". niu auurcaa TUDAY,
oAnurutiuM, uipl 311, St Joseph, Ma.
mipromo court, tho people will have
ceased (o he their own rulers, huv
ing to that oxlpnf practicallj reaisuod
flioir Rovcrnmont into the hands of
that pT.'incnt tribunal. Nor is there
in tliis view any assault upon the
courts or (ho judges.' Lincoln actu
ally applied in successful fashion the
principle of the recall in the Dred
Scott case. lie denounced the su
premo court for that iniquitous de
cision in language much stronger
than I have over used in criticising
any court, and appealed to tho people
to recall tho decision tho word 're
call' if this connection was not then
known, but tho phraso exactly des
cribes what ho advocated. Ilo was
successful, the people took his view,
and tho decision was practically re
called. Tt became a dead letter with
out tho need of any constitutional
amendment. Tn nny contest today
whoro tho poople stand for justice
and tho courts against the people is
untrue to the memory of Lincoln, and
shows that ho is the spiritual heir,
not of the men who followed and sup
ported Lincoln, but of the cotton
whigs who supported Chief Justice
Taney and denounced Lincoln for
attacking the courts and the consti
tution. PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE LAST SAY
"Under our federal system tho
romody for a wrong such as Abraham
Lincoln described is difficult. But
tho romody is not difficult in a state.
What tho supreme court of the na
tion decides to be law binds both
tho national and state courts and
all the people within the boundaries
of tho nation. But the decision of
a stato court on a constitutional
question should bo subject to revis
ion by tho people of tho state. Again
and again in tho past justice has
been scandalously obstructed by state
courts declaring state laws in conflict
witn tlio federal constitution, al
though the supreme court of tho na
tion had never so decided or had
even decided in a contrary sense.
When the suprome court of the state
declares a given statute unconstitu
tional because in conflict with the
stato or national constitution, its
opinion should bo subject to revision
uv ino people themselves. Such an
opinion ought always to be treated
with groat respect by the people, and
unquestionably in tho majority of
cases would bo accepted and followed
by them. But actual experience has
shown tho vital need of tho people
reserving to themselves the rigat to
imaa upon sucn opinion. If any con
siderable number of the people feel
that the decision is in defiance of
justice they should be given the
right by petition to bring before the
voters at some subsequent election
special or otherwise, as might be de
cided, and aftor tho fniiw
tunity for deliberation and debate"
the question whether or not the
udges' interpretation of the consti
tution is to be sustained If u iB
sustained, well and good. If not
then the popular verdict is to be ac
cepted as final, tho rWiai . un
treated as reversed and the construc
tion of the constitution definitely de
cidedsubject only to action bv the
supreme court of the United States
ENEMIES OP POPULAR RULE
''Many eminent lawyers who more
or less frankly disbelieve in on?en-
or vVtQm f government
ior ny and of tho people, violentlv
antagonize this proposal. ' They "e
liovo, and sometimes assert, that the
American people are not A ted to?
popular government, and that it &
necessary to keep the judiciary 'in!
dependent of the majority or of a"l
the people;' that there must bo no
appeal to tho. people from the de
cision of a court in any case- nnri
established as sovereign rulers over
wVGnPMe l tak0 absolute issue
with all those who hold such a posi-
sition. I regard it as a complete
negation of our whole system or
goernmeht; and if it became the
dominant position in this country, it
would mean the absolute upsetting
of both the rights and the rule of the
people. If the American people are
not fit for popular government, and
if they should of right be the ser
vants and not the masters of the
men whom they themselves put in
office, then Lincoln's work was wasted
and the whole system of government
upon which this great democratic re
public rests is a failure. I believe,
on the contrary, with all my heart
that tho American people are fit for
complete self-government, and that,
in spite of all our failings and short
comings, we of this republic have
more nearly realized than any other
people on earth the ideal of justice
attained through genuine popular
rule. The position which these emi
nent lawyers take and applaud is of
necessity a condemnation of Lin
coln's whole life; for his great public
career began, and was throughout
conditioned by his insistence in the
Dred Scott case, unon the fact that
the American people were the mas
ters and not the servants of even the
highest court in the land, and were
thereby the final interpreters of the
constitution.
"If the courts have the final say
so on all legislative acts, and if no
appeal can lie from them to the
people, then they are irresponsible
masters of the people. The only ten
able excuse for such a position is the
frank avowal that the people lack
sufficient intelligence and morality to
be fit to govern themselves. In other
words those who take this position
hold that the people have enough
intelligence to frame and adopt a
constitution, but not enough intelli
gence to apply and internrot the con
stitution which they have themselves
made. Those who take this nnslHnn
hold that the people are competent
to choose officials to whom they dele
gate certain powers, but not compe
tent to hold these officials respon
sible for the way they exercise these
powers. Now the power to interpret
is the power to establish; and if the
people are not to be allowed finally
to interpret the fundamental law,
ours is not a popular government.
