Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-09-29
WHAT THE SUN SAID.

One of the fiercest denunciators of the
democratic platform is the New York
gun, MT. Dana's paper, the same paper
that mas always been democratic when in
pursuit of patronage, but Invariably anti
democratic when the time comes to elect
a president. The Sun has been kicking
loudest and longest against the section
OF the democratic platform which men
lions the supreme court, and like those
papers that are kicking loudest and
longest against the free coinage plank of
the democratic platform, the Sun has a.
record. The New York Morning Journal
taking advantage Of that record recent
ly referred to the Suns opposition to that
plank of the democratic platform in the
following editorial:
When the Sun denounces the demo-
cratic pledge to put upon the supreme
bench a more liberal class of Judges az
vacancies occur, and says that this court
Z constitutes the last bulwark of our com
mon rights and privileges, it seems to
nave forgotten its own record. Let us
refresh its memory a little.
when the five supreme court Judges
that served on the electoral commission
which seated President Hayes in 1877
divided on every question, according to
their political affiliations, three always
voting with the republicans, the Sun
italicized the following editorial pub
lished on February II:
The fury of an honest and indignant
popular opinion, however, rising, as 1t
assuredly will, like a whrlwind and
storm, may safely be trusted to drive the
present nominal judges from their places
upon the bench, substituting a judiciary
for that political body
$50 the Sun believes in more vigorous
packing of the court. when its own OK is
gored, than did the Chicago convention.
Nor Is this all. On February Is, 1877,
the Sun published letter from another
of the present critics of the Chicago plat
form. Mr.. Joseph Pulitzer. ending with
this thrilling apostrophe: oh, justice, how
luted partisan touch of Miller,
Bradley and Strong?'-the three republi-
can Justices.
ION February 90. of the same year, the
Sun quite outdid the Chicago platform by
declaring: Tt is great misfortune, but
1t is fact, that the supreme court of the
United States no longer has the respect or
the confidence Of the people. When 1t
was packed to render particular decs-
ion in the legal tender case the popular
faith in this court, once so illustrious and
almost religiously esteemed, received
great shock; but now that 1t Is a plainly
and avowedly partisan body the regard
for 1t is gone altogether
$50 even before this, we are assured,
the republican party had packed the
court-the party which now denounces
the very thought of such thing as revo-
lutionary. 1t would hardly seem that so
partisan tribunal as the Sun here de-
scribes could be made worse by any
changes the democrats may make in the
next four years.
1.-THE Sun proceeded to speak of the
supreme court justices as 'perjurers' who
had violated not only every principal of
judicature and every requirement. of
equity and honesty, but also their oaths.'
This is growing interesting. On March 1
the Sun declared that the facts regarding
the conspiracy frauds were like the sin
against the Holy Ghost in religion, which
no repentance can expiate.' Two more
quotations must suffice. Speaking on
March 8, 1877, of the electoral commission,
of which. as has been noted, the supreme
court judges were an important part, the
Sun remarked: Their action merits and
will receive the plaudits of all state
prison and penitentiary inmates, with
the unenumerated constituency of vii
lains without granite walls or grated win
dows.' And on the same day it spoke of
the infamous eight adding: Three of