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Show urn The President's Mistake flj '' THE PRESS in oil the states is lost in won- M U der at President Roosevelt's denunciation jfl1 H of the rourt that sent back Judge Landis' 5 Hi fl decision in the Standard Oil case for rehearing. 'WR I He took upon himself to say that the decision of I W& I H the court was wrong, that the defendants were i H guilty, and would have been punished had they H been less strong. We do not suppose that in his Ww H reckless way he thought of the insult he was of- iflfg j fl fering the circuit court; we do Tiot suppose that fflfftl fl he had an idea of the mischief that would follow.' lafli fl The President of the United States denounced a WrM fl court that on a careful review of a decision had ffim fl reversed It. We do not suppose he thought for .f!n fl a moment that what he was saying, if said by $W fl an ordinary newspaper, would subject that paper IJri fl to a summons to answer why it should not be gjljS fl punished for contempt, and were the same charge iffiffi fl to be made against him that he made against wra" fl the court he would want to fight, but if there was $&' fl no chance for him to fight, he certainly would ImMj I have used his old prerogative in declaring that Im'L I the man who had repeated the words was a liar. mM fl It was a grave offense on his part. The United wPfc fl States' courts are as exalted in their province as WvW fl i Hi is the President, and while all courts are subject 1 K to honest criticism wholesale denunciations, with- ML out any facts behind them, of the courts of I H ,' the country are what, if pursued generally, would 1 Sp . lead straight up to anarchy. When once the faith 'JB and reverence which the public has for the in- I Hi ' tegrity of our courts has been broken down, this I H' nation will not be worth saving. People do not 1 B? mind when wild politicians, through their papers, HBe ! talk recklessly, but when the President of the F United States comes down to open denunciation B. i of one of the high courts of the land, with not H i one particle of proof behind him for his words, Bf then he opens his own reputation for any criticism S1 that an indignant people can make. He made a K tremendous mistake in that denunciation, and k ! thoso who know him cannot understand it on any t other grounds except that he made it late in the Bl ' afternoon, when he was over-wearied by the cares mk ' of the day. |
