Evening star. [volume], February 27, 1937, Page A-4, Image 4

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
1925 Law Helped Tribunal
Eliminate Cases of Little
Importance.
The story of the Supreme Court—
ft* origin, its development and the
times it has raised in the history
Of the United States—is told here
tn a series of articles, of which this
it the third, with the object of
throwing light on questions raised
in the momentous political battle
now being waged in Washington as
a result of President Roosevelt’s
program for court reorganizations.
BY WILLIAM C. McCLOY.
Except for the splendid structure,
with its completely modern furnishings
and equipment, there is little to dis
tinguish the Supreme Court in its
new home. The procedure of its
operations is the same. Only upon
veTy special occasions is the court
room crowded. Dignity and decorum
h*ve always marked Its sessions, and
they are still strictly maintained.
On the days when decisions are
hinder! down, promptly at the ap
pointed hour the court crier an
nounces the entrance of the justices.
Aa in all other properly conducted
courts, the audience rises and re
mains standing until the justices are
seated. The opening of the session
la simple, direct, dignified.
After a few moments' silence, the
ehief justice nods to one of the other
Justices, who proceeds to read an
opinion, quietly.
It is difficult to conceive of any
thing less sensational than the hand
ing down of the general run of the
opinions of the justices, affirmative
or dissenting. There is no show of
feeling, no attempt to please or dis
please anybody, and the language is
so legalistic that, for the visiting lay
man, It might just as well be in an
other tongue.
Business Expedited.
Under the judiciary act of 1925. the
extension of the system of selective
or discretionary jurisdiction (first
adopted in 1891, just as the court
passed its centenary), the court has
greatly expedited its business in the
last dozen years. Formerly, the court
allowed the lawyers appearing before
it much greater latitude in present
ing their cases. The result was an
abundance of oratory for rich clients
and little law for the justices.
The new procedure has changed all
that. Frequently, nowadays, the court
stops arguments when It decides it has
enough information for a decision.
Furthermore, only certain classes of
cases can come before the court as a
matter of right. Attorneys must now
present good and sufficient reasons
before obtaining continuations or re
hearing. Frivolous appeals are dealt
with sharply. Taken altogether,
these changes have greatly si..iplified
and speeded up the business of the
court during the last decade.
When the attorneys for both sides
of an important case have finished
their arguments and handed in their
briefs, the Justices discuss the case
privately. The real labor of their
office is in writing their opinions. The
astonishing thing to visiting laymen
is the simplicity of the court and its
proceedings.
Most Cases Arise on Appeal.
A great majority of the cases com
ing before the Supreme Court reach
there on appeal either from a lower
Federal court or the highest court of
a State when some Federal question
is involved.
The few cases begun in the Supreme
Court itself are designated as "orig
inal jurisdiction." The Constitution
specifies that the Supreme Court shall
have original Jurisdiction (not neces
sarily exclusive) in cases affecting
Ambassadors, other public ministers
and consuls and in those cases in
which a State shall be a party.
It should be said here that even
Congress has no power to enlarge this
original jurisdiction of the court, for
that would be construed as amending
the Constitution in an unlawful way.
The most important and distinctive
function of the court, therefore, is to
decide appeals from the highest State
courts and to settle Federal questions
coming from the lower Federal courts.
This makes the Supreme Court the
defender of the rights reserved to the
States, the interpreter of the national
laws and, above and beyond all else,
the guardian of the Constitution.
Cases Involving the constitutionality
of State legislation are by far the most
common. With 48 State legislative
mills roaring at full blast for half
the year, and with thousands of law
yers seeking higher offices as friends
of the people, the amount of new
legislation Is prodigious—the more Im
portant of which must reach the Su
preme Court in some form. In these
reforming days, legislators everywhere
aw Inclined to pass anything and let
the higher courts assume the onus
of declaring it unconstitutional. "Pass
ing the buck" is the favorite pastime
of many who live by politics.
Origin of State Law Cases.
Generally speaking, most cases in
volving the constitutionality of State
laws result: (1) Prom alleged in
fringement of the right of Congress
to regulate Interstate commerce; (2)
from impairing the obligation of con
tracts; (3) from conflicts over clauses
of the fourteenth amendment, which
prohibits the States from depriving
any person of “life, liberty or property”
Without "due process of law” and "po
lice power” cases.
