The Irish standard., 1906-07-28
JUDGE o'NEILL RYAN.
st. Louis Paper Gives Pen Sketch Of
Noted Jurist.

In Il recent number of the st. Louis
Mirror appeared the following inter-
esting sketch of Judge O'Neill Ryan. ,
who is we'll known to lrishmen Of the
Twin Cities:
Having recently decided that. under
Missouri law. Il lawlesS trust cannot
appeal To the law it violates to collect
Indebtedness due ii. Judge uNeil Ryan
scars into national fame. His law is
good. The same decision WAS rendered
in this state many years ago. Judge
Ryan'S ruling simply comes when pub
lie opinion and sentiment leap up 10
smite the trust in the hear, of its life
the pocket.
But O'Neill Ryan was famous before.
There isn't an lrshuan in any land
beneath the sun that doesn't know his
name He is II physical force man.
His speeches breathe battle. murder
and sudden death I" the Sassenach.
y" peace party for hi.,. Revolution
is I;rin's only remedy. And his
speeches. innammatory marvrlS. warm
his. Hibcri;ln hearers blood until they
see red. tor the beloved green and
geld. HI, serves on committees. raises
funds. huStles and bustleS and rusllcS
for the cause without cease. and when
he is announced as speaker. anywhere
from Boston tn Santa Barbara, the
they We're the pixies that must be to-
gclhcr at the rising of the moon With
!, snnewhn, sharp metallic voice. odd
ly rhythmic sentences. Il balancing
from heel Ia toe. back and forwaro,
and now and then a fervor that seems
tn approach hyStcra. he is the most
does more 4" keep vital the Irish prnl,a
g;lnd; par !" f;tit than ever did O'D"n-
nvnn Rnss;,. of even the mysterious
| Number one"
1t may strike you as odd. this thing
of a judge advocating war which is
no, quite revolution. and barely rises
I above murder: but he hclieves in il.
His belief snnctifies 1t as the anal-
chisl's belief sHnctities his bomb
! thlnwing. 1t may be Inconsistent. but
ii is as natural to an lrishman. this
hatred of England. as the vendetta Is
to the sSiclian or the bomb to the late
Signor Morales. We hear much talk
of repudiating the physical force, Irish
movement Heed it not. Without the
physical force movement, the mcl,
tive in British politics would long sine.
have died.
This rampant almost rabid revolt
Zionist. is. perhaps. the most digniiicul
of all our circuit Judges. and the
StrictcSt Stickler for form. There Is
none on the bench tina, surplsses him
in culture. in depth and breadth of
general Information. He is more aloof
from influence than the others. He Is
companionabe. SOcinblc. even Il jOvinI
man at times. but he is rigidity itself
when the talk skirts his position. The
| politicians who nominat and elected
| him found this out when they tried Ia
talk t" him about appointing a stenos-
rtpher He even drove two of them
Clan ma Gael men, tnn---from his Of
fu Sin ho
More Catholic than the POpe-ex-
ccpt where the Pnpacy comes into cOn-
ilict with Irish nSlirnti"ns--he infuSe-
his Catholicism into his judicial dr-
ciSions in the matter of divorce. Com
plaisant parties to divorces are fright :
| fully ground in his court and they sci
obiter dicta Oh such cases are fire.
uuently quoted in press and public ev-
erywhere
Courage is one Of his qualities. He
dared. in the very height of the Doodle
| excitement here to take the case of Il
rich man charged with bribery into his
own hands and order his acquittal.
This. with the press and public howl
ing for convictions. 1t was 81 fine ana
brave thing to do. to defy the crowd $
insistance upon punishment. 1t was
of Il piece with his tongue-la flashing
,nf the politicians from his office when
they wanted to influence him to an
appointment.
He knows the law; not only the law
of preredents and decisions. but the
inner heart and core OF law, for he
| is Il student what time he is not freeing
Ireland and laying England. He was
born here. in humble station. yet he
is more arjStOcritic in his pose. in
some ways, than. for instance, another
circuit judge. whose family prominence
goes back Il hundred years. He has
that old graceful elegance of the Irish
gentleman, with which this country
| lost its touch in the passing of Daniel
Dougherty. He is the associate and
CO. worker with the miliOnaires, the
| Archbishnps. the Cardinal, and has
| indeed. much Of the clerical tinge in
his character but at the other extreme
| he is the voice ncarnate of the boys
VINO finished Cavendish and Burke In
Phoenix Park. and polished off that