Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-29
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BEFORE THE CHIEF JUSTICE.

BEFORE THE CHIEF JUSTICE.
l., The building where Chef-Justcc
Y,,,ller and Judge Waddill held the United
states Circuit Court yesterday. the hrs'
oc; in Virginia of actual opposition to the
Tinted States Government. in 1861, was
committed.
On the north front, above the corn1ce
of the porch in large gilded letters. paint
cd on a black background. was sign
hearing the words The United States
Court No sooner was it known over the
CITY. in April 1861. that the State had Sc
coded. than party Of boys and young
men rushed into the house and out upon
the roof of the porch and tore that sign
down It fell forward with great clatter,
,;pon the brick pavement below. and was
shattered into thousand fragments.
Some of the splinters We're preserved by
hystanders as relics, but most Of the
pieces were swept away as trash and
burned as fuel.
Later on the office of the President OF
+ha Confederate States was established
in that building. which not only furnished
quarters for the Executive Department.
hut for the Treasury Department. Later,
still. the house of stone and iron was
enCaSslcd by the great fire OF Evacuation
Day. vet was fire-proof enough to es-
cape destruction.
Yet. later President Davis. a prisoner.
charged with treason. was ushered into
the very courtroom where Chief-Justce
Fuller and Judge Waddill sat yesterday
Chief-Justice Chase and Judge Under
wood held that court. The bench was
not then where il is now but on the oppo-
site side of the room.
The Davis case was postponed on
technical point The Federal Government
never ventured TO bring the prisoner to
trial His case was continued and con-
tnucd for long time. and then was
quietly dropped from the docket
Other cases of great Importance have
been heard in that courtroom, since then
but none of more far-reaching POSSIBLE
ties than the one under discussion now. Mr..
John S. Wise has caused the Governor
Auditor. Treasurer, Attorney-General and
Secretary OF the Commonwealth to be
hailed into court to answer the complaint
OF certain Jackson Ward negroes, whose
object is to upset. overthrow, and in
validate the new Constitution and revive
the Underwood Constitution.
Chief Justice Fuller is here at the invi-
tation of contending counsel, and sits as
circuit judge to hear the application of
the suitors aforesaid for writ Of prolli-
bition against the State officers We've
named and who constitute the State
Board of Canvassers.
The Chief Justice has a judicial air and
appearance His moderately-long hair Is
OF silver-gray, and SO is his lengthy
:noustache. His eyes indicate a mind
,uick in apprehension. and his manner
that of man who has learned pa
:ience and self-control. Many years Of
wrestling with lawyers and trying to sift
occasional grains of fact out of bushels
of chaf have moderated what once, no
doubt, was a very fiery spirit.
il was the general expectation that Mr..
Wise would first address the court upon
the question of jurisdiction, but he did
the history and merits of the case His
well-known tendency to indulge in per-
.onalties was shown in a sneering re-
mark about the Hon. John Goodies elm
mating the negro vote while he (Goode}
lived In the Norfolk congressional dis
trict" Then and there the Chef Justice
begged him to dcsist from personalities.
nd MN of
but the Chief Justice insisted. Mr.. Wise
respected the wish OF the court there
after, but he could motor would not
restrain himself from digs" at the Con-
>;i;utional Convention, the election meth
DDS in vogue in Virginia. and the State
Board of Canvassers, much TO the sat
;sfsction of the large number of colored
persons present. At the close of
his speech he expressed regret at his in
diligence in the use of personalities
The Chief Justice piled Mr. Wise with
questions most OF them showing, or
seeming TO show. a disposition to combat
the latters views.
Mr.. Frank W. Christian, who appeared
with the Acknowledgement OF Virginia,
after discharging a shot at Mr.. Wise's
method of discussing the case. launched
INTO the question Of jurisdiction of the
court. Later on he went into the merits
OF the case. He YVES as economical as
possible Of words and time, though he
spoke nearly four hours While earnest
bha exact In statement vigorous and
ierse. he was needless of rhetorical eff
'ect, Obviously his aim was at the
'hd3e's Judgment. and nowhere else, and
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