S FINAL ARBlTERSsOF Supreme Court, to Whose De cision All Must Bow, Body of Able and Venera- ble Jurists. JAMES A. EDGERTON. TBysupremm HE death of Justice Rufus VV. Peckha of the United States court aud the pro longed illness of Justice Wil liam H. Moody indicate that President Taft will have to appoint at least one member of that tribunal and may have to appoint more even if he cannot en joy his lifelong ambition of being a supreme justice himself. It may even be that before his term ends he may name a majority of the court, since Chief Justice Fuller and Justices Har lan and Brewer have already passed the age limit and Justice Holmes will do so in 1911. The law provides that at the age of seventy a supreme court justice may retire on full pay provid ed he has served ten years. Fuller and Harlan are each seventy-six, the chief justice having been in. office twenty-one years and the senior asso ciate justice thirty-two years. As for Brewer, he is seventy-two and has been on the supreme bench twenty years. Thus all three are eligible for retirement. Holmes will not be sev enty until March 8, 1911, and will not liave. served ten years until Dec, 8, 1912, but as both these dates come -within President Taft's term there will l)e four possible retirements, which, with the successor of Justice Peckham, constitutes a majority of the court. This is on the theory that Justice Moody recovers and that there is no death in the court before March 4, 1913. At that time Fuller and Har lan will be in tne neighborhood of lghty, Brewer seventy-six. Holmes "TVt'SVh' CHIEF JUSTICE MELVILLE W. FULLER. serenty-two, McKenna nearly seventy. White sixty-eight. Day sixty-four and. Moody sixty. Oi1 course the mere fact that four of the justices will be eligi ble to retire on full pay is no indica tion that they will do so. Indeed, the probability is that they will not. The only reason that supreme justices usually retire is ill health. Of the six ty-two that have bee" members of the court since its inception only seven teen have retired and thirty-five have died in ofhYe. Many of these were over seventj when they left the bench. Chief Justice Taney was eighty-seven, Justice Gabriel Duval was eighty-four, John Marshall eighty and Justice Sam uel Nelson eighty. The old saw about officeholders that few die and none re sign is not absolutely true of the su preme court justices, but nearly so. They are not the kind of men who are willing to draw a salary without work ing for it, nor are they the sort that willingly relinquish power until death, disease or feebleness break their hold. Power of Our Highest Court. And they have power of an actual, substantial kind. They can nullify the acts of congress and hold a rein on the president himself. They can -veto the statutes of any state or the ordinances of any city. They can reg ulate the findings of courts and pass upon their findings, from the federal circuit to the justice of the peace. No official is independent of them, and no individual is beyond their reach. ^Erue, this almost appalling power is jiot arbitrary. It is bounded by the constitution, by law and by precedent. But within these limits there is still a wide scope of choice. No king or em peror has arbitrary power, but is .hedged about in a thousand ways. It has been said that the United States supreme court is the most pow erful body on earth. That probably is not true, as the British house of com mons perhaps surpasses it. Tho raons is a body of over 000 mer.M,-J. however our supreme court oi President Taft May Have to Fill Several Vacancies on Highest Bench Before His Term Ends. Moreover, the commons has no direct power over the individual outside its own membership the supreme court has all power over the individual that is brought before it, subject, of course, to the law or to its interpretation of the law. A Definition of the Court. Horace Binney once defined our court of final appeal in this way: "The supreme court of the United States is the august representative of the wisdom and justice and conscience of this whole people in the. exposition of their constitution and laws. It is the peaceful and venerable arbitrator between citizens in all questions touch ing the extent and sway of constitu tional power. It is the great moral substitute for force in controversies between the people, the state and the Union." It is an inspiring Reflection that 80,- 000,000 people instead of resorting to war and contention leave their .dis puted questions to the arbitration of nine learned, gentle and dignified old gentlemen whose finding commands the almost instant acquiescence of the whole nation. How true it is that this is a govern ment of law and not of men! The su preme court is the symbol of the law. It interprets the regulations that so ciety makes and applies them to the individual members of society. It is the impersonal voice of justice. Equi ty, right, truth, wisdom, are the lights that guide its steps. Eemoved as far as may be from passions, factions, commerce and personal desires, assail ed not by ambitions or fears, clamors or temptations, it is in an ideal posi tion to stand for the supremacy of the law and to uphold the public good as against private interest. The Ameri can people look at it in this light, and as nearly as they have made a fetich of anything they make it of their su preme court. The president they cheer or abuse, call him by his first name or by a shorter and uglier one. Congress they vituperate and on occasion blas pheme. But the supreme court is set apart in their minds. Some of them may disagree with one or another of its decisions, but the disagreement is accompanied by no disrespect. Peo ple do not think of applauding or abus ing it, of taking liberties with the names of its members, of cartooning it, of making it the butt of jokes or ridicule. Though the salaries of its members are comparatively small and though its work is exacting, the most eminent men are willing to give up leisure, comfort and princely incomes to be honored in its service. No won der that Judge Taft turned from his dream of it with a sigh, even though he turned to the power and distinction of what is perhaps the most conspicu ous position now on earth. Only Eight Chief Justices. Since its inception under President Washington the supreme