p. 20 | Catholic Jurisprudence by Carlyle B. Haynes

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 22, 1911

Catholic Jurisprudence

By Carlyle B. Haynes

IN the Western Watchman, of St. Louis, Mo., edited by Father Phelan, there appears in the issue of May 18, 1911, an editorial entitled “The Influence of Catholic Teaching in the Standard Oil Decision,” in which the editor says:—

“Chief Justice White, in his opinion on the Standard Oil case, lays down the broad proposition that a law, to be valid, must be just and reasonable. The case of the Standard Oil Company turned upon the interpretation to be put on the words ‘restraint of trade.’ Justice White said the restraint meant by the law was an unreasonable restraint. Justice Harlan, on the other hand, holding to the Puritan severity of his ancestors, interpreted the law literally, and wrote a dissenting opinion. . . . The teaching of the canons is that a law must be interpreted by the court upon the face and natural import of the words, and not according to the meaning of its framers. The church’s courts do not care what the lawmakers meant, but only what the law itself says. Laws are made by men for men; and they must be construed according to prudence and wisdom. The court is the sole interpreter of the law, but it is also the representative of God, and must follow the dictates of common sense. . . . “If the Puritan view of the Sherman act championed by Justice Harlan had been adopted by the Supreme Court, we would have to-day a financial chaos in this country, that would throw the markets of the world into inextricable confusion. And that would surely have

been the case if Chief Justice White were not on the bench. He is thoroughly imbued with the teachings of Catholic jurisprudence, and knows how to apply the canons of reason and common sense to the legislation of States. It took him years to bring the rest of the court to his way of thinking, and that alone is the meaning of the delay in the judgment. But truth, as taught by the tribunals of the Catholic Church, prevailed; and Puritanism as well as plutocracy went down in defeat.”

Being “thoroughly imbued with the teachings of Catholic jurisprudence,” and interpreting the law in the light of “the teachings of the canons,” it is not difficult to see what decision a court, headed by a Catholic chief justice, who had brought “the rest of the court to his way of thinking,” would render in a case involving the rights of conscience. If “truth, as taught by the tribunals of the Catholic Church,” is to prevail in the construction and interpretation of the laws of this country, it will not be long before the “image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”

CARLYLE B. HAYNES.