The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-09-27

the kernel of the questions before him.
In fact in that high capacity he has won
as it has been well said almost Nation
al reputation for skill, learning n ca
pacity."
Few may know. but it is true that
a large. very large proportion of the
business of the United States passes
through the portals of the Court OF
| Chancery of New Jersey. The liberal ma
ture and scope of the laws of this State
induces the most weakly corporations
to Incorporate under New Jerseys laws.
great concerns with millions OF dollars
at their backs come within the Jurls-
diction of this State and there's not a
| week passes but the Chancellor land his
| four Vice-Chancellors are busy hearing
! and determining motions in relation to
| this concern and that. the very complex
| itv and intricateness of which are abso-
llutely inco~mprehensible to the untutored
| mind of the laity. And mind, as the
WEARS roll on and towns grow up, pros
l-pdrs increase and multiply, the respon-
sibifities of the head of the Court OF
EChancery increase in fundamentally ex-
| act ratio
| RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CHAN
CELLORSHIP.
Again quoting a true estimate of the
| Chancellor's work:-The responsibilities
| of the Chancellorship have been very
| much increased by recent enactments
that make every lettering business con-
| Germ a ward of the Court. In times
| past, it had been the duty of the Chan-
cellor merely to wind up the affairs OF
| bankrupt concerns and CLOSE them out.
The later policy of the State has been,
however, to authorize him to supervise
the continuance of their business Till
they have passed the shoals of danger
into the open sea of prosperity again.
AS a consequence, a great number OF
institutions which, under the harsher
system of the old law, must have gone
to the wall, have been taken under the
wing of the Court of Chancery and
| warmed into new life. The more con-
| sentative method of dealing with even
| those which have shown no recupera-
tive vitality has saved to their stock
holders much that might have been lost
to them under the rigors of the old
1 policy. The re-establishment of some
and the conduct of others on lines that
would yield the best results to Their
owners has added a trying business re-
sponsibility to the judicial responsible
ties of the Chancellorship, and have re-
quired the determination not only OF
sharp legal questions but of tangled
business problems. That means that
the Chancellor must not only be a gooG
judge but a wefl-poised business mar
as we'll. The result of his wisdom in
dealing with these problems in both di-
rections is manifested in the survival OF
many institutions thai have been on the
owe of foil H Tho Gtota C dnt+ld wifi
busy conc~erns--banks and factories and
commercial MISREPRESENTATION rs wards
of his Court, owe their escape from the
perils of bankruptcy to his prudent
guidance"
THE COAL COMBINE DEAL.
Unquestionably true is this in relation
to merely personal business affairs.
whose interest was confined to a limited
area of individuals, yet the far sweeping
powers of Chancery touch interests some
lose sight of. It repeatedly has hap
pened that Chancellor McGill has been
called upon to determine matters which
touched every individual in the State,
ard, too. in his most vital part, mis-
pocket. Witness in proof OF that, the
Goal Combine deal, which meant a
great deal to every citizen of this
State.
Everybody remembers that after Gov
ernor Albeit had refused to sign the
act creating the Coal Trust, the railroads
interested in it insisted that they were
still protected by other laws of the
State, and Acknowledgement Stockton
had to call his best skill into play to de-
wise the legal methods that would be
effective for their undoing.
When he finally presented his papers
to the Court and began his litigation for
the dissolution of the Trust, ne threw
upon the Chancellor the responsibility of
solving and deciding some of the most
intricate corporation questions that have
been brought to Judicial notice OF late
years. And in his decision he not only
laid dow the relations of the corpora
tons to the State with a clearness and
2 fairness that placed his ruling beyond
the reach of attack, but. in destroying
the Coal Trust, dealt a deadly blow as
well to all the monopoly combinations OF
its class.
1.-THE text of this decision bowed the
| Chancellor ito be a keen business man
! and an exceptionally well equipped law.
| ENCOMIUM OF FELLOW LAWYERS.
Then there was the Smith cause celebre
in the decision of which Chancellor Nc
| ciates on the bench THAT if he had not
chosen to be a skillful lawyer he might
have. become a brilliant novelist" This
| Smith case was that which exposed the
Sensational career of Hezekiah B.
of Smithville, who had two sep
dqarate families, two widely separated
i homes and two big fortunes to keep his
dual establishment, the accounts o;
tewhich astonished the people of this
country.
vices as the distinguished head of this
Equity Bench. it is extremely interest
ing to view his attitude as a member Of
the Board of Pardons. When the famous
Gutenberg Big Four case came up be-
fore that body he unalterably set nis
foot against any remission of the sen
tence and again in the case of the bal
lot-box suffers he would listen to MOI
a deviation from the measure of The
punishment melted out. With some his
position on these cases was stern an6
had been shown for clemency, but i
serves as an excellent example of tht
Chancellor's character. He will no
tolerate any form of vice; will have nj
dealings with violators of the law
will not swerve one hair breadth from
the line of demarcation. which he be
lieves divides the right from the wrong
and at all times VII firmly and cour
ageously maintain a position which HI
deems in his moral consciousness to bt
the right one.
In private and social life there is M
more charming man than .Chancellol
McGill. He IS the quintessence of polite
ness and is considerate and thoughtful
to all. The writer of this sketch ha,
had on innurnerable occasions the pleas
ure of seeking Information on variou!
matters of public interest and neve
could anyone be more obliging, ever
going out of his way to be of service
than the courteous nominee of the Demo
l ouoA;a a~f. far C0xo,r,nr