St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-10-15
WORDS FOR JUDGE WILLIS.

Man OF Great Learning and Fitted
tor rhe iiencn.
To the Editor Of the Globe
Dear Sir: | have waited, for 10 these
many days, to See some one write in
yindicatioh Of our popular and upright
candidate for associate justice of the
Supreme court, but l waited. alas, IN
vain.
The course his friends pursue, i'm
to:ally ignoring the base ISLANDERS ami
lies asserted by the opposition press
throughout the state, is undoubtedly
wise one, and one that will win for
Judge Willis all untold number of
votes. They may ridicule aud vilupe-
rate him, but rldicuie is no argument,
aud vituperatiOn Of the character Of
man like John W. Willis is but hand
fui Of mud thrown at a marble column,
tits soon washed away. it does no gouu,
and great deal Of harm.
Public opinion is never permanently
moulded by Misrepresentation. and
truth will out sooner Or later.
Or his candidacy prefer to let others
speak. or his character will say this
Judge Willis is a man of principle.
considerable, but firm, frank. honest and
conscientious. Enat he has been the
friend and champion of the people gen.
orally, he neither does nor can DENY.
That lie mas refused and still refuses To
become the tool of monopoly, Is appar-
ent to all who are familiar with his
political career. Hence the opposition
Of the latter. continual and unLiring us
it Is. And does it not seem remarkable
that more attention is paid to Judge
Willis by his opponents than to all the
other candidates combined2 Should he
triumph over such opposition, he is GER
talnly 10 be congratulated. There Is
one feature i'll particular l propose to
call attention to. 1t Is his juuicial con-
duct. 1t has been stated, and the state
ment widely circulated. that Judge
Willis has proved a failure. as district
Judge-the number of his decisions re-
verSed OY the supreme court being, it
is said, far greater than the number of
afnrmations; or, as one editor remarked.
"nearlv every one OF his decisions has
been reversed"
This statement provoked my suspi-
clon and curiosity, SO l took pains to i'll
vestlgate the true status Of affairs.
This Is the result up to date The SUI
preme court has affirmed sixteen N6) of
his decisions, reversed fifteen 90, and
modified one (1).
Il one reversed case. Egan VS.. City of
st. Paul, Judge Willis merely sat with
Judge Kerr, and as is known To mem-
beers of the bar. Judge Kerr prepared
both the decision and memorandum.
AnoIher of these reverSalS was i'll the
case OF Francis VS.. Western Union rele-
graph Company, wherein Judge Willis
decided that the plaintiff could recover
damages for mental distress The SUI
pretne court reversed this point, but
was obliged to sustain very important
ruling III the Same case, to wit: That
the blueprint conditions limiting right
OF recovery for negligence, usually
found upon the back Of telegraph
blanks, We're void as unreasonable anu
without consideration" The public, by
this decision. as in many others made
by Judge Willis, gained al important
ylndicatlOn of their legal rights.
Many Of tine cases coming before
Judge Willis were. as the lawyers say,
cases Of new impression" wherein
tAe ableSt JurlstS may honestly differ.
and wherein the decision OF the highest
court, although differing with the court
below, involves no mvidious reflection
upon the latter. Such, notably, were
the state elevator case, the ticket
scalper case and the telegraph case
already mentioned.
= When we consider that the record o!
Judge Willis as district judge Is equal
tolthat of any of his. compeers, notwith-
standing his youth ARD ineXperience,
his friends and supporters may we'll
feel proud.
8 so far as his learning ana legal ability
are concerned, you may ask any mem-
Der of the bar of Ramsey county, ire
spective of party. and your answer will
almost invariably be: "He is an able
jurist and learned gentleman"
Let it not be said that he has dragged
the ermine in the mire. and debased the
dignity of his position. His conduct is
open to investigation. and if we can
consider the suffrage of the people OF
Minnesota fit tribunal, let the justice
his actions deserve be melted out to him
at the coming election. L fear not the
result. INDEX.