• Another class of cases commanding
Considerable attention of the Supreme
Court consists of actions in which
tne party asserts and the other denies
gome right or immunity derived di
rectly under the Constitution, statutes
6e treaties. Here, the court acts as
the guardian of the reserved rights
of the States and as the medium
through which the executive legisla
tive branches of the Government are
restrained from overstepping the lines
Burked out for them In the funda
mental law.
Such cases are largely disputes over
the boundaries of national and State
authorities. The court starts with the
premise that the National Government
is a government of limited powers,
{numerated in the Constitution and
the fundamental laws to which all
must conform. If the court is satisfied
that Congress has exceeded its au
thority in passing the law as measured
fcy the Constitution, the court will
limply declare the law unconstitu
tional. The law will then become
pull and void thereafter, although it
may be years before It is repealed.
'.(Copyright. 1937. by the North American
• Newspaper Alliance, Inc.)
f
• -•
; Chess Tournament Listed.
; Under the patronage of King Gustaf
V more than 100 chess players from 25
•ountries will meet in Stockholm this
Summer In an international chess con
gress, the seventh ever held.
A
Honors and Degrees Punctuate
Chief Justice Hughes’ Life
Retain* Stately Dignity
Through 53 Year* of
Public Life.
This is the sixth and last of a
series of six stories on Supreme
Court justices 70 or more years
of age.
Next to Santa Claus, Chief Justice
Charles Evans Hughes owns Just
about the most celebrated set of
whiskers In the world.
Fifty-three years of public life have
changed their one-time red to white—
but the stature of the man retains
the same stately dignity which has
ever graced his straight, spars figure.
With a reputation for austerity, the
Chief Justice remarked character
istically on his 74th birthday anni
versary:
“I am going along without reference
to the calendar. I am not interested
In my birthday. I don’t want to talk
about it.’’
Showered through life with 23 col
lege degrees, the analytical brilliance
of a transcendent mind has won him
praise from many quarters.
Back as a boy when the youthful
brains of Olens Falls. N. Y.. spun to
the tempo of foot ball and fishing,
Charlf* Evans Hughes penned a
thesis on "The Evils of Light
Literature.''
The list of his posts in public life
threads through his biographies a
succession of high-sounding titles.
Beginning with two years as a cru
sading attorney they read like the ful
fillment of a dream:
Governor of New York for two
terms.
Associate Justice of the Supreme
Court.
Republican presidential candidate.
Secretary of State under two
Presidents.
Chairman of the Washington Arma
ment Limitations Conference.
Special Ambassador to the Brazilian
Centenary Celebration.
Chairman of the United States
Delegation to the Pan-American Con
ference on Arbitration and Concilia
tion.
Member of the Permanent Court of
Arbitration, The Hague.
Judge of the Permanent Court of
International Justice.
President of the American Bar
Association.
Honorary bencher, the Middle Tem
ple. London.
Seen in the court, he is a model of
judicial deportment. His deep musical
voice fits the magnificence of the set
ting with Imposing dignity.
The Chief Justice ana Mrs. Hughes'
i social datebook is so crammed that it
is said a famous Washington hostess
i once invited them to a dinner a year
ahead of time to make sure they
didn't have another engagement.
He keeps trim by daily walks
through the quiet residential section
near his Capital home.
Contrary to a widespread belief,
Charles Evans Hughes' title is not
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
CHIEF JUSTICE HUGHES.
but Chief Justice of the United States.
Chronology: Bom in Glens Falls,
N. Y.. April 11, 1862. Schools—Col
gate, Brown and Columbia. Admitted
to the New Yorlc bar in 1884. Age on
next birthday anniversary—75.
-•
CITY NEWS IN BRIEF.
TODAY.
Banquet, White House Correspond
ents’ Association, Mayflower Hotel,
7:30 p.m.
Dinner-dance, Phi Gamma Pi
Sorority, Raleigh Hotel, 7 p.m.
Dance, Incomco Club, Raleigh Hotel,
9 p m.
Dinner, Military Order of the
Carabao, Willard Hotel, 8 p.m.
Dance. Alpha Zeta Beta Sorority,
Broadmoor Hotel, 10 p.m.
Meeting, Philosophical Society of
Washington, Cosmos Club, 8:15 p.m.
