The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-06-25
"TAMPERING WITH THE JUDICIARY"


of Chief Justice SANFORD because the lat
ter assumed his duty was to administer the
law as he found it and HARRISON wanted
the Judge to follow another policy which
should be outlined at the White House, is
the Omaha Bee. Other journals, in their
blind loyalty to the administration, have
houndered about trying to find excuses and
explanations, but in no instance has Justl-
fication been attempted, save by the Bee,
and its effort is brazen and outrageous in
the extreme. The Omaha Herald proceeds
to answer it as follows:
The Bee, possibly with lively appreciation
thatit has favors to ask of HARRISON, jealousy
PUSHES hot foot TO the Presidents defense in re-
moving the chief justice of the supreme pench
Of Utah. 1t says:
''During his senatorial term President HARRI-
SON, as chairman of the committee on terri
tories had a distinctly marked policy upon
Utah matters which was, after all, only Ihe
policy Of the conservative people OF the country
bent upon seeing the laws rigidly administered.
II was highly proper and manly in the President
in removing Judge SANFORD TO state frankly
and openly that as his policy IN Utah was 10 De
on the lines of rigid enforcement q, OF
the laws he did not feel that
Judge SANFORD was the man for the place
The average Republican organ Is shameless IN
partisan matters and II Is not surprising 10 hnu
the BEE brdZenly CnanplOnlnB ulSLedu Vi dpOlO
giving for such fragrant intrusion upon the Judi
cial branch of the government Is that which
President II ARRISON has made. \ policy for
the judiciary: what policy is there other than
the execution Of the laws: The Judge on the
bench should be, must be kept above the coer-
cion orinfluence OF an administrative pohcy
Making him but the mOuthpiece OF the Presl-
dent is a uSuFpatlOn and infringement upon the
duties and privileges of a branch OF the govern
ment which the dratterS of the constitution
created independent. The liberation OF such in
fringement is the yielding to an autocratc the
DRY Of government, a one man power, central
ization of control which Is menace to repuoh-
can Institutions.
! A President who claims and exercises the right
TO interfere in any manner with the lndepend-
ence and unbiased position Of the bench, and TO
make the following Of his policy the CONDITION
on which the judge shall hold ONCE, IS not
properly qualified to occupy the PRESIDENTIAL
chair TO invade the judiciary with political
purposes is an unseemly usurpation-such an
one as should not be permitted.
The denunciation of the removal con-
tinues to occupy much space in the editor
ial columns of the leading journals Of the
country OF course they will get through
with the affair one of these days, but they
intend that the outrage shall be thoroughly
aired first and the warning sounded. So
much has been said that it may be safely
concluded that while President HARRISON
may privately dictate policy to be fol
lowed by Judge, he will never again con
TESS that he removes a judge because the
latter is not in harmony with the policy
of the President. Attorney General Mil
LER also would give half years salary
if he had not penned that famous letter to
Judge SANFORD.
Perhaps the ablest Democratic news
=. A ,yl,,;., ~.
In the issue of the 18th instant the editor
wrote of the SANFORD removal and NIL
LBR's aspirations to the supreme bench as
follows:
Attorney-C General MILLER who says the Pres
ident will not knowingly appoint any man TO
ONCE who drinks or Is given 10 profanity, in his
letter to Judge SANFORD, removing him from
the place OF chief justice of Utah, also says the
Judge was removed because the President was
satisfied that he was not in harmony with his
policy in respect of Titan affairs. Judge SAND
FORD in his reply, says: If the President of
the United States has any policy which he de
sireS Judge of the supreme court to carry out
in reference to Utah affairs other than the one
1 have pursued you may say 10 him that he
has done well TO remove me-" Most PEG
pie believe that the duty of judges is to
expound the law, and that they have as little to
do with politics, Presidential or otherwise, as
the man in the moon. But, according to Mr.
MILLER, such a belief is entirely erroneous 1t
is currently reported that the President intends
TO appoint Mr.. MILLER an associate justice Of
the United States supreme court, because he
was his law partner. When Mr. MILLER shall
be member of that court will his decisions be
rendered in accordance with other peoples
policies! What Will the other members of that
court think of their associate who says that his
reason for removing judge was that the judge
referred TO was not in harmony with the policy
OF the President:
Another of the influential newspapers of
the South is the Jacksonville (Fla.) Times
Union, which devOtes nearly two columns
to the case in the issue of the 18th. Here
tofore THE HERALD has quoted almost ex-
clusively from the leading Republican and
independent papers of the North, but this
morning we reproduce something OF the
much that the South has said. The Times
Union says, under the head, "The Judiciary
invaded
The American people have believed that the
invasion of the judiciary by executive power
was absolutely impossible under our form OF
government. They have imagined that long
years Of minor usurpatlon and corruption must
precede any assault upon the very citadel OF our
liberties Rome descended by regular grada-
tioNs before the purple was finally knocked
down to the highest bidder; but for the first
time in the history of our country President
peremptorily removes judge tappointcd for
life or during good behavior) TO make room for
pap-sucker - the willing and obedlcnt
tool of a narrow minded, partisan mas er.
Chief Justice ELLIOT SANFORD Of Titan, was
appointed by President CLEVELAND, and has
administered the law with such eminent ability
and impartiality that the bar of Salt Lake Re
publicans and Democrats protested against
'.the deep damnation Of his taking off, The
SALT LAKE HERALD of June 4 publishes the
facts and the correspondence which passed be
tween the chief justice and the President and his
subserv. elt attorney general, revealing humili
atinp record. The HERALD SAYS:
Here follows the entire article, letters
and comments, which appeared in these
columns on the 4th, on which the Times
linton comments:
More startling than usurpation itself is the
Presidents announcement Of his policy
which he wishes pursued in regard TO the Utah
affairs. It is not enough that an upright Judge
shall interpret and administer the law as the
legislative department OF the national govern
ment enacts it; we now have q President whose
policy is TO stand as the higher law. II he
may knock down judges in the territories and
set up puppets of his own imper1ous will. what
state what community is safes Chief Justice
FULLER of the United States supreme court
NAV look out for his head, also, since it is said
Attorney General MILLER himself has banker
ing after judicial honorS. Mr.. CLEVELAND APP
pointed Chief Justice FULLER. He is Demo
crat President HARRISON, no doubt, has
policy" toward national, as he has toward
Utah affairs. The partition wall broken down,
what shall hinder the President from further
usurpation!
II the President and his encouragement can
read that letter without blush they must be
lost to sensibility indeed. There is not an hon
est lawyer IN the United States, Democrat or
Republican, who will not protest against this
first invasion Of the judiciary. II we thought
one leading member Of that learned and noble