Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-01-21
JUDGE POWERS CONFIRMATION.
The Fight i'm Washington to Dust
Him From the Bench.

The Fight I'm Washington to Gust
Him From the Bench.
A Washington dispatch to the Detroit
Free Press, which was republished in one
of our morning contemporaries this morn
ing, contains what purports to be an in
terview with Judge J. G. Sutherland on
the subject of his visit to the Capital.
The Judge is represented as saying, with
out reserve, that he was there to defeat
the confirmation of the appointment OF
Orlando w. Powers to the Associate JUS
ticeship of Utah. The pointed and ap-
parently damaging assertions of Judge
Sutherland, as to the unfitness of Mr..
Powers for the position, have awakened
in the curiosity Of the community the
widest speculations as to what has
prompted the attack referred to, one
theory having been expressed on the
streets this morning that it was Judge
Sutherland 8 association with the Bullion
Beck-Eureka Hill mining suit and the
unfavorable Ito him) decision of Judge
Powers in the case that has melted the
warfare. 1t has been known for some
time past that Judge Sutherland had
gone to Washington on such mission,
and it had previously been UNI
=terstood that Judge G. w. Ben
nett was at the Capital pulling his
hardest for the confirmation of the Asso-
ciate Justice. The fact that these two
distinguished members of the Salt Lake
Bar had been opponents in the big min
ing suit above mentioned, seemed to give
to this gossip something of a tangible
form, and DEMOCRAT reporter set out
with a determination to ascertain the
bearings in the matter. Several promi-
nent attorneys here were interviewed on
the subject, and with very few exceptions
they all expressed their opinions and
feelings with the same candor and ear
nestness which seem to have character
lied the movements of Judge Sutherland.
One law firm expressed its unqualified
contempt for Justice Powers, land resented
the inference that their or Judge Suther-
lands attitude had been actuated by the
recent decision in the mining case. They
contended that nothing which may here
after be accomplished can possibly affect
that decision, and that it is out of their
regard for the qualifications of Mr.. Pow
ers that the fight has been taken up.
They thought most members of the Salt
Lake Bar would concur in the opinion ex
pressed and forwarded here by the Kala-
mazoo Bar, of which Judge Powers had
been member, viz: the the gentleman
had long since manifested his incapacity
for the Bench. ALI that Judge Suther-
land had said about Powers discourtesy
and ill-treatment of the Bar here, was
true, and more too. When asked if they
considered that the efforts being put forth
against the confirmation in the Senate
would be successful, the gentlemen hand
ed the reporter a copy of a
pamphlet which has been circulated in
the Senate for several days, containing
the proofs of incompetency of Orlando
w. Powers for the Supreme Court Bench
of Utah. The paper is lengthy one,
and has been compiled by Edwin T. Con-
ely, attorney for directors. The princi-
pal evidence is contained in the letters
and affidavits of three of the Judges of
the Supreme Court of Michigan, j. w.
Champlin, 7. NJ Cooley and T. r. Sher-
wood. The former denies having ever
having given the endorsement credited |
him and which contained his alleged |
signature; while the other Judges, in ac-
their Endorsements, point |
out facts which have since come to their /
knowledge, throwing a new light on
Judge Powers reputation, in the face of
which they beg leave to withnraw their
endorsements. These letters are all very
in their denunciation of Mr..
Powers and accompany other evidence
which, altogether, the Collectors
eel confident will succeed in
,usting the Judge, notwithstanding the
lesire of President Cleveland and Attor-
Garland. The gentlemen
Who are responsible for the foregoing
opinions and who kindly gave the reporter
.ccess to these letters from Washington,
we're quite radical in their expressions
II disapproval of Judge Powers conduct
N the bench. The fact of their having
'een on the losing side in the recent liti-
alton, they averred, cut no figure in the
fair, for that was thing of the past.
N going further into the details of
hat notable suit, however, the gentlemen
that there had been certain
acts of a very prejudicial character which
influenced the decision in the case. They
llege that the visit of Chief Justice Fields
ere last summer and his dining with
Judge Powers, as we'll as his being a
in the Eureka Hill property,
ad tended to bring about the result and
nat the presence of George E. Whitney,
Ield's brother-in-law, during the whole
recess of the trial was influential in
he same direction. The association of
ION M. Dickinson and Justice Field with
he Kalamazoo Gazette article bearing on
he subject was likewise characterized as
lggestive. Nothing, however, could be
one now, looking to amends for the past
that matter; but the insults to mem
ers of the bar and the reputation which
Judge Powers brings from his own home
ere sufficient grounds for his removal,
hich they feel confident would be eff
,cted.
Other lawyers were approached on the
inject, but those who were not associ-
ted in the mining litigation expressed {
lore conservative opinions. Several I
equitable attorneys gave it as their opin-
N that this whole warfare on Judge
overs grew out of his recent decision in l
lat notable mining suit, and that the t
tack had been pressed 10y the attorneys +
n the losing side. They thought Judge 8
overs much ADLER and fairer man
IAN he had been given credit for 6
eing, and believed that he would I
'me out of the siege victorious. q
0 complete the information on the SUBJ
ct of the Judges decision as delivered l
Provo last week, the reporter hunted t
p several gentlemen from Tintic and i
cinity, who were not only reliable parties q
ut we'll posted also. From those who +
ere seen the unvarying opinion was !
ceived that the decision was looked o
pom with much disfavor by the mining Y
en- generally, and that there were very q
W exceptions. One party character =
ed it as IAN outrage" and said +
1 one could ha found 70 |