The Homeopathic Mandamus Case

In the Circuit Court, on Monday, the 24th inst., the following answer to the petition filed praying a writ of mandamas compelling the Regents of the Uuiversity to appoint two Professors of Homeopathy in the Medical Department of the University, was put in : " The Regents of the University of Michigan, in the above cause, in answer to the petition filed therein and for cause why the prayer of said petition should not be gfanted, say ; " First. That the said Circuit Court for the County of Washtenaw has no authority or jurisdiction to entertain said petition or to adjudícate upon the subject matter thereof, or to grant upon the statements and allegations contained in said petition, the writ of mandamus as therein prayed for. " Second. They further say and admit that the sixth section of article 13 of the present constitution constitutad the Regents of the University of Michigan, and that by section 7 of the same article, they and their successors are constituted a body corporate, known by the name and title of ' The Regents of the University of Michigan,' and thit they continue to be such body corporate. They admit that the Legislatura oi said State passed an aet eutitled, ' An act to provide for the government of the State University, and to repeal chapter 57 of the Revised Statutes of 1846,' which was approved April 8, A. D. 1851 (and amended by act approved Feb, 12, 1855), and that the fifth section thereof is correctly set out in said petition, and that said Legislature subsequently passed an act entitled as follows, to wit : ' An act to provide for the appoiutment of two Professors of Homeopathy in the Department of Medicine of the University of Michigan,' which act was approved April 1, A. D., 1873, and 13 correctly recited in said petition. " Third. They admit that on the 24th day of June, A. D. 1873, they, 'The Regents of the University of Michigan,' passed and adopted the preamble and the resolutions set out in said petition, and that they have not, since the approval of the act last mentioned, made any appointment of any professor of homeopathy in the Department of Medicine in said University, but have decliued and decline to do so. " Fourth. They further say that by the 8th section of article 13 of the constitution, it is provided as follows : ' The Regents of the University shall, at their first meeting, or as soon thereafter as may be, select a President of the University, who shall be, ex officia, a memher of the board, with the privilege of speaking, but not of voting. He shall preside at the meetings of the Regents, and be the principal executive officer of the University. The Board of Regents shall have the the general supervisión of the University and the directiou and control of all expenditures f rom the University interest f und.' " Fifth. They further say that by virtne of the provision"of the constitution last above recited they claim and insist that the selection of fit persons for the purpose of instruction in said University in the several departments, and the appointment, installation and maintaining of the several professors therein, and the directiou and control of all expenditures trom the University interest f and, are committedexclusively tothem; that it is their duty and their right to raake appointments and remováis of such professors without dictation, to determine what professors shall be appointed, installed or maintainedin each and all of its departments, what qualifications shall be necessary for such appointmeut, when any such appointment shall be made, what shall be the rights and privileges of each professor and the amount of their respective salaries, and when the same shall be due and payable. " And they further say that the salaries of all the professors in the University are paid mainly from said University Interest Fund ; that in accordance with section 2 of article 13 of the constitution, and with the terms of the graiit of the fuuds from which said interest is derived, said interest fund must be ammally applied to the payment of the salaries of the professors and other necessary expenditures in connection with carrying on the institution ; that the necessary expenditures for those purposes have for inany years past exhausted the uniual income constituting said fund, and all the income received from any and all sources applicable to the purpose, and still requires the whole of the same ; that there are no means at their command for the payment of the salaries of two additional professors ; that the subject of theory and practice is, and always has been since the organization oí' the Medical Department taught therein by one professor, and that of materia medica by another ; and, in the judgment of these respondents, it would not promote the interests of the Umversity or the public good to make remováis tor the purpose of appomting other professors in their places as instructora in these branches. 11 Sixth. And they further say, that, with an ardent wish to promote the best interests of the University in all its departments, they have caref ully considered the question as to the wisdom of making the appointments designated in the above mentioned legislative act, and are fully convinced that such appointments would be greatly prejudicial to the best interests of the institution, and would have a tendeney to retard its nrosress. hitherto alraost, if not altogether, Unexaiupied lu piDftpei'ity min luciuumss. :tiii they further say that their declming to make such appointment is based upon the facts and reasons above stated, and upon the conviction that the subject matter of such appointments, and the direction and control of all expenditures from the f und, out of which, if appointed, such professors must be paid, are committed by the constitution exclusively to these respondents, and notto the Legislatura, and that tne actdirecting them tornake the appointments therein specified, is without authority and ot no effect." By arrangement of counsel the caso is set down to be heard on the 12th day of December next. It was the late Horack üreeley who, despite his oft-repeated anathemas against running in dobt, advised and impecunious applicant for counsel aud aid, especially the aid, to " buy a power press, go west, aud start a newspaper." And Greeley has an imitator in our friend of the Rural JNew Torker, who wishes " it was one of the obligations to which farmers subscribe when they jcin the Patrons of Husbandry, that they buy only what they can pay for on delivery," and who closes his brief sermón on " The Cash System " as follovvs : " Whatever business is done on credit is done nt the risk of some eme, and there is no security against just such pauics aud depreciations as we have experienced and are experiencing so long as this vicious system is adhered to. The men who are out of debt to-day are the only happy men, t'roni a businass point of view. Owe no man!" Whio contains a grain or so of senso with vast deal of cant. " The pay as you go maxiiu is a good one liberally interpre ted, but cannot be adopted as a rigid anc inflexible rule by individuals or cornmu nities, farmers, manufseturers or traders Many a young man with a goud pair o hands and a strong will, but without a dollar of capital, has run in debt fora farm - or for wild lands out of which to make a farm - and has paid for it by his earnings and profits therefroua, when had he not so run in debt he would never have been the owner of a farm. And the same uiay be said of men in all avocations who have commenced bnsiness on borrowed capital or owing for stook or tools. If a debt is wisely coutracted it is as legitimato as any other business transaoti jn. " Owe no man ," for mere luxuries, " owo no man " for your daily living beyond your means ; " owe no man " for what is not a necessity to your oalling or pursuit; these would be wise injunetions to individaals, To oontmunities the injunction might be still more narrow, Corporations, however, like individuals may properly contract debts to carry on improvements beyond ready money, and in this way railroads have been built and States opened to settlement. It is not debt itself which involves large corporations in failure and bankruptcy, but debts contracted fraudulently or in violation of business principies, or the proceeds or loans misappropriated or stolen. The Ru ral should revise its fulminations. JüDGE CooLEY gave the Washtenaw County Bar a reception on Tuesday evening. A good time is reported. It is estimated that 40,000 people are out of employment in Philadelphia.