The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-02-01
WASHINGTON LETTER.
The Approaching Centenary of the
Supreme Court.
Correspondence of the Press.

Supreme Court.
Correspondence of the Press.l
WASHINGTON, Jan. 30.-Next week
completes the first century of the SUI
preme court Of the United States. |
wish had time and space in which to
describe this body and TO give its history
from that February day in 1890 in which
it first met in the Exchange building, in
New York city, down to the present mo-
ment.
The formal history of the supreme
court could be easily written, for Just
across the corridor, in the old Capitol
building, from the present supreme court
chamber, in the Office of the secretary,
are stored away in fireproof vaults the
complete minute and docket records of
the tribunal during the first hundred
years of its existence.
Clerk McKenney kindly fished the
first of these dockets and minutes out of
the vault for me, and an hour or two
were very pleasantly spent in an exam
nation of them. As l leafed through
the first minute book sudden and ire
sistible inclination to sneeze came upon
me, and when l had resumed a state of
calmness Justice Bradley, who happened
in the clerks Office at that moment, stop
ped and smilingly remarked:
"Young man, / see you have found
some of Chief Justice jays snuff"
"What did he mean?' asked of Clerk
Mckinney, as the little old justice, the
veteran of the court, passed on toward
the court room.
HE MEANS" said Mr.. McKenney.
that in turning over the leaves of the
old book you have disturbed some of the
snuff which the first chief justice, John
Jay. is supposed to have dropped be-
tween the leaves century ago. l have
heard it said that Chief Justice Jay was
an inveterate user of snuff, and I know
there is good old snuff between the
leaves of that book, but do not know
that it is part of the same snuff which
the chief justice carried in his snuff box
Perhaps it is. At any rate, that is one
of Justice Bradley's favorite Jokes, and
he never fails to get it off on any one
whom he catches sneezing with the an
clent tome before him.
There was something so delicious in
the experience of sneezing with snuff
which the first chief justice of the United
States had dropped from his box cen
fury ago that eagerly turned the leaves
for another dose, and, being disappointed,
came to the conclusion that possibly JUS
tice Bradley, who is somewhat of joker,
may have placed that snuff there himself
for purposes of his own.
Here" said Clerk McKenney, "are
the minutes of the first session of the
court. Notice with what perfect black
ink it is written, and in what beautiful
hand 1t is as plain as printing You
will notice, also, that the first clerk used
the phrase supreme judicial court of the
United States. In a few days he dropped
that word judicial, for which there was
no authority in law. l may add that
with the exception of one or two little
things like that the forms now used in
the court are substantially those used by
the first court hundred years ago. OF
course we have greater variety of forms
now, but practically all of the old ones
ARE still Beloved. There is no depart
ment of the Federal government in which
traditions are SO roligiously followed as
in this court, and right good cid forms
they are, too"
The first page of this minute book
reads as follows:
At the supreme judicial court of the United
States begun and held at New York Cbeing the
seat Of the national government, the first Mon
H. % I7Al< L., <,.-& e
month, ammo Domini 1870
Present.
The Honorable JOHN JAY, Esq, Chief Justice
The Honorabes WILLIAM CUSHING and JAMES
WILSON, Esqs., Associate Justices.
This being the da, assigned by law for com
mencing the first sessions of the supreme court
of the United States, and SUFFICIENT number of
the justices not being convened, the court is ad
journed by the justices now present until to-mor
row at one of the clock in the afternoon.
On the following day, Tuesday, Feb
Q, Chief Justice Jay and Associate JUS
tees Gushing, Wilson and Blair were
present, quorum, and the court pro
ceeded to the transaction of business.
According to the minutes, ''letters pat
emit" to these gentlemen from the presi-
dent of the United States, appointing
them chief justice and associate justices
respectively, were read in open court, and
also letters patent of similar nature to
Edmund Randolph, of Virginia. no
ticed that in his first spelling of the
name "Wilson" tho clerk had used two
''Ps," and that he had afterward gone
over the book with his knife and
scratched out one of them. I also no
ticed that Edmund Randolph was the
only one of the justices whose letters
patent contained the name of the state
whence he came, and the thought &C.
CURED to me that even in that early day
the Virginians were more proud of their
province and commonwealth than those
of other communities, as they might
well have been, considering that it was
from Virginia that the chief man of
those times and many of his compatriots
hailed. To this day, century later, the
men from the state of George Washing
ton are glad to add to their signatures
the words, "of Virginia."
At this second days session of the
court Richard Wenman was appointed
"court crier," and at the next days SEES
sion John Tucker, of Boston, was APP
pointed clerk. On this day the clerk, in
entering the minutes, made that mistake
which is still SO common, of putting
down the old year instead of the new,
and there it is in the blacklist of ink and
most legible of writing, "Feb. 8, 1885,
though this was afterward corrected
with lead pencil to 1890. At this ses-
sion 1t was ordered that the seal of the
court "shall be the arms of the United
States engraved on circular piece of
steel of the size of dollar while the
seals of the circuit courts were ordered
to be of the size of half dollar, Curl
GUS way Of denoting superior rank and
jurisdiction by the size of the seal.
On Feb. there was no session OF the
court, and am therefore unable to see
why that day was selected for the ami
versary exercises in the Metropolitan
Opera house, New York city. A more
appropriate day would have been Feb. I,
the one hundredth anniversary of the
first meeting of the court.
Friday, Feb. 5, the court reconvened,
and the minutes show that Elias Boudi-
not of New Jersey, Thomas Hartley Of
Pennsylvania and Richard Harrison of