The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1897-06-30
IcidbuwS ana SimnMt0n.
I T ON The twentieth C~ntCry

his wealth varying from S3ou.tuo to
81 900, 90o.iis property consists large
~ OF railway shares 2"d Government
bonds, and he made his first great
stroke aS :, corporation lawyer. He
showed wonderful insight INFO the
bearings of railroad controversies be-
fore kc went on the bench, and the
Vanderbilt interests once paid him
$20, 900 for arranging Il satisfactory
plan OF settlement in connection
with a complicated muddle over 4
dubious charter. Judge SimontCn
has we'll deserved reputation Us 4
sh@ewd investor. and the Wal! street
firm which places money for hln.
from time 20 time. is understood To-
be guided largely by his Judgment.
The Judge comes TO New York at
more or less frequent intervals, be-
ing 4 familiar figure on lower Broad
way. He is quite popular among
those who know him. and his per
S0nal magnetism is conceded by all.
Were Judge Simonton compelled
to depend wholly upon his salary he
could scarcely maintain himself in
the dicnitied ease he affects at pres
emit Fortunately. lie could retire
from the bench to-day with 4 highly
com:orta Die income for the rest OF
his life. What gives him special
aminence rs an eXpounder Of the law
is the thorouShnesS and insight with
which he has investigated the legal
rights and ilnmunitieS OF corpora
JionS. 1t is we'll known that various.
attorneys for great corporations in
New York 80 to him for advice. and
the giving Of this advice is one source
of his ample annual revenues. The
Judge is a most delightful raconteur,
as all admit who have listened to him
when the cigars and cordialS are put
on the table at the Waldorf or at
Delmonico's. Judge Simonton has
an account at New York financial
institution, or he did until recently.
He has frequently been urged to re-
tire from the bench and become
counsel for corporation in this city,
but he has perSiStently declined
these invitations. lie and John q.
Carlisle are good friends.
The only embarrassment connected
with the Judges career has mani
tested itself during the past few
wears, but it occasions q good deal of
talk in New York's financial circles,
where the matter is of Importance.
This is the number of reversals of MS
decisions which Judge Simonton has
had to endure, or, to speak more ac-
curatelv. the reverSalS of his funda-
mental rulings in great questions Of
constitutional law. The fact that a
Judges decisions are over ruled by
the higher courts is not significant.
But, when the fundamental theory
upon which he bases ruling is pro-
nounced unsound on appeal, the con-
sequences are apt to be serious.
Cases. which in themselves are of
little Importance are of vital interest
because they involve principles
affecting numerous pending suits.
Now, it has aroused comment during
the past few years that Judge Simon
ton manages by singular fatality
to get on the wrong side Of the Su-
preme Court in his eXpositions Of the
constitutions He IS also singularly
infelicitiouS in his quotation Of pre-
cedents, and somewhat original in
his rulings.
Those who best know Judge Sim
onton account for these things in
various ways. 1t happens that the
railroads within his jurisdiction have
been tangled into most confusing
disorder through re-organizations
and combinations and bonded debts.
Were railroads nothing but railroads
pure and simple, Judge Simonton
would not have so much to do. But
railroads, at least in this country, are
financial institutions, and the most
important of their functions IS by no
means transportation. The financial
aspect of railroading, its bonds and
stocks and dividends and general
mortgage creditors and so on, are
things concerning which Judge Sim
onton is thoroughly posted and can
Law down the law with marvellous
eXactness. But railroads are required
to carry passengers and freight, and
it is in the branch Of the law relat
inc to this matter that the judge Is
not at home. To this effect runs the
explanation of those who attempt to
account for the circumstances IN
Judge Simonton's career which,
from the nature OF things, are puZ-
zling TO the lay mind, ignorant OF the
law and una Die to pass any compe-
tent opinion upon the proceedings OF
court.
To return, now, to the decision just
rendered by Judge Simonton, declar-
ing the South Carolina Dispensary
law null and void. Senator Tillman
is quoted as saying that Judge
Simonton has rendered an infamous
decision He further intimates that
the whiskev ring knew in advance
what Judge Simonton's decision
would be, but the friends Of the
Judge cannot be expected to credit
this, even Though the attorney of the
whiskev ring and Judge Sinonton
are personal friends. The fact is that
a Judge, no matter how upright, is
forced to be more or less on intimate
terms with members of the bar, and
it is due to Judge Simonton to say
that he has frequently called
down" the attorney of some vast cor
poraIion who has ventured to assume
staggering airs in his court. Sena-
tor Tillman. who has been a Judge
himself, saws that in the Dlspensary
law ruling, Judge Simonton re-
verses himself, for he once upheld the
Wilson law, which prevented this
very thing. His decision to-day
neutralizes the law passed in 1890 by
Congress. after the original package
decision" There is little doubt that
before many years the governmental
-,Ye country will be in a condition of
.ead-lock owing to the passing OF
laws by one department., their en-
forcement by another, and their nul.
LITIGATION by third. This game of
checkmate grows more complicated
year by year, even if it does not IN
volve the anomaly of the nullltlca-
ton Of laws made by the people.
Meanwhile an appeal will be taken
bv the State of South Carolina III the
hope that the higher court Will re-
verse Judge SinontoH'S decision.
1 '' Tin,l lnWS how