VOL. XVI. No. 6.

JUNE, 1904.

TH

HE Supreme Court of the United States. may be likened to the balance wheel or governing valve in machinery. Under our Constitution, three great heads form the political economy of the nation-the Legislative, the Executive and the Judicial. They are all closely interwoven and much dependent upon each other, but the Judicial Department controls the other two when the question is put to a final issue. Laws may be enacted by Congress and sanctioned by the President, but the question of their validity is established or denied by the Supreme Court. No body of men are so omnipotent as the Justices of this Court acting in their capacity as members of the bench, their decisions and decrees are truly speaking "law" as far as the government of this nation is concerned, and their mandates must be obeyed irrespective of social or political condition of the citizen, their rulings even go so far as to affect or control in certain instances the laws of the different States and almost every political body is subject to the power of this Court,-indeed, the very existence of the nation itself is dependent upon this tribunal.

Mr. Hampton L. Carson has very happily put it in the following words:

"Amid the din of conflict between personal interest and above the deep mouth thunder of the combat between conflicting sovreignties, the calm tones of our great tribunal have been distinctly heard commanding States as well as citizens to submit without the spilling of blood to a legal settle

ment of differences. In this respect the court is a conservator of the peace of the nation and her voice is the harmony of the union." It is well, then, that men of learning, integrity, pureness of mind, having only the interests of the people at heart have been and should be elevated to this office of trust. Seldom has faith been lost by the people in the decisions of this court and then only temporarily or until the fuller light has shown the justice of what at the first blush seemed unreasonable or harsh.

The judicial power of the United States is vested by the Constitution in this Court and its judges hold their office during good behavior, making the Court invulnerable and far beyond the reach of political intrigue or private interference. Its jurisdiction affects all cases of admiralty or maritime law, controversies between States and between citizens of different States, all cases affecting ambassadors or public ministers and in many other cases, it is the Court of last

resort.

Under Article III. of the Constitution, our present Supreme Court came into being, with John Jay as its Chief Justice and four associate justices as his colleagues. Their duties were not many, nor were the questions of great importance, and not until Marshall's time did the Court really become great and its importance felt throughout the land. This learned Chief Justice not only established the nation upon a firm foundation but so wisely construed all constitutional questions coming up before him affecting the

rights of States as between themselves that he knitted the Union into the insoluble whole, which not even a civil war could disturb.

One of the most important cases decided by the Taney Bench was Briscoe v. The Bank of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in which the difference between bank bills and bills of credit was ably discussed by Messrs. White, Hardin, Clay and Southard. The law relating to bills and notes was pretty thoroughly thrashed and the Court by a divided bench had some trouble in making the distinction clear. The Dred Scott case, in which Chief Justice Taney delivered the opinion of the Court, was most radical as we now consider the negro, the Court holding that he was not a citizen within the meaning of the Constitution, but was recognized as a species of property. It is contended by many that this decision caused the Civil War, but this would seem paradoxical, as the Court upheld the very reason that caused secession, while the position of the North was denied.

One of the most important decisions rendered by this bench in its far-reaching effect was Almy v. The State of California in which that State attempted to place a tax on goods shipped to any point within or without the State. This was promptly held to be repugnant to the Constitution of the United States, which declares that no State without the consent of Congress can lay any imports or duties, etc. On this case is built the foundation of all interstate commerce. These and numerous other decisions of great importance made the Taney Bench the greatest bench, except Marshall's, since the Court came into existence and it helped largely to form the lines upon which our Republic has grown into manhood and strength. A less intelligent and patriotic bench would not have made our progress possible. Thirtyfive volumes from II Peters to 2 Wallace contained the history of the Taney Bench,

every line of which is a line of importance, forming and moulding our Republic and laying its foundation so deep and solid that though shock and strain may come, all storms will be safely weathered so long as the Supreme Court is our compass.