The true view is that legislators and
judges alike are the servants of the
people, who have been created by the
people just as the neonls hnvo m-
ated the constitution; and they hold
oniy sucn power as the people have
for the time being delegated to them.
Tf these two sets of public servants
disagree 'as to the amounts of power
respectively delegated to them by the
people under the constitution, and if
the case is of sufficient importance,
then, as a matter of course, it should
be the right of the people themselves
to decide between them.
i f'nS? U0tT,say tha the people are
w Ul5?- BU1 X d0 say that our
whole history shows that the Ameri
can people are more often sound in
uioir uecisions man is the case with
any of the governmental bodies to
whom, for their convenience they
have delegated portions of their
. . Jin V8 not so' thon there
is no justification for the existence
of our government; and if it is so
then there is no justificatifion for
refusing to give the people the real
and not merely the nominal ultimate
decision on questions of constitu
inafl law- Just as the people and
TirwVUprome C0Urt' llnder Chf
Justice Taney, were wise in their de
cisions of the vital questions of their
day, so I hold that now the American
people as a whole have shown thev
have approached and dealt with such
vital questions of our day as those
concerning the proper control of big
corporations and of securing their
rights to industrial workers
"Here I am not dealing with
racts. In New York, in Illinois, in
Connecticut, lamentableinjustice has
been perpetuated, often for many
years, by decisions of tho state
courts refusing to permit the people
of the state to exercise their right as
free people in removing eruvo
wrong and social injustice. These
foolish and iniquitous decisions have
almost always been rendered at the
expense of the weak; they have al
most always been the means of put
ting a stop to the effort to remove
the burdens from wage-workers, to
secure for men who toil on the farm
and on the railway, or in the factory,
better and safer conditions of labor
and of life. Often tho judges who
have rendered these decisions have
been entirely well-meaning men,
who, however, did not know life as
they knew law, and who championed
some outworn political philosophy
which they assumed to impose on tho
people. Their associations and sur
roundings were such that they had no
conception of the cruelty and wrong
their decisions caused and perpet
uated. Their prime concern was
with tho empty ceremonial of per
functory legalism, and not with the
living spirit of justice. A typical
case was the decision rendered hut a
few months ago by the court of ap
peals of my own state, the state of
New York, declaring unconstitutional
the workman's compensation act. In
their decision the judges admitted
the wrong and suffering caused by
the practices against which the law
was aimed. They admitted that
other civilized nations had abolished
these wrongs and practices. But
they took the ground that the con
stitution of the United States, instead
of being an instrument to secure jus
tice had been ingeniously devised
absolutely to prevent justice. They
insisted that the clause in the con
stitution which forbade the taking of
property without due process of law
forbade the effort which had been
made in the law to distribute among
all the partners in an enterprise the
effects of the injuries to life or limb
of a wage-worker. In other words,
they insisted that tho constitution
had permanently cursed our people
with impotence to right wrong, and
had perpetuated a cruel iniquity; for
cruel iniquity is not too harsh a term
to use in describing the law which,
in the event of such an accident,
binds the whole burden of crippling
disaster on the shoulders least able
to bear it the shoulders of the
crippled man himself, or of the dead
man's helpless wife and child. No
anarchist orator, raving against tho
constitution, ever framed an indict
ment of it so severe as these worthy
and well-meaning judges must be
held to have framed if their
reasoning be accepted as true. But,
as a matter of fact, their reasoning
was unsound and was as repugnant
to every sound defender of the con
stitution as to every believer in- jus
tice and righteousness. In effect,
their decision was that we could not
remedy these wrongs unless we
amended the constitution (not the
constitution of the state, but the
constitution of the nation) by say
ing that DrODATtV onillrl yn tnlron
without due process of law I It
seems incredible that any one should
be willing to take such a position,
it is a position that has been con
demned over and over again by the
wisest and most far-seeing courts,
n Its essence it was revised by the
decision of state courts in states like
Washington and Iowa, and by the su
preme court of tho nation in a case
but a few weeks old.
AN INSTANCE IN POINT
"I Call thiH rlrJOlalrtn V. 4..
tion of those who shake their heads
JLi p0I)sal to trust the people to
decide for themselves what their own
mnV5rnttonTtal pollcy slla1 be In theso
hv !",8, lcnow oC no Popular vote
vnJ iy f.atQ, of the union moro fla&
iant in its defiance of right and ju-'
Ji
Wa1"
.f t , .
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