The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1893-02-03
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Buffers Remarkable Legal Skill.

| Buffers Remarkable Legal Skill.
General Butler was twenty-five years
of age when he was admitted to the bar.
AS law student he had been hard
worker as well as quick scholar, and
his memory and application were equally
great. Before his admission to the bar
he had practiced little in the police
court at Lowell, conducting suits brought
! by factory girls against mill corporations
for wages withheld on one pretense or
another, and glad enough to earn an &C.
casional fee of two dollars.
The advice which this aspiring limb
Of the law gave to the mill girls Of
Lowell on the occasion of strike was
an incident of his early legal days
which made him well regarded by the
mill owners. Two or three thousand Of
the mill girls assembled in a grove to
discuss their grievances. The young
lawyer accepted an invitation to address
uniting the justice of their claims, but
advised them to return to work and
strive either by remonstrance or appeal
to the legislature to secure shorter
bnnrs and better pay. This advice
caused the girls to return to work.
1t would take too long to mention the
notable cases in which General Butler
has been engaged. In the case of Moore
versus the Commonwealth, reported in 6
Metcalf, the form Of indictment which
had been followed for fifty years in Mas
sachusetts was held to be bad upon
writ of error brought by General Butler.
In tho case Of the Commonwealth versus
Carey, 12 Cushing, murder trial, Gen
eral Butler saved his client on techni-
cality. Station Agent Haywood, of Lin
coin, who was also q constable, pursued
Carey, whom he had detected purloining
tickets and who had been suspected Of
another station robbery. When about
to be captured Carey turned and shot
Haywood. The court held that Carey
was not guilty of murder when shooting
Haywood for attempting to arrest him
without q warrant.
Another famous case was related TO
the annexation of Charlestown to Bos-
ton. The legislature had passed an act
authorizing the annexation. Both cities
voted to accept the act. Upon advice of
General Butler majority of the Charles
town aldermen refused to sign the ce-.
tificate of the vote. The attorney gen.
eral brought a petition for writ of
mandamus to compel them to do this,
and General Buffers point was sustained
by the supreme court in an opinion Of
Chief Justice Shaw. This helped to de-
lay the annexation of Charlestown to
Boston by dozen years and more.
In 1848 General Butler was counsel in
case concerning the taking of Lake
Cochituate water. He was the counsel
of mill owners. The city Of Boston had
constructed at great expense various res
ervoirs to supply as compensation to the
mill owners an amount of water equal
to the amount taken from them. Gen
eral Butler objected before the court
that having taken the water the city
could not compensate in that way. This
position was sustained, and the city later
sold its costly reservoirs. In another
case, in which a person was indicted for
stealing key to house, General Butler
established the principle that a key could
not be subject of larceny, being part
of the realty, and the prisoner was dis
charged.
During his long practice General But
Ter has been associated with or opposed
to such men as Webster, Choate, Fletch-
er, Everett, Cushing Curtiss, Rantoul
and Abbott. There were two well known
cases, differing widely in character, how
ever, in which General Butler was OPP
posed to Rufus Choate. One was suit
for damages instituted on the part of the
crew against captain who had neglect
ed to supply his ship with antidctes for
the scurvy.
General Butler conducted the cause Of
the sailors. and Mr.. Choate defended the
captain. The trial lasted nineteen days.
General Buffers chief points were that
the captain was bound to procure fresh
vegetables II he could, and that he could.
A most remarkable amount of evidence
was submitted by the sailors counsel.
Before the trial was over almost every
leading physician in Boston and nearly
every sea captain and shipowner had ap-
peared on the witness stand.
In spite of Mr.. Choate's skill and elo-
quence the jury gave damages Of $4,000.
Another case in which General Butler