Banquet. Michigan State Alumni
Association, 1400 Sixteenth street,
6:30 p.m.
Card party and dance. Hope and
Acacia Chapters, O. E. 8., Wardman
Park Hotel, 9 p.m.
Dinner, Lutheran Atonement
Church, North Capitol street and
Rhode Island avenue, 6 p.m.
Card party and dance. State Coun
cil, Daughters of America, Almas
Temple, 1315 K street, 8 p.m.
TOMORROW
Meeting. National Educational
Forum, 2230 California street, 2:30
p.m.
Meeting. Bartenders’ Union. Old
Local No. 75, 720 Fifth street, 3 p m.
Meeting, Town Hall, debate. Sena
tor Black and Representative Brew
ster, Shoreham Hotel, 8 p.m.
Card party and dance. Sisters of
Keaher Israel Congregation, Willard
Hotel, 8:30 p.m.
REACH 104 FEET
Core Samples Reveal Con
tinuance of Gray Granite
Specked With Black.
Hampered aomewhat by water freez
ing in the plpea, drillers for the United
States Engineer Office, today faced a
half day of boring down farther to
secure first-hand information about
the foundations for the Thomas Jef
ferson Memorial, south of the Tidal
Basin. Yesterday's efforts, although
retarded by the cold, sent the drill to
104 feet beneath the surface of the
ground and convinced the workers
that the ledge of rock, encountered
at 86 feet, still persists at the lower
level.
Samples of the core secured by the
drill show that the rock Is gray
granite, specked with black. Careful
data are kept by the engineers super
vising the drilling. Not only are fig
ures jotted down, but samples of the
borings at various depths are pre
served, so that the engineers and ar
chitects may study them carefully and
upon the Information thus gleaned
predicate detailed plans for the foun
dations for the Thomas Jefferson Me
morial.
Maj. Walter D. Luplow, district en
gineer for the Washington area, who
has charge of the drilling for the
National Park Service, Interior De
partment, and the Thomas Jefferson
Memorial Commission, which was set
up by Congress to construct the memo
rial, has ordered a 24-hour watch kept
over the Government property con
nected with the drilling. The drillers
work from around 7:30 a m. to 4 pm.
and then during the night hours
watchmen are on duty.
John L. Nagle, National Park Serv
ice engineer, who will have charge
of the construction of the Thomas
Jefferson Memorial, is waiting until
data are secured from at least three
test borings, before formulating any
opinions on the foundation conditions.
The drillers are expected to go a
little deeper in the first hole, the
operation having started Wednesday.
The drilling operation is expected to
take about a month, as not only will
several holes be drilled on the shore
of the Tidal Basin, where the memo
rial is to stand, but borings will be
taken in the water area, as well.
PONTIAC I
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PEOPLE CONGREGATE MANUFACTURER*
i
Tambour Writing Table, copied In
satinwood from a Sheraton piece
belonging to the Marquis of Salis
bury ......S9S
Louis XV Love Seat in sky-blue
satin damask an a daintily earned
frnitweod frame_$110
Georgian Chest, all walnut of
exquisite groin, antique finished.
Handsome hronxe hardware-S140
The exquisite lines of fine furniture become
classic with the years, undimmed by age and
imitation, unaffected by changing tastes in
fashion. Master craftsmen of the 18th cen
tury built well, creating in each piece a deli
cate balance of line and construction, a har
mony of ornament and structural design.
Today, the skilled hands of still other master
craftsmen have copied these pieces, repro
ducing faithfully their rich intricacy of de
tail, adapting them to modern usage. Beau
tifully grained woods, some inlaid, some rub
bed by hand, some finished in the manner of
the 18th century, make the pieces in our col
lection treasures to enrich your home, to be
passed from generation to generation as were
the originals. Sheraton, Chippendale and
Louis XV designs are present in addition to
numerous fine pieces adapted from those in
the restoration at Williamsburg. Connois
seur or amateur, we invite you to view these
pieces in our Furniture Section, Sixth Floor.
Mirrored above, the Stonegate And a delicately modeled arm
Secretary, a Sheraton design, re- chair of rich Oxford mahogany, up
produced in all mahogany, ex- bolstered in copper-toned damask
qnisitely Inlaid_$225 and nail studded-$60
Fuhhiiuib, Sixth Floox.
t