The Supreme Court consisted of five members from 1789 to 1795. A sixth member was added in 1807, two more in 1837 and the ninth in 1863, the year before Roger Brooke Taney of Maryland, who had been its Chief Justice for twenty-eight years died. Before his appointment to the bench, he was the leading lawyer of the Baltimore bar, Attorney General of his State and a member of the United States Senate. He and Chief Justice Marshall presided for sixty-three years, and together they have given us, in the words of Mr. Carlisle, "a body of law, constitutional and other, unsurpassed in the records of courts for the security it gives to political, personal and municipal rights." He also says of the Chief Justice, that his life was honorable and useful and that his general demeanor, studious habits and pure life gave him the good will and confidence of the people.

Philip P. Barbour was a distinguished son of distinguished Scotch ancestors, and like several of his associates on the bench, he began the practice of law in Kentucky. At school, he developed great aptitude for learning, and he began his public career in the Assembly. His next step was Congress where he acted as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and in 1821 was chosen Speaker of the House of Representatives. fused many high positions of trust, including the nomination for Governor of his State and for the United States Senate. He was on the bench when Chief Justice Taney was confirmed, and although his term of service was short, no member of this bench displayed greater judicial power or keener insight in the construction of constitutional law.

He re

President Van Buren appointed John

Catron of Tennessee an Associate Justice on the eighth of March, 1837. His early education was most rudimentary and he was twenty-six years of age before he began the study of law, but he soon acquired reputation as a lawyer of ability. "His power of judicial analysis was remarkable and he sought in all cases to weigh and examine every authority cited by counsel and to accept such only as seemed founded upon principle."

John McKinley was also appointed by President Van Buren. He was reckoned the leader of the bar of Alabama and was sent to the United States Senate for two terms, having been selected for the bench during his last term. He served for fifteen years "as a candid, impartial and righteous judge, shrinking from no responsibility; he was fearless in the performance of his duty, seeking only to do right and fearing nothing but to do wrong. For many of the last years of his life, he was enfeebled and afflicted by disease and his active usefulness interrupted and impaired. It may truly be inscribed upon his monument that as a private gentleman and as a public magistrate, he was without fear and without reproach." These words were uttered by Mr. John J. Crittenden, Attorney General in the proccedings in relation to the death of Mr. Justice McKinley.

Mr. Jeremiah S. Black, Attorney General at the opening of the Court on December fourth, 1860, said the seat which had been occupied by Mr. Justice Daniels has been made vacant by his death. He was a man of perfect integrity and the laws of this country. were never administered by any judge who had a higher moral tone or who was influenced by purer motives..

At the close of the December term 1872, Mr. Justice Nelson addressed the following letter to his associates: "I part from my brethren with regret and retire from an occupation which has been the height of my ambition for much the largest portion of my life, not from choice but for the reason that

age and infirmities have disabled me from the performance of a full share of my duties." Nearly all the practising members of the bar before the Supreme Court joined in these words to Mr. Justice Nelson on his retirement from the bench: "During many years of practice before you, we have had ample opportunity to appreciate and to admire your learning, impartiality and integrity, your kindly deportment towards the members of the bar, your elevated conception of justice and of right. In a word those preeminent judicial qualities which have distinguished your career, on the bench."

At the December term, 1851, Mr. John J. Crittenden, Attorney General, announced the death of Mr. Justice Levi Woodbury and said, "It has rarely happened that any citizen has enjoyed such a succession of exalted public honors as were shared by Judge Woodbury, Governor, Secretary of the Treasury, Senator and his last and greatest distinction Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States."

Mr. Justice Grier was appointed to the bench in August, 1846, and resigned in January, 1870. General Grant, then President, writes him: "I sincerely regret the increasing physical infirmities which induce you to retire from the bench and with the assurance of my personal sympathy and respect, desire also to express my sense of the ability and uprightness with which your judicial duties have been performed."

"In looking upon your honorable and long career in the public service, it must be especially gratifying to yourself to remember, as it is my agreeable duty and privilege on this occasion thus distinctly to recognize, the great service which you were able to render to your country in the darkest hour of her history by the vigor and patriotic firmness, with which you upheld the just powers of the government and vindicated the right of the nation under the constitution to maintain its own existence."