Evening star. [volume], February 25, 1937, Page A-19, Image 19

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
SUPREME COURT
LOWLY IN ORIGIN
Rise Most Fascinating of All
Institutions of U. S.
Government.
The story of the Supreme Court
—its origin, its development and
the issues it has raised in the
history of the United States—is
told here in a series of articles, of
which this is the first, with the
object of throwing light on ques
tions raised in the momentous
political battle now being waged in
Washington as a result of President
Roosevelt’s program for court re
organisation.
BY WILLIAM C. McCLOY.
President Roosevelt's proposal to re
organize the Supreme Court has fo
cused the country’s attention upon
the court as nothing else has done in
the last 80 years. The Dred Scott
decision in 1857 concentrated public
attention upon the court then even
more vitally than the question of re
vision today—but the furor was over
a great moral question and had noth
ing to do with the structure of the
court itself.
Overnight, the court has become a
popular study. Librarian- in charge
of the public libraries report that the
demand for books on the court is
challenging the size of .the demand for
detective stories. The result is bound
to be instructive for many who hereto
fore looked upon the court as too
heavy a subject 1 lay minds.
The origin of the Supreme Court
was natural and s mple. The framers
of the Constitution realized that the
laws passed by Congress would be
variously interpreted by judges in all
sections of the country and that it was
therefore obligatory to have a cen
tralized authority, free from politics,
above public clamor, which would
weigh the laws dispassionately and
justly, keeping the interpretation in
line with the written Constitution. A
half century later, Daniel Webster
summed it all up tersely by saying,
•'Without the judicial power of the
Supreme Court, the country would be
a mere confederacy.”
Development Fascinating.
The story of the development of the
Supreme Court from its beginning in
1789 is as fascinating as anything in
our picturesque and amazing history.
No other one of the great and essential
features of our Government began in
eo lowly a way.
President Washington found it
rather difficult to ge. the kind oi men
he wanted to serve as Justices. The
six men who finally were induced to
serve were all Federalists. John Jay
of New York was named as Chief
Justice. The associate justices were
John Rutledge of South Carolina,
educated in England: William Cushing
of Massachusetts. James Wilson, born
and reared in Scotland; John Blair of
Virginia, personal friend of the Presi
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dent, and also educated In England,
and James Iredell, an Englishman.
The average age of the Justices was
48V4.
Of these six Justices, only three—
Jay, Wilson and Cushing—took the
trouble to attend the organization
ceremonies, February 1, 1790, in the
old Royal Exchange at the foot of
Broad street, New York City.
The first term of the court ran 10
days. Its only business was to admit
lawyers to practice before it. The
second term. In August of the same
year, was even shorter—two days—
and the work was similar to that of
the first session. It was not until a
year later that the first case was
called. And even this was a false
alarm. On taking It up, the court dis
covered the writ had been Issued by
the clerk of the Circuit Court, not
the clerk of the Supreme Court. So
the Supreme Court so.^mnly dismissed
the case.
Rutledge Resigned.
Justice Rutledge, who never attended
a meeting of this first court, resigned
shortly to become chief justice of
South Carolina. His nephew, Edward
Rutledge, and Charle- Cotesworth
Pinckney, both of South Carolina, de
clined appointment to the vacancy.
After a search for another justice,
President Washington induced Thomas
Johnson, a former Governor of Mary
land. to serve. Justice Johnson re
signed in two years. He was succeeded
by William Paterson, a former mer
chant and Senator from New Jersey.
Despite the lack of work before the
court itself, the posts were not sine
cures. A seat on the early bench was
no place for an elderly man. It is
doubtful if any of the present justices
could have stood the strain of those
early times for two years. The Chief
Justice received $5,000 a year and the
| associate justices $4,500. In addition
; to their duties as Supreme Court
justices, they were obliged to serve in
I the Circuit Courts located in the sev
; era! States, necessitating a great deal
i of traveling over country where the
roads were merely lines on the maps.
Justice Iredell, the youngest man on
; the bench (he was 38), complained
bitterly that he "was leading the life
of a post boy."
Justice Jay early became weary of
his exacting duties, and, In 1792, with
out resigning from the bench, became
a candidate for Governor . -t New York.
He lost to George Clinton, but held
on to the chief justiceship. Two years
later, however, he accepted the post
of special envoy to Great Britain and
remained abroad nearly a year. On
his return, he was elected Governor
of New York, and he then resigned
as Chief Justice.
