The Cairo bulletin., 1904-04-04
ALTON b. PARKER

tlnkDOWQ. ana oven NtihPatt ga
Democrats TO the Wings Of lSiS @
whom it was said that they
Were ready to vote fer whoever WI
eligible.
If on all piutz at issoo he'd stay un
intelligihle
Il is undoubtedly true that a
against the present occupant Of The
White House the greater part Of the
Democrats are inclined to vote fol
any eligible man who can receive Tho
Endorsement Of two-thirds Of the rep
representatives. Of the party in conyen
/ ton assembled But Judge Parker is
not altogether SO absolutely unknown
as some of the enemy would make
out. He has been In public life for a
good many years. though not in po-
sition to attract the attention Of pol
tcians in all parts of the country.
I The Green Bag, a law journal con.
tains sketch of him, written by Nc
Cready Sykes, of the New York bar
which gives some facts Of current in,
terest in view Of what is now said of
I him The article is written in an ap
preciatiye vein. but is by no means a
eulogy and even INDUCES in criticism
to a mild extent. Without following
this article literally we summarize
some Of the facts relating TO his ca
reer.
Judge Alton b. Parker was born in
Ulster county. New York. in 1851, SO
that he Is fifty-three years old. fair
medium between our younger and old
er presidents He taught school for
time. studied law. and graduated at
the Albany Law school. and was al
mtted to practice in 1872 He drifted
into politics. and first held Office as
clerk of the Ulster county board Of
supervisors Soon afterward he rep
resented his county in an important
suit. which he won. received fee ol
$4,000, which was regarded as a wind
fall fer so young lawyer In 1877
though his party was in minority
he consented TO take a nomination
for surrogate. a judicial office, and
though the rest Of his ticket was dc
feated. he pulled through In 1883 he
was reelected. When Mr. Cleveland
became president he offered Judge
Parker position as first assistant
postmaster general. with salary OF
$4,000. Though he was receiving only
$4,000 as surrogate he declined the
offer He also declined proposition
to nominate him for lieutenant gov
1rnor. In the fall of 1886 he was +
chairman Of the Democratic execu /.
i've committee in the state campaign /
and won decisive victory In De /
cember of that year he was appointed 4
Judge of the supreme court which il !
not however, in New York the court I
Of last resort. In 1886 he was elected \
70 this position without opposition ]
In the year 1892, he became a judge .
u the general term, an appellate d .
vision Of the court, and later Of tho .
appellate division. which succeeded I
he general term on the roorganize. .
lion Of the court In 1897 he was 1
elected chief judge Of the court Of ap 4
Deals, the highest state court. by
majority of c0.000 votes. though IN .
he preyious year the state had given
/ Republican majority Of more thar
! quarter of a million II is not IS. (
stated in Mr. McCrcady's article. bu
no doubt the disposition to keep thi
judiciary ont Of politics had some
hing to do with this result Since
hat time Judge Parker has been tho
highest judicial officer in the state ol /
New York. and has rendered many
important decisions
The article in the Green Bag goes
uto a discussion of decisions render .
ed by JuIge Parker in important .
,a5es. in many Of which there was p I
iivision OF the court, the decisions .
being given by a majority Of I 10 /
For obvious reasons we cannot follow .
hese decisions in detail. but we give .
he summing up made by the write .
after compiling the review
This discussion OF Judge Parker .
recent opinions has been already tof .
FAR protracted; but ! trust that it b. .
evident enough that anyone who cares .
10 follow the workings Of very ac .
i've and vigorous judicial mind and /
lf very closely divided court Of last I
resort. will find of interest the con .
temporary decisions of the New Yorb .
court Of appeals. Judge Parker's ten.
lency. as above noted. is not only tc
loid private litigants strictly 10 the
etter Of their contracts, but is 10 re-
rain from relying On general prin
'iples ri policy 10 nuiIify legsl8tivi
That this tendency ir
both cases illustrates the true path
IF a Judge. is. it seems 10 me. mque5
.ionable We have seen plenty Of
vicious legislation. and arc apt to seI
plenty mere; but after all the remedy
Tor tnis sort of thing is NOT to be
found in the judicial department
The remedy is often as bad as thc
disease"
This appears TO indicate that ths
bent of Judge Parkcr's mind leads
him to obey the law. and not TO make
iaw u meet particular exigencies IN 4
Ibis respect at least. he presents
contrast to the man whom. If 4
nominated. he will have to oppose
Il also appears that Judge Parker has 4
L