as a coordinate branch of the legislature
and as such had a recognized right to interpret the Constitution. No
political program, no theory of state functions, could receive
legislative sanction without its approval. The House of Commons could
enforce its interpretation of the Constitution negatively since it had
an absolute veto on all legislation. On the other hand its own views and
policies could become law only in so far as they were acquiesced in by
the other branches of the law-making authority. Under this system the
accepted interpretation of the Constitution was a compromise, one to
which each branch of the legislature assented. Each of these coordinate
branches of the government was equally the guardian and protector of the
Constitution, since it had the right to interpret, and the power to
enforce its interpretation, of the legislative authority of the other
branches by an absolute veto on their interpretation of their own
powers.

This authority to act as final interpreter of the Constitution which
under the English system was distributed among King, Lords, and Commons,
was under the American scheme of government taken out of the hands of
Congress and vested in the judiciary alone. There are certain matters of
minor importance, however, concerning which the interpretation placed
upon the Constitution by other branches of the government is final. But
in interpreting the Constitution for the purpose of legislating, the
final authority is in the hands of the Federal Supreme Court. It is the
exclusive possession of this most important prerogative of a sovereign
legislative body which makes our Supreme Court the most august and
powerful tribunal in the world. Through the sole right to exercise this
power our Federal judiciary has become in reality the controlling branch
of our government. For while it has an absolute veto on the acts of
Congress, its own exercise of the highest of all legislative
authority--that of interpreting the Constitution and the laws of the
land--is unlimited and uncontrolled. It is not surprising, then, that
the Constitution as it exists to-day is largely the work of the Supreme
Court. It has been molded and developed by, and largely owes its spirit
and character to the interpretation which that body has placed upon it.

Our Supreme Court thus has what virtually amounts to the power to enact
as well as the power to annul. Congress can legislate only with the
consent of the Federal judicia