, 1892-11-26
Presented to
JUDGE J. W. ROBINSON
By the
OLYMPIA BAR,
November q, 1892.

OLYMPIA BAR,
November q, 1892.
.........,t.....-.-.-. .,,--.-......
Judge Dennison was selected as chair
man of the occasion and w. J. Milroy a
secretary. ]. G. Kleber Phil Skilman anC
H. G. Atwell were appointed a committe
to draw up resolutions expressing the sen
timents of the association regarding Mr.
Robinson. The committee retired to tn,
consultation room, and after due delibera
ton returned to the court room and pre-
sented the following SET of resolutions
which were read by the secretary:
Whereas, The Hon. j. w. Robinson has
just closed his labors as judge of the su
perior court, state of Washington, for th'
county of Thurston; and.
Whereas, The members of the bar o.
Thurston county desire to testify their ap
probation Of his services as judge afore
said; therefore, be it
Resolved, That in his administration oil
that high Office, Judge Robinson proved
himself an able, fearless and upright judge
and deserved and received the respect, con
fidence and esteem of the bar, officers and
htigants;
Resolved, That we again welcome him
in our midst as one of the legal fraternity
and look forward with pleasure to assOcia.
ton with him as a valuable member of oul
bar;
Resolved, That a copy ofthese resolutions
be furnished Judge Robinson.
Upon motion of " i. Agnew the resOlu.
tions were adopted and signed by the men,
bers of the bar association present: A. p.
Fitch, George II. Funk, B. f. Dennison
w. l. Agnew, o. V. Linn, Daniel Gaby, g.
L. Shields, II. i. Forrest, o. G. Lacey, w
T. Cavanaugh, J. G. Rathbun. D. e. Baily,
Byron Millett, H. @. Atwell, j. G. Kleber
H. r. Hagin, Phil Slillman, w. Milrov,
H. R. Franklin, J. r, Mitchell, NJ. e.
Mumford, J. A. HurspOol.
G. H. Funk moved that at the next
meeting of the court some membe of the
bar should move that the resolutions be
spread upon the records of the court. The
motion carried.
Upon motion of Phil Skilman the chair
man delegated the committee on resolu-
tions to wait upon Judge Robinson and re-
quest his presence at the meeting.
1t was 4:20 when Judge Robinson en-
tered the court room accompanied by the
members of the committee.
Judge Dennison arose with dignity and
addressed him as follows:
Gentlemen: The late judge is now pres.
ent and will proceed with the discharge
of the duty you have assigned to me.
Hon. J. W. Robinson, l have been re-
quested by the bar of ThurstOn county to
act as chairman of this meeting, and 10
present to you in person, before them all
certain resolutions which they have deemed
proper upon the occasion of your retire
ment from the bench. have consented to
do so without reluctance, the reasons for
which / need not give, and before these
resolutions are read permit me to say that
we are not here to indulge in flattery or
adulation, knowing as we do that anything
of the kind Is distasteful to yourself. On
the contrary, sir, we are here, each and all
to manifest a sincere and heartfelt senti-
ment in words. The secretary may now
read the resolutions which this bar has
unimOusly adopted, and l will then add
something further. (Here the secretary
read the resOlutiOns.)
Perhaps L cannot add anything, and
certainly would not take anything from
the sentiment expressed in these resolu-
tions Allow me, however, to say person
ally-because, perhaps, no other member
of this bar can say-allOw me to say that
it has been my fortune to know personally
every judge that has held court in the
county ofThurston at any time during the
last "a years, and of course, it has been
my fortune to see many judges upon the
bench, and l know personally the record
which each and all of these judges have
left behind them when they retired from
the bench, and / am justified now and
here, sir, in saying that during those "a
years no other judge has sat upon the
bench in this county with more credit to
himself or greater satisfaction to the people
than your honored self. 1 must also say
that no other Judge during that time has
rendered decisions which have received sc
much commendation from the press as the
decisions which you yourself have rem
dered and l am constrained to say further
- Il InA 3 Is.en .-rl
upon the bench in Thurston county whose
retirement therefrOm has caused so sin
cere and universal regret. Without
stating the reasons therefor, sir, / mysel
take great pleasure, and l think
am justified in saying the same on behalf
of the bar-I take great pleasure in saying
that retiring from the bench in ThurstOI
county you have left behind you, sir, foot
prints on the judicial history of the state o
Washington to which we can all point will
with pride and satisfaction. That, sir
may be considered high praise, but it is no
undeserved i'll my judgment. A word o
two further. 1 have observed, l havl
watched carefully during the time you hav
been on the bench, your decisions and you
department as judge of this county. IhaC
an object in observing them, and can nov
say that have seen no errors committed
| in your decisions. l think you have mad
no mistake except once, and you will par
/ don me for saying that my opinion yol
have committed one mistake, and that wa
done, sir, when you came to the conclus
| ion to lay aside the judicial ermine whicl
YOU had worn with so much dignity, wit
out ostentation, with 80 much freedom
from prejudice and passion, with so muc
| courage and independence, and with s
much satisfaction to the bar of this county
to litigant and to the people. In futur
life, in my opinion, you will regret tina
In my opinion you are better fitted for th
bench than for the bar. A successor hs
been elected. He is an able lawyer, an
permit me to say, atleast take the libert
of saying, that he will be fortunate if
initiates the example and follows in th
footsteps of his illustrous predecessor.
Ny duty is not entirely performed.
has been assigned to me, sir, to present
you, in the presence of this bar and tn
officers of this court, token-a visib
token of their regard and esteem for you
a Judge and a man. That token, it
hoped, will not be looked upon byyou as
thing of any intrinsic value, but as a m
mento to remind you and yours in yea
to come that when you left the bench
the county of Thurston, you left a recol
which all who knew you could approx
That token of respect is in the fOlm of
cane which l here hold. / have been ]
quested to read the inscription, but it is
dark here / cannot do it, and perhaps it
NOT nnnaquarv RI do hut 7 bOun thnv ha