Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-07-16

JIC can De observed IN Parker ; WOrk
as judge. He has been a judge since
1885. Before 1885 he had taken an ac-
tive personal part in local politics.
Since 1885 he has never strayed from
the bench to the hastings. He has re-
garded himself as the agent of the
state of New York for the settlement
Of legal controversies and for the
maintenance of the science of juris-
prudence. From this high vocation he
has never been drawn away by any
counter call of political exigency or of
personal ambition. The serene and IN
vexed impartiality of the law could be
| intrusted to no more unwavering
| hands.
ITO stability in inherited instincts
and TO stability in chosen duty Parker
adds a stability even in daily personal
| habits. On arising he dresses for his
morning ride. On returning from his
ride he dresses for the court of APP
peals. On returning from the court of
appeals he dresses for dinner. His
| triple sartoriaI equipment, the amaze
ment of the special correspondent. is
as precise in its details as it is newt
able in its sequence. Parker, for bet
ter or for worse. is no rowing comet
seeking change and adventure through
the corners of the universe. He is one
of the most respectable of planets cir
cling on schedule time around a fixed
orbit.
Yet he seems to have enough dis
| tinction of temper to attract interest.
| He was not much more than a boy
when elected clerk of a board of SUI
peTvisors. He was only 2G when he
was elected surrogate of Ulster cOun-
~. He was only 80 when he was re-
elected surrogate on d democratic tick
ct which brought success to him alone.
| He was only 81 when he became chair
man of the state committee in the cam
paign which made David b. Hill gov
ernoT.
With Hills election his active pO-
liticaI life ceased. At the close of the
campaign the man whom he had help
| ed into the statehouse helped him into
the judiciary. From 1885 10 the present
time Parker has been judge. Also.
he has been a jurist. He has drawn so
far away from politics that his decis-
ions are developments in jurispru-
dence and not incidents in party war
fare.
Nevertheless his political strength
has remained mathematical. In 1897
he was nominated by the democrats
for the office of chief judge of the court
of appeals, the highest judicial office in
New York. 1896 Mckinley had carried
the state by 2GS 900. Parker an
initiated this majority and created
counter majority of 10000. He is the
only democrat who has been elected to
a state Office in New York since 1891.
"Parker's immovable stability on the
bench has been open 10 only one doubt.
In the case of the law which provided
for the payment of the prevailing
rate of wages" in municipal contracts,
i'll the case of the law which provided
for the regulation of child labor, in the
case of the law which limited the num-
her of hours during which bakers
might work. and in other cases of SINH
| lar import, Parker has held that such
| laws were valid. and that in putting
them on the statute books the state
| had not exceeded its constitutional
powers. The impression left upon
some minds is that Parker is tempera-
mentally inclined to the passage of
| laws for the relief of labor.
IF his decisions on labor laws be
compared. however. with his decisions
on other laws that have nothing to do
with labor. it will be found that his
refusal To declare labor laws unconsti-
| tutional has had its basis not in eco
nOmic but in strictly legal predileC
tons. Parker seems never to de-
clare a law unconstitutional if he can
| help il. He is not one of those judicial
! Journalists who find their chief happi-
ness in denOunCing a law on insurance
| because il conflicts with constitution
! al amendment on slavery. II is doubt
| full. therefore, if either law or capital
! will be able TO show that Parker, in
| the whole course of his judicial career.
| has been aCtuated consciously or I'M
consciously by any opinions other than
those of a student of the history of
| law. II was simply because of his dis
! inclination to allow the legislature to
be continually cramped by the judici-
airy that Parker upheld the constitu-
| tionality of the labor laws of New
! York
LAS a citizen and a jurist. Alton B.
! Parker has been upright. clear mind
| ed. and honorable. The democratic
party has done well in presenting TO
the country a candidate of such per
sonal rectitude."