The New York herald., 1872-09-16

LIZ SHEET.
speak OF the institution Of slaveiy." says he "as
poitcai sclollsts do, as unmtigA ted evil crime
and sin. only betrays an ignorant presumption ~
And he goes on to characterize II as "the great
educational institution by which, for thou sands OF
years, the lowest classes OF people have been raised
from barbarism." Yet we ind Mr.. Tyler liberal
enough to declare further on Irejoicc that slavery
| no longer exists In 6or country"
The unexampled excitement that followed the
proclamation througho6t t1e anti-slavery North OF
the doctrine laid down y Chief Justice Taney In the
Dred Scott case Ia thus characterized by our bio
| grapher:A
'The OPINION Of Chief Justice Taney, In the Dfud-
Scott case, had hardly been reau IN open Court Ne
fore the panders oi the ree-sOh party clrculatedy
| Dy all mean@ OF communication over every place
where voter lived, that the Chief Justice had pro-
claimed, as his personal opinion, atd not as a mat
awhite man Ia hound to respect. A sentiment so
atrocous Notwithstanding the elevated position
public estimation, was readily believed, and is still
pelieved by perhaps majority OF the people Of the
Chief Justice. In the wild, willing imaginations OF
tnc party IN whose path to power the DredScott
appeared as monster ro5ed in the hsbments i Of
Justice, In colluson with the democratic party and
| ests
task which must have been distastefui to him. He
| cites from speech OF Hon. William II. Seward, In
1s6s in the Senate. the charge that there was some
secret understanding or collusion between the
Chief Justice, President Buchanan and the chiefs
or the democratic party respecting the decision in
the Dred Scott case, before 1t was delivered. This
charge Mr.. Tyler denounces as IAN unmitgated
calumny from beginning to end" and he is betrayed
into the use OF very damaging epithcts toward Its
author, going 80 far as to impute to him personally
mean and dishon0rable motives. And he cites let
ters written to him by two Of the Associate Judges
sitting in the Dred Scott case Justices Nelson and
CampbelD, showing that they totally disbeeved
that there had been any understanding what
ever Of the nature charged by Mr.. Seward.
Certainly the very strong letter Of Hon. Reverdy
johnson, written almost tc0ntemporane0usy March
g. 1859, and printed in this memoir is conclusive
against any theory that supposes the bred Scott
case had been got before the Supreme Court at
that particular juncture for political effect.
so keenly did the late Chief Justice resent the
charge Of Mr.. Seward that Mr.. Tyler gives US this
emphatic anecdote on the subject
In such abhorrcnce did Chief Justice Taney hold
the conduct OF Mr.. Seward, in so wantonly assai-
Ing the Supreme Court that he told me II Mr..
instead OF Mr.. Lincoln he should, If requested as
was customary, have refused to administer to him
the official oath, and thereby proclaim to the nation
that he would not administer that oath to such o
man.
In 1863, when the first Income Tax law went into
effect, and tax OF three per cent on all salaries
other incomes in excess Of $500 was imposed, Chief
Justice Taney addressed the following letter to the
Secretary Of the Treasury, Salmon p Chase, after
wards his own successor. We believe this letter,
although spread upon the minutes Of the Court by
direction Of the Judges, has not before been pub
lished. It Is interesting In connection with two
facts stated by Mr. Tyler-Flrst, that no notice was
taken Of 1t by Secretary Chase, and, second,
that by very recent ruling OF the Secre-
tary OF the Treasury Mr.. Boutwell, has re-
versed the practice OF his predecessors for ten
years uncluding his own, anu refunded to the
Judges Of the Supreme Court or their estates las
we'll as to the District Judges and the Presidents
ex-Presidents) all amounts Of income tax withheld
from their salaries, while In once, from 1862 to
1s71:-
WASHINGTON February 10, 1853.
STR find that the act OF Congress OF the last
session imposing tax OF three per cent on the
United States has been construed In your depart
menty to embrace judicial of1icers, and the amount
OF the tax has been deducted from the salaries OF
| the Judges.
the first section of the third article Of the con.
United States shall be vested in one supreme
Court and such inferior courts as Con
The Judges Of both the Supreme and inferior
courts shall hold their of1lces during good beha-
vices compensation. which Shall not be diminished
during their continuance In oflice." The act
IN question as you nterpres % IT, It, dlmnsnes % the
ifit can be diminished to that extent by the name
OF tax. 1t may In the same way be reduced nom
time to time ut the pleasure OF the Legislature.
The Judiciary Is one OF the three great depart
ments OF government created and established by
caily set forth, and are Of character that re-
qures 1t t0 be perfectly independent Of the other
departments. And in order to place 1t beyond the
reach and above the suspicion OF any such in
huence, the power to reduce their compen-
snd son Is from
that used in the constitution. It is, more:
provisions. For the articles which limit the powers
OF the legislative and executive branches OF the
for the protection OF the citizen in his person and
property would be OF little value without judi
from every influence direct or indirect, that might
by possibility, in times of political excitement, warp
Upon these grounds regard an act Of Congress
retaining in the Treasury portion OF the compen-
satlon Of the Judges as unconstitutional and void
and should not have troubled you with this letter
II there was any mode by which the question could
be decided In a judicial proceeding. But all the
Judges Of the Courts Of the United States have an
interest in the question, and could not, therefore,
with propriety undertake TO hear and decide it.
red, rom my silence. that admit the right Of the
Legislature to diminish In this or any other mode,
by law; and my silence would naturally, perhaps
necessarily, be looked upon as acquiescence on my
part in the power claimed and exercised under this
act OF Congress, and would be regarded as prece-
dent establishing the principle that the Legislature
| may at Its pleasure regulate the salaries OF the
Judges OF the courts OF the United States and may
reduce their compensation whenever Congress may
| think proper.
Having been honorcd with the highest judicial
station under the constitution feel 1t to be more
| especially my duty to uphold and maintain the con-
stituonal rights OF that department OF the govern
mcnt, and not by any act or word OF mine leave 1t
to be supposed that acqulesce In o measure that
displaces 1t from the independent position assigned
to Il by the statesmen who framed The Constitution
And in order to guard against any such inference