, 1873-04-05

and tho result would DO danger to tllo commune
l;ollco. o. tl1 Thoro might DO hopo that aomo day
tlioy would sustain tho Supreme Court speak-
ing Of tho
STRAW DArr. BUSINESS
exposed by tlH journal he sqi5 ho Ind hn1self
Barron caBo,-but ills mon lad not yot worked
out tho pcna1ty; thoy woro scllt to tho poniter-
tlary, md aono Of thcnl. ho thought, wero stIll
thoro. ue believed in Hovere ronaltioa
wore m not afraid to administer tho law. lie
spoke Of the boliof tint as long na mon wna n
lawyer, 1t did not mattor wl,cthor ho was elected
Judge ovor a. criminal or civil court. Spending
as Judge who Ind Ind experience OF tho differ
ont courts, ho Ind no hesitation III saying tint,
to bo q good criminal 1awyor, considerable ex-
norionco waH noceaHnry.
THE PERSONNEL OF THE BurnEME cdunT.
The reporter expressed some curiosity rs to
tho mannor in which tho Supro1no Court Judges
finally determined on tho opinions Which have
oreatod so much excitement among tho peoplo.
Tho Judge aaid oyery lawyer knows tho ru,,-
n ha aaRf sst senss nas oo~s t s ma ia
not think 1t was tnattor TINT would interest
anybody. Ha might eay, howovor, tho case filed
for M opinion, after nearing and 40 forth, bcing
aig,,od to ono or other Of tho Judges, to whom:
sooyor 1t belonged. If tho principles that should
govern the case were not. already settlcd, OF
course tho matter would all have to bo talkcd
pom, howovor, tint any dialculty areso In
that way. In most casoa tho difficulty
was not no much with tho principles as with tho
demands Of the particular case, md those did
No., ef or az aa
culnted to afford. III the receHa tho various
opinions that The Judges lad gathered during
tho "Ha ne eqsa an md LEA
but not less necessarily task Of writing tho opin-
ion,--a task Of no moan Importance, since tho
opinion would Rtand Of record, md must DO un-
nsfaaiable In law and Logic us we'll as in faith
of Il Kont, raraons, Nils, and m -: nlaeitiord,
In bygone days, when ten or twoiyo
In tho year was the utmoskthey were called npon
to furnish, could not be expected in thoge Of the
poctod nor intended; but accuracy WAS abso-
1utely necessary. and accuracy waa not Mt
tainablo without labor and thought.
The reporter assumed that tho fitness Of par-
1nw,-for instance, commercial caaes, land caaee,
and 10 forth h,-was consulted, In dcoiaing which
Judge should prepare tho opinion Of the Court.
o }ndH az thss this vas 0ne Gt tho
| ginning but 1t Was ono TINT had not diaap-
peared, or waa disappearing: It Ind become
| tolerably we'll known to what branch Of learning
each Judge had devoted himself, or In which ho
petent to decide general questions, thero wero
some who had made particular matters their
study.
Tic reporter asked tho Judge to namo the
His Honor. with smile, said to thought Ii
would be rather inpertinont, on his part; to un-
dertako to point out tho characteristics OF his
brethren on tho bench. It was veil IN.
on such and such q subject the opinion OF 80
md 70 was entitled to much weight; but 1t
might not be proper for him to take ibertles Will,
hs brothers i9 ths unexpected VIZ and pant
posed they would object, but still, 1t would bo a
curious liberty for ono gentleman to take with
another. He supposed Judge Lawrence would
not object to ita being known that he (McAnis;
membera Of the Judiciary. He was originally
from what had been known as tho military traot,
and, up to his being raised to tho Supreme
es}as ss always Up bs to the 1obs exc ba n real
In that branch OF practice. He was
undeniably . tlrst-class lawyer, md from thu
any year, ho Ind gxen to 5ho atdy Of s9mo ot
country, he lad ACQUIRED an experience that
rarely foil to tho lot Of single man, which, COM
bined with his sound Judgment and clear view,
made him an admirable Judge, Judge WalAef
yss ffen the zane district ?na ws? sl9s alst!9;
a. 70 Judge Lawrence would apply. He (IoAll.
iBtor) particularly affected an acquaintance with
commercial matters, and most Of tho other
Judges had greater experience than their breth.
rem in particular walks Of life, which rendered
course, it hnd taken long tlmo for tho Judges
to find ont the most conspicuous abilities oi
their neghbors. but he belioved they were now
pretty we'll acquainted with eaoh other.
JUDGE TuonF1oN's RESIGNATION.
The reporter asked the Judge il he know why
Judge Thornton had resigned. The Judge an
swered that Il might, perhaps, be improper fot
at the eamo time be might say that Judge Thorn
ton made no secret Of his impatienco at tho ,ln-
pleasant demonstrations made against tho 3u-
preme court. Judge Thornton, no more than
ansd ssy aasIs ETH q o '9 ost nss oaa 1 u 5
served, and personal character in the name OF
tho people, BY demagogues OF tho worst class.
re was, perhaps, somewhat rostive under o
st;, sta9 eadutl Of .hing5 at no honorable man
= 1ome-loving man. He was hard
worker, and brought to hts labors ripe expert
enco and sound Judgment, but finally, the excess
was obliged to bo absent from Liz family, and tie
dieagreeables already sufficiently indicated, prob
ably led him to determine on his resignation.
In truth, the position was almost an unondur-
sgned long before be dd vas due simost @ s Wholly M
/ to tho fact that he felt 1t unmanly to desort his
post until at loast the business Of tho last term
had beon pushed through. He would not have
have longer withatood the pressure. Of Judge
Thornton It :. cannot be aaid, o,hor
than that ho retired with dignity from post that
ho has occupied with honor to himsolf-as tho
pooplo will somo day know-and advantage to
tho State. His brothers Of the Illinois Guprome
Court havo misBod, In him, q cheerful and indo-
fntlgable co:lnboror, thorough lawyer, and an
unusually clear-slghted man.
JUDGE THoRNToNs SUCCESSOR.
His Honor said that he did not know moro
than two peraons in Judge 1,lornton's district
Who were, in his opinion, worthy to succeed him.
Ho nauod ono Of them, but did not think it
proper TINT his name should ho
published. Ho was, In many rospoots,
qualified 4l nt to occupy the scat vacated
namely: That ho waB the attorney Of railroad
company, which would be regarded by a largo
number Of pooplo Us sufloonf to disqualify him
Desides that, thorc Was nothing to tompt him to
accept tile poBitlon, woro he cortain Of obtain
ing It 1; hiH present salary was he believed,
$4,000 year, and be was not likely to exchange
1t for the smaller Hun Of 81, 900, tho amount now
received by Supreme Court Judge. There was
nothing now remaining to tempt men Of ambi-
ton to scat in the Supreme Court 1t was no