Rutledge Succeeded Jay.
i President Washington appointed
. John Rutledge as Jay's successor, but
! Rutledge only served between sessions
of Congress. He had just about time
enough to offend the Federalists by
making a speech favorable to the
French, and the Senate refused to j
confirm him. 1
The highest post in the court was
next offered to Patrick Henry and to
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William Cushing, in turn. Both de
clined, and the President named
Oliver Ellsworth. It was not long
before the new Chief Justice got into
trouble with the Federalists over his
idea of expatriation, and he was glad
to escape their wrath by going to
France on a special mission during
the administration of John Adams.
The conduct of Supreme Court Jus
tices at this time invites attention.
During the term beginning in August,
1800, only half of the justices served.
The Chief Justice was still in France
on his mission, Justice Cushing was
too ill to attend court and Justice
Chase spent the whole period on the
stump, advocating the re-election of
his friend. President Adams. In that
campaign Thomas Jefferson was elect
ed President.
The Federalists, however, still con
trolled Congress and succeeded in do
ing the best thing they ever did, so
far as the Supreme Court was con
cerned. They passed the judiciary
act of 1801, establishing 16 new Fed
eral Circuit Courts, relieving the Su
preme Court justices of the onerous
duties in these courts. The Federalists
marred their good work by insisting
that the new justices must be Fed
eralists and by adding a provision
that, on the death of the next member
of the court, the number of justices
should remain at five. Justice Cush
ing’s death was imminent and the
provision was Intended to prevent an
appointment by Jefferson.
Jay Declined Post.
Most opportunely for the Federal
ists. Chief Justice Ellsworth resigned
because of ill health. President Adams
offered the post to John Jay, who
declined. The President then named
John Marshall, who, a short time be
fore, had • declined an associate jus
ticeship. There was considerable op
position to the confirmation of Mar
shall. but he was reluctantly con
firmed. He was sworn into office
February 1, 1801, just one month
before Jefferson became President.
Though John Adams' politics played
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a great part in John Marshall’s selec
tion, he has been regarded for more
than 100 years as the greatest Su
preme Court Justice in our history.
The illustrious history of the court
really begins with Marshall's ap
pointment.
But the court did not achieve its
high position all at once. When the
Government arranged for the housing
of its officials and departments in the
new City of Washington, the Supreme
Court was entirely overlooked. There
was a White House for the Executive,
a stately, commodious building for the
Senate and the Representatives and
spacious quarters for the various de
partments. Only the Supreme Court
was unprovided for and had to be
content with an insignificant room
24 by 30 feet—one if the vacant com
mittee rooms of the Senate, placed at
the disposal of the court through the
kindness of the Senators.
Prom this humble room, after a
peripatetic ramble from po6t to pillar,
the Supreme Court has climbed to the
$9,000,000 palace of justice it now
occupies—the cost being just about
one-third of what the Government
finally paid for the Louisiana Territory
—some 13 States—in President Jeffer
son’s time. The building itself stands
as a splendid monument to the growth
and development of the Nation aince
the adoption of the Constitution in
1789.
(Copyright, 1937, by the North America!
Newspaper Alliance ine.i
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SUFFER LARCENY LAWS
FOR DISTRICT PROPOSED
Measure Introduced by Mrs. Nor
ton Would Increase Bespec
i
tlve Penalties.
A series of propose amendments to
the District code, designed primarily
to raise the maximum amount under
which petty larceny can be charged
from $50 to $75. but increasing the
penalties for both petty and grand
larceny, are contained in a bill intro
duced yesterday by Chairman Norton
of the House District Committee.
Bearing the st mp of approval of
the Commissioners, the measure makes
a jail sentence mandatory in grand
•
larceny cases ranging from a mini
mum of one year's imprisonment to a
maximum of five years. The penalty
prescribed for petty larceny would be
a maximum fine of $500 or a year’s
imprisonment, or both.
The bill also would give the trial
justices discretionary authority to
order restitution to the value of the
property stolen, in addition to the
penalty.
Farm Land Taxes Eise.
A small rise in the average taxes on
farm lands in 1936 is reported by the
Agriculture Department in a prelimi
nary survey of 38 States. The de
partment reports the national average
tax on an acre of 'farm land at 37
cents in 1934-35, compared with the
peak of 58 cents in 1929. Taxes per
$100 of land value averaged $1.14 in
1935, $1.19 in 1934. $1 50 in the peak
year of 1932 and 55 cents in 1913.
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