St. Paul daily globe., 1888-05-28
BAR AND BENCH.
How Gresham Came to Be Selected
for Judge by President Grant,

Mr.. Gresham began his career by COM
biniug law and politics. They have
been more or less intermingled all
through, and always honorably. His
admission to the bar and the Nebraska
question were cOincident. The great
Wing party, with which all his political
traditions were associated, had dis
solved. 1t was hot and Seething time.
and men began to range themselves on
the slavery question. In 1856 the Re-
publican party was formed, and with it
Gresham at once allied himself. In
1856 his partner, Judge Slaughter, was
delegate from Indiana to the Phila-
mont. In the canvass that followed the
young lawyer stumped Harrison county
on behalf of the "Pathfinder'' and
scored many successes.
When the war was ended he went
into law again, but seemed inclined to
let politics alone. Yet his war record
was instrumental at once in advancing
him. The United States district Judge
ship in Southern Indiana became va
cant in 1869. There were hosts of can
didates. Gresham himself strongly
recommended his law partner. The
papers being submittedSto Grant, the
caught the name of Walter Q. Gresham
as a recommended of somebody else.
The old commander said nothing, but
sent over for Rawlins, at the war de-
partment. He said: "Rawlins, we've
got to appoint district judge in South
ern Indiana, and here's pile of appli-
cations. On the papers of one is an in
dorsement from Walter Q. Gresham.
Amt that our Walt Gresham that used
to be in front of Vicksburg?''
"Rawlins said he thought it was.
''Well,' said the ''old man." ''you find
t,and if it is we won't look any further
for a Judge. He's the man for the place
if he'll take it," Rawlins assured the
president that that as''Walt"Gresham.
and orders were given to send his name
at once to the senate. 1t was late one
evening when Gresham received the no.
tice of appointment. it coming by mail.
Meeting an intimate friend, he handed
it to him and asked him to read it.
"What do | know about law?" said
Gresham. II can't fill such place. 1t
must be mistake" When assured
that it was not mistake and that he
knew great deal about law. Gresham
walked off with the reply, ''Who would
have thought of such thing?" A few
days later, however, he accepted and
]
out an equal in Indiana, not a case
being reversed in the twelve years he
was on the bench.
He has always been better as Judge
than as lawyer. He was student rather
than forensic contestant. He had the
judicial" mind. He has heard and de-
cided many famous cases, notably of
late the injunction suits in the sOr
strike. His decision then made him
thousands of friends among organized
labor. AS a jurist Judge Gresham is
distinguished for the directness and ac-
curacy of his perceptions, the absolute
fairness of his rulings and his utter un-
consciousness of the standing, character
or wealth of parties or counsel. When
he and Judge Harlan split on the Mackin
case, which had the effect of sending
the question to the supreme court, of
whether an ''infOrmatiOn" was sufficient
in criminal case, everybody knew on
which side Gresham went. He upheld
the right of indictment by a grand Jury
and the supreme court.
Equity he delights in, the technical
tiles of law he despises and sweeps
aside whenever possible. Perhaps his
most famous decision was in the Wa
bash case.
The ''Wabash system" has been de-
scribed as the masterpiece of Jay
Gould's genius. In the spring of 1884 it
was composed of no less than sixty
eight separate original corporations,
controlling nearly 5000 miles of rail-
way in the six states of Ohio, Michigan,
Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa.
1t had a consolidated capital of over
S50,000,000 and bonded Indebtedness
of nearly SS0.000,000. Commencing in
1879 Jay Gould and his associates, chieS
among whom were Russell Sage, Sig
ney Dillon and Solon Humphreys, OBJ
tanned control first of one bankrupt
railroad and then of another, all heavily
III debt and most of them in the hands
of receivers, until they had secured a
ne, network OF ,a railways running through
not only network, but glittering
web in which it was proposed to catch
many financial flies.
Nothing less than the high-soanding