THE PEOPLE, THE EARTHLY COURT OF LAST RESORT.
It is frequently said in referring to decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States that the highest power has spoken, and that ends the matter. State Supreme Courts, we are told, have decided Sunday laws to be constitutional, and that settles it. But it does not. The judicial branch of our government is only one of three co-ordinate branches, deriving their power from a still higher court, the people. The supremacy of the people, led by Lincoln, was demonstrated in the reversal of the Dred Scott decision. It has recently been demonstrated in our neighboring colonies of Great Britain. In an appeal to the highest court Her Majesty’s Privy Council enjoined the provincial government to enforce the provisions of the parochial school law, which would result in the establishment of religious schools under governmental support in the province of Manitoba. The people of Manitoba said they would not have it; and the recent election in the provinces sustains Manitoba against the court of last resort. Will the law be enforced? Not at all; it can not be. Burke declared it to be impossible to indict a whole people, and Britain will never attempt to compel a state. In the matter of moral principles, man’s duty to God and conscience is supreme over all earthly courts. May Manitoba by going forward hold fast to the liberty gained.