court of the United States has had eight chief jus tices and fifty-four associate justices. Perhaps technically there have only been seven chief justices, as John Rut ledge was not confirmed by the senate, although he sat for a short time be fore congress convened. The other chief justices were John Jay, Oliver Ellsworth, John Marshall, Roger B. Taney, Salmon P. Chase, Morrison R. Waite and Melville W. Fuller. The most distinguished of the list and the one with the longest term of service was John Marshall, who was in office thirty-four years. Two associate jus tices, Joseph Story and Stephen J. Field, had an equal length of service. It is a point worthy of note that most of the members of the court were not greatly distinguished in other fields. They were not politicians, though some of them had been senators and cabinet officers. For the most part they have been lawyers pure and sim ple, m8n chosen for learning and char acter. The last two chief justices, Waite and Fuller, had scarcely held any position prior to their appoint ment. Of many of the associate jus tices the same is true. One looks among them almost in vain for names highly distinguished outside of law reports. Bushrod Washington of Vir ginia, who served thirty-one years, we recognize because he was a Washing ton. John McLean of Ohio and Philip P. Barbour of Virginia stir some faint recollection of connection with the government or politics or something. Anyway, we have heard of them. Da vid Davis we know from his connec tion with Lincoln and Lucius Q. C. La mar and some others from their serv ice in the cabinet or in congress. Some, like Joseph Story, we recognize as emi nent law writers, but with most of them their sole title to fameand they could scarcely have a higheris that they were members of the United States supreme court. Court's Impressive Opening. Most writers in describing this body call it an "august tribunal." It has been quite a task to keep from ringing in that hackneyed and bromidic phrase. Well, the supreme court is august. All that is needed to realize the fact is to attend one of its ses sions. A few minutes before noon silken ropes are stretched from the robing room to the chamber, and be tween these ropes the justices advance in solemn procession. Chief Justice Fuller is the smallest one of the num ber and Harlan, walking immediately behind Fuller, the largest. Then come Brewer of Kansas, who is the orator of the court White, who was once a Democratic senator from Louisiana McKenna, who was McKinley's attor ney general Holmes, who was named for his poet father, Oliver Wendell Holmes Day, who was for a short time secretary of state under McKin ley, and Moody, who was secretary of the navy and attorney general in the cabinet of Theodore Roosevelt. Be fore his death Justice Peckham walked between White and McKenna. Most of the justices are smooth of face, al though Fuller and Holmes have mus taches and McKenna a aiosely cropped beard. Despite his shortness of stat ure, the chief justice is an impressive figure, with his literal mane of snow white hair and fine and scholarly face. He was born in Maine in 1833 and was educated in Bowdoin and Harvard. For a time he was editor of a Demo cratic paper and was president of the Augusta council and city solicitor. He then went to Chicago and became one of the city's leading lawyers. He serv ed for a short time in the legislature and was several times a delegate to Democratic national conventions. Mr. Fuller has been chief justice since 1888. John Marshall Harlan was born in Kentucky in the same year as the chief justice. lHe was educated in the colleges of his own state, was a Union colonel in the war, was a candidate for congress and governor, delegate to Re publican national conventions, member of the Louisiana commission and be came a justice of the supreme court in 1877. Despite his age, Justice Har lan is an enthusiastic golf player. David Josiah Brewer was born in Asia Minor, where his father was a missionary. He is a nephew of the famous Field brothers, David Dudley, Cyrus W. and Stephen J. Field, who was himself a supreme justice. He is a Yale graduate and began the prac tice of law in Kansas, where he was a judge, going from the district to the state supreme court. He was pro moted to the federal supreme bench in 1889. Confederate Veteran on Bench. Edward Douglass White was born in Louisiana in 1845, served in the Con federate army, was justice of the state supreme court and United States sen ator, taking his seat on the United States supreme bench in 1894. Joseph McKenna was born in Phila delphia in 1843, but went to California when a boy served in the legislature, in several congresses and as United States circuit judge was made attor ney general in 1897 and the same year was promoted to his present position. Oliver Wendell Holmes was a cap tain in the Union army and was three times wounded. He has written vari ous law books and served on the su preme bench of Massachusetts before being appointed to the United States supreme bench in 1902. William R. Day was born in Ohio in 1849, was common pleas judge, secre tary of state, chairman of the Spanish treaty commission, United States cir cuit judge and was made supreme court justice in 1903. William Henry Moody is the young est member of the court, having been born in Massachusetts in 1853. He was a member of congress for several terms before entering the cabinet and took his place on the supreme bench in 1906. ALL EAT GUMDR0PS NOW. Dr. Cook's Story Brings About a Boom In the Confection. Confectioners of Cleveland, O., and other cities report an increased sale of gumdrops this fall. Candy factories that a few weeks ago were turning out "kisses" and advertising for "kiss wrappers" are now working overtime making pink gumdrops r. y. It is Cook's story of his arctic explo rations, in which he declared that his Eskimos would do anything tor gum drops, that his caused the boom in gumdrops. -~tJ''.^0f J^KJMt: TflUKSttAX NOTCBMBEK I, 1909^ pi wnnrommmm^^ i j- NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL AND SANITARIUM. (ESTABLISHED 1900) A private institution which combines all the advantages of a perfectly equipped hospital with the quiet and comfort of a refined and elegant home. 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