Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-07-24
iTHE UNSTAINED RRAiNH.
An Able and Comprehensive Review
Of Chancellor COoper's Career
on the Bench.
NJ. M. Brien, jr.'s stereOtyped Sian.
ders Refuted in Detail.

your Chancellor. The Office Of Chancellor
for Davidson county Is one of high irnpor-
tanee and ought to be fiiled bs a man of
legal learning and great purity of character.
| Il is hardly possible to Over-estimate the
Importance Of the election now before us.
William T. Cooper is the present incuni-
| bent and has filed the Office for nearly two
years. l think he was appointed by Gov.
Brown in the month of November, 1872.
| That he is a man of legal learning and
| ability, every one will admit And think
he also possesses qualities and is surround
| ed BY circumstances OF eaual value to ena-
] hi hitn rs diseharge we'll and xorthily the
duties of the Office. He is d tnan 6f 4 ripe
age, of great capacity to work, and to prove
that he is willing to work, point 10 the
immense amount of business he has
done. apd done well, since be was made
| Clianseil6r. lie has 10 E41nilf 70 dis
tract his attention and no kindred to re-
ward. | am we'll aware, that a man can
rise above his relationships and do his duty
and make no insinnatiOn 10 the cOrItIessyy.
But then it is safer TO choose one for such
positions, wlie bas no fstlIer, brother or
| cousin To Practice before him and who
might warp his mind. And taking it to be
that a judge could iift, himself .abofe bis
| leaning5 and NOuiG hold The scales equally
| in such a case, still it would be better tn
choose one without relations, when we can,
10 prevent suspicion in the mind of the I'M
successful litigaDt that injustice had been
done. We all know how important it is
| fOT the people 10 rsly eth sbsoluts conf
/ dence in tine integrity and impaTtiality Of 4
court. Remove this confidence and you do
much towards demOralizing the commu-
nifty. In a word, Mr.. Cooper possesses
every requisite qualification for the Office,
and it does seem TO me. that to prefer
another o,er mia, would be but TO sttltify
ourselves.
Up to this time, Mr.. Cooper has remained
silent and allowed one Of his opponents to
bring against him the grOssest accusations.
Be does not think il hefitting to caDdi-
date for the office OF Chancellor TO take the
stump and play the demagogue. He has
therefore continued, as he had done before
his nomination, upon the bench deciding
the suits of the peOple--ready to try any
body's suit who wished trial, and has left
il to the People to dsferd his character.
He has been living here for about thirty
years, and in that time Inc ought to q well
established and known. If he be defeated,
il will be more our misfortune than it will
be his and therefore L think he might wisely
leafe Il 10 the people TO protect his charac-
ter.
But citizens of Davidson county, ought
man who aspires to DE the Chancellor Of
this county to canvass the county like
politician? have already said that our
Chancellor ought 10 be not only able but
also pure, and free from all partialities be-
tween our citizens as far as this can be. He
Certainly Ought 70 be Impartial. You
know that Justice is ordinarily represented
to our eyes by man blind and holding a
pair Of scales He is so represented blind
because in the trial Of a suit, the Judge
ought nit 70 know who Is his friend OF
who is his enemy. Now if candidate
for the Office Of judge is permitted
10 take the stump and electlOneer
like a politician, he will necessarily come
under obligations to some, and entertain
feelings inimical to others, and to this ex-
tent he would be unfit for a Judge. As sure
as human nature continues 70 be what it is,
| II candidates are encouraged to eleetiOnser
for the Office of judge, the Judiciary of this
State will become corrupt, and that pro-
| vision in our Constitution dead letter in
which Justice is intended to be secured to
/ every one without sale or denial. Such was
the opinion Of our fathers, and therefore
| they refused 10 allow these officers to be
elected by the people; and now that We
| have departed from this principle, It be
| comes us to frOwn down and discOunten-
ance this practice. And 90 | say that w. +.
Cooper, in refusing TO follow the example
| Of NJ. NJ. Brien, Jr., ESQ.,, has acted the
/ part of good citizen, and has thereby both
| shown his respect for you, and a proper
I Of the 1frfiae to Ia r,ar-forr1na1
should elect him your Chancellor.
And now allow me to notice briefly some
| Of the charges OF Mr.. Brien. The first /
| will call to your attention is that of the fee
| of Mr.. Cooper, in the case of the State
| against the delinquent railroad companies.
| Il is known that the State loaned its
bonds to various railroad eOHipahieS in this
State in order to help them to build their
roads, and that in so doing it made the
bonds so loaned lien upon the property Of
the company in whose behalf they were
issued. The bonds of the State, or the in
terest accruing upon them, were
uu' paid; snd thereupOn the Legs
lature appointed three Commission
ers to take such steps as might
become necessary TO collect this mOney,and
they eventually employed E. II. Ewing,
| w. F. Cooper and W. ID. Reese to file bill
in the ChanCery Court at Nashville to en-
force the lien of the State. The bill was
| filed, and the property Of the delinquent
railroad companies was subjected TO the
payment OF these bonds. l forget the
amount realized by the State under this
suit from the sale Of the property of the
railroad companies, but am confident il
Tas considerably more than million Of
dollars. These three lawyers asked for
reference to the Clerk and Master TO take
prjof and report what would be reasonable
compensation to them as fee, and under
this reference the Clerk and Master did ex-
anime many lawyers and reported to each a
fee of $4,000. ] understand that NJ. NJ.
Brien, Jr., Esq, was summoned to appears
and did appear, but before be could be
examined, he was necessarily called away
for short time and did not afterwards ap-
pear before the Master. lie certainly did
know of the reference and did have an OPP
pOrtunity then or afterwards to appear and
testify if he had been so disposed. Mr.
Brien now objects to the amount OF this
fee, and says it was excessive, and wish
him TO say whether or not he would, under
the circumstances, have taken it. | don't
think that he would have hesitated for mo
ment TO have pOcseted il, although / know
that it would be very cheap for him now to
assume to be virtuous. RecOllect thai
many lawyers, some Of whom were fully as
competent to judge as Mr.. Brien and fully
as honest, testified that the services Of Mr..
Cooper were worth $4,000. But
granting, if you please, that the fee
was too large, that all the lawyers who
were examined were knaves and liars, that
M. NJ. Brien, Jr., Esq, was so severely bon
est and patriotic that he would not have
accepted the fee, want to know Of him
why he did not appear before the Clerk
and Master and so state? II he knew that
the State was about to be cheated and de-
franded by Cooper, the bOnd-grabber, (tO
use his phrase) why did he not then step
forward in behalf Of the State and shield
il? If he had so done, the people might
have respect for his sincerity; but now, 1t
seems to me that decent respect for him
self ought to admOnish him, that absolute
silence was the true policy for him on that
point.
upon this point, l now say that after Mr..
Cooper had rendered his services in that
case. and after he had grabbed the bonds
of the State, Judge East resigned and this