The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-09-13

OF the United states-Hew Shall 1t
Ne Fiileds
No duty pertaining to the Office of Chief
Magistrate Of the Republic requires more
grave and prudent consideration than that of
the selection of justices of the Supreme Court
of the United States. The power and authority
OF that exalted tribunal are greater than those
welded either by the President or Congress;
for tho Supreme Court is the recognized and
final interpreter of the laws of the nation and
of the constitution upon which they are based,
and stands virtually in the position of arbiter
between the coordinate branches of the gov
eminent and the people. Resistance may be
offered 10 the laws of Congress or to the acts
Of the President within the limits
Of loyalty and good citizenship, for the
spirit of our government recognizes an appeal
from both; but resistance to the decisions of
the Supreme Court of the United States cannot
be made short of revolution. To those deci-
sions all our authorities and all individuals
must submit and the right of appeal to that
tribunal is justly regarded as the great bull
wark 'of the liberties of the people. In the
most heated political campaigns the momen-
tous character of the powers and duties of the
high appellate court have been recognized,
and but few of the boldest partisans have dared
10 cast stain upon its ermine. The
most dangerous and incendiary senti-
ment ever put forth by q politician
was that uttered by Mr.. Seward, when
he urged the success of the republican
candidate, pending Mr.. Lincolns first cleo
ton, on the ground that within their Presi-
dents four years term of Office, through an
increase of judges and the probable workings
of nature, they would doubtless be empowered
to SO remodel the Supreme Court Bench as to
insure the Interpretation of the constitution
from a republican point of view. Subsequent
history has proved that the indiscreet remark
was mere rhetorical flight, for Mr.. Lincoln's
nominations to the Supreme Court, aided as
they fortunately were by Mr.. Stewards coun-
sci, were such as the nation approved and as
time has justified. But the mere proclama-
ton of such doctrine was alarming
enough. The masses of the people have
never lost sight of the wisdom Of pre-
serving the purity and efficiency of this
important tribunal and, however intensely
political feeling may have been excited in
campaign, no party has been found reckless
enough to openly assail or threaten inter-
ference with the judicial arm of the govern
ment. Our respect for law, our conservative
readiness to acquiesce in the decisions of the
court of final resort, is the safety valve of the
political engine which whirls us along with
such reckless velocity. In this We differ from
the spasmodic republics and communes of the
Old World. The nation is powerful, and the
permanency Of our form of government is
assured SO long as we bow as people to the
supremacy Of the law and yield loyal
obedience to its DEGREES.
A special Providence seems hitherto to have
watched over us and to have kept pure and
undefled this fountain-head of our republican
institutions. There have been times when the
public mind has been shaken by the fear that
partisanship was about to lay its polluting
touch upon the yet unsullied ermine; but
happily the danger has passed away,
and the honor of the Supreme Court
has remained unimpaired 1t may be
that the overshadowing sense Of the
heavy responsibility attached to seat on the
Supreme Court bench, united with the knowl-
edge that the Office is lfe-lasting and re-
moved from the ordinary vicissitudes of
public positions, has tendency to arouse
conservative sentiments, to alMy passions
and prejudices, and to clear and strengthen
the Judgment At all events, it is certain that
through all administrations this high tribunal
has retained the confidence and respect of the
people. Mr.. Lincoln's appointments were
watched with jealousy, and not without some
apprehension; yet, as we have said, they
ment could approve Even the pure and able
Chief Justice whom death has recently
removed, was regarded by many as untitled,
by his strong political opinions, for the
position to which he was assigned, although
his judicial action speedily dispelled that
error. His decisions have not only
been distinguished for their clearness,
breadth and legal keenness, but have
been remarkable for their display
of political indifference. In the famous
legal tender cases Chief Justice Chase did not
hesitate to pronounce judgment adverse to
the views and the policy that he had himself
maintained SO stoutly in his former position
as Secretary of the Treasury In the well
known Milligan case, in which Milligan,
member Of a secret political society, who had
been tried before military tribunal for an
alleged offence committed within the State of
Indiana and convicted, appealed to the Su-
preine Court of the United States, Chief JUS
tice Chase decided that no citizen could be
tried before military tribunal in State not
in rebellion. This decision settled the vallan-
digham case and all others of similar
character, and put stop to the attempt to sup
plant the civil by military courts. Yet as poll