The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-10
IN HONOR OF HARLAN
BAR OF SUPREME COURT TEN-
 DER HIM BANQUET.
Tributes Paid to Jurist Who for Quarter of Century Has Graced Bench of Earth's Great
 est Tribunal.

est Tribunal.
 Washington, Dec. S.-The dinner by the bar of the Supreme Court of the United states at tie New Willard Hotel tonight to Justice John Marshall Harlan in rec ognition of the completion of twenty-five years of service on the bench of the Su- preme Court was a brillisvit function. The banquet hall was handsomely illunNnated and the tables elaborately decorated with palms. American Beauty roses and lau- rel.
 In the absence of Attorney General Knox, Wayne Mcveagh presided. When the guests had been seated. grace was said by the Rev. Richard D. Harlan of Lake Forest, III. ,eldest son of the Justice, who had come to Washington especially for the occasion. Justice Harlan was in his happiest mood and gave every evi- dence of his appreciation of the honor bestowed upon him. .
 Interest in the banquet outside Justice Harlan centered in President Roosevelt. His arrival shortly after s:3O o'clock was the signal for 8 great outburst of ap- plause. The President warmly congrat- ulated Justice Harlan. grasping him by both hands before taking his seat. Those at the banquet included members of the Cabinet, several Senators and Represen- tatives. members of the Supreme Court of the United States, of the Court of Claims and of the local courts and quite . number of eminent lawyers from out side the city.
 When the time for the speech making arrived, Wayne Mcveagh in a few appro- priate remarks introduced the President, who spoke as follows:
 Mfr. Chairman and Gentlemen: It is peculiar privilege to be here tonight as one of those gathered to do homage to career which has honored America loud applause). It is difficult to say cer- tain of the truths which most need be said without being guilty of truisms in saying them. It Is not an idle boast of this country when we speak of the court upon which Mir. Justice Harlan sits as the most illustrious and important in all the civilized world (applause). It is not merely our own people who say that 1t Is the verdict of other nations as we'll
 MT. Justice Harlan has served for quarter of a century on that court. Dur ing that time he has exercised an in- fiuence over the judicial statesmanship of the court of @ kind such as Is possible only under our own form of government. (Applause) For the judges of the Supreme Court of the land must be not only great jurists. but they must be great constructive statemen (Applause.) Twice fortunate is the court when 1t has as one of it's members a maa who had played a great part in other spheres of our complete life. Mir. Justice Harlan came from Kentucky, a State in which the patriotism of the people was put to so peculiarly a severe test in the Civil War. In the States of the farther North. it was easy for the man to make urA Aix mind on which side he would una
 his sword. In the States of the
 South 1t was equally easy. In Keffs " the task was difficult one. I remem- Der, Mir. Justice, being told by an American who was a staunch friend of yours and one of the greatest lawyers and most patriotic citizens whom this country had-John Mason Brown-he came back from a trip from the West as young man of 21 just as the time of the outbreak of the Civil War. just after Fort umter ha dbeen fired upon and his mother brought down to him the sword that his father had carried in the Mexi- can War and said to him: My son, this is the sword your father carried. hope you will draw it on the side that defends the flag for which your father fought, but for one side or the other draw it you must (App1ause.)
 Tn any audienc, in any State of the Union take 1t as far North as you wish, can appeal with confidence to the people l address, when 1 say that, newt to the homage we pay to the men who proved the trouth of their endeavor as they bat tied In the blue uniform is the homage we pay to the men who, with equal sin cerity with equal devotion, to the right as it was given them to see the right, wore the gray Loud and continued ap- plause) and none pay that tribute of re- gard so frankly as those who themselves wore the blue in battle. Loud applause) )
 And having said that I am sure that none of my friends who fought in the Confederate service will misunderstood me, or will grudge what I am about to say, when l say that the greatest debt owed by this country to any set of men is owed by it to those men of the so- called border States the men who in statesmanship followed the Clays and the Crittendens and the Blairs, the men who ns soldiers fought on the same side with Thomas and Farragut, the men who were for the Union without regard to whether their immediate associates were for 1t or not. Loud applause) In New York, in Ma ssachusetts, in Illinois. fin Iowa. the men who stood for the Union went with the stream. In parts of Kentucky, of Virginia, of Missouri. they stemmed the torrent (Applause)
 And gentlemen, I am half a South erner myself. Two of my uncles fought in the Confederate navy. One of them served under the father-in-law of Vice. Governor Luke Wright of the Philippines Islands. And so I think have the right to say that knowing the Southern people as I do, I would heartily advocate fight ing twice as hard as you fought from '61 to 65 for the privilege of staying in the same Union with them. Uaughter and applause)
 The man to be a great statesman on the bench of the Supreme Court must have many qualities and fortunate are we that this evening we can point to Justice Harlan as embodying them. A good, citi- zen must be a good citizen in peace and in war. He must have the decent and orderly virtues and he must have the es- sential manlness for the lack of which no good intention can atone. (Laughter and applauseD
 1t will be a bad thing for the nation if ever we grow as a nation to submit to inc suppression of efficiency and moral ity; if we ever grow to accept the belief that we are to have two camps in one of which will be grouped the men who mean well but wo do not do things Qaughter) ard in the other the men who do things but who do not mean we'll daughter and loud applause)
 "The art of successful self-government