Who besides the judges of the supreme court can issue the writ of habeas corpus?
Name the justices of the supreme court of this state. How are they chosen? How long do they serve? How many terms does this court hold annually? Where are they held? How long do they last? Read some of the syllabi of the decisions as they appear in the newspapers. Who prepares these outlines for the press?
Which state in the Union has the largest supreme court? Which has the smallest? Which demands the highest qualifications? In which is the term the longest? In which the shortest? Does a decision of the supreme court of New York have any weight in Minnesota? Which states rank highest in the value attached to the decisions of their supreme courts? How do you account for this?
Paper: By means of pages 292-7, &c., prepare a tabular view of your state, taking that on pages 314-15 as a model.
CHAPTER XVI.
RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT.
Each Organization a Miniature Government.—Some things of general interest are matters for regulation by the state as a whole, through its legislature. But many things are properly left to local regulation. For instance, in a timbered town, where fences can be cheaply built, it may be desirable, especially if there is much wild land, to let cattle run at large, each person fencing out the cattle from his crops. On the other hand, in a prairie town, where fencing is expensive, or where there is little wild land, it may seem best to arrange that each person shall fence in his own cattle. No persons can judge which is the better plan for a given neighborhood so well as the people who live there. And to them it is left, to be determined at the annual meeting. In passing upon such questions, in appropriating money for local improvements, &c., powers pseudo-legislative are exercised. Matters of detail are determined by the supervisors, and they with the clerk, the treasurer, the road overseers, the constables, and the assessor, constitute what may be called the executive, or more properly the administrative, department. And the local judicial functions are performed by the justices of the peace. Similarly it may be shown that the village, the city, and the county are governments in miniature.
Local Officers as State Officers.—The governor is the chief executive officer of the state, but not the only one. There are others enumerated on pages 90-99. But besides these, the state uses local officers in part to carry into execution the acts of the legislature. For instance, when the legislature has appropriated a certain sum for a specific purpose, the executive department raises and applies the money. To this end, the taxable property of the state is "valued" by the assessors; these estimates are reviewed by the boards of equalization; the county auditors make up the tax lists; the county treasurers collect the money and transmit it to the state treasurer, from whom it goes to the institution for whose benefit it was appropriated.
All writs issued by justices of the peace run in the name of the state, showing that these are in a certain sense state judicial officers.
State Officers as United States Officers.—As a rule the United States appoints its own officers, and stations them where they are needed. But in a very few cases, state officers are used. For instance, in order that persons accused of crime against the United States may be promptly apprehended, commissioners of the United States circuit court are appointed in every state with power to issue warrants of arrest and take testimony. But in the absence of a commissioner, the warrant may be issued and testimony taken by any judicial officer of the state. In such a case, a justice of the peace may act temporarily as a United States officer. The best interests of society are served thereby.