The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-11
TAFT FOR THE SUPREME COURT
PRESIDENT HAS ASKED HIN TO
SUCCEED JUSTICE DROWN.
While lie Would Prefer TO Remain In the
Cabinet as Secretary or War. He Says
It Is for the President TO Decide II

He Shall Accept tie judicial Once.
WASHINGTON, March 10.-Whether Will
lam H Taft, the Secretary of War, shall
remain in political life or have his future
settled by appointment to a life position in
the Federal judiciary is a question to which
President Roosevelt is giving serious con-
sideration. Mr.. Taft has been asked by the
President il he will accept the office Of Asso-
ciate Justice of the United States Supreme
Court to succeed Justice Henry B. Brown,
who will retire on May 2s, and Mr.. Taft has
indicated clearly that while he would pre-
for to remain at the head Of the military
establishment it IL for the President and not
for himself to say whether he shall leave the
Cabinet and become a member Of the Su-
IRENE bench. In other words, Mr.. Taft
would rather at this time De Secretary of
War than a Supreme Court Justice, but he
vii! not decline il judicial honors are con-
icrred on him.
In ~tfferirg to GIrCtnt Mr.. Taft to sue
o,od Jrstice Hrown. President Roosevelt
IN 3 rot Il :. sight Of the fact that his Score
TRY cr WGr is not merely a Presidential
70 s~silility, but a Pre- sidential probability.
On tic other hard. he is aware that Mr..
Taft is of the judicial temperament and re-
CARDS a position in the Supreme Court
IS cf the highest honor and dignity. The
President has taken into consideration also
that Mr.. Taft is a comparatively young
man, and should he be appointed to sue
cted Justice Brown would probably become
Chief Justice in a few years and live to ex-
coed the record for service in that Office
held Ivy John Marshall.
Should Mr.. Taft go to the Supreme Court
and a vacancy in the Chief Justioeship occur
while Mr.. Roosevelt is in the White House
Mr., Taft would be promoted to the highest
judicial position in the land. Chief Justice
Fuller is 70 years old and is eligible for re-
rement. Mr.. Taft is only 4s.
Since the President has indicated to him
that the vacancy to be caused by Justice
Browns retirement was open to him, Mr..
Taft has not SOU bt the advice of his friends
a. to the course he should pursue. Several
of his close associates, who are also close
associates of tho President, nave come to
him. however, and advised him one way
or the other, that he accept the profered
Office or decline it. Mr.. Taft has done his
own thinking and has reached the con-
clusion that, while the prospect Of being at
the head of the Federal judiciary for the
rest Of his natural life is alluring, he
would much prefer to remain as Secretary
Of War until certain pending questions
nave been adjusted to his satisfaction.
Chief among these is the matter of the
Panama Canal. Mr.. Taft realizes that he
has been, and to a certain extent still is,
- l. 49, H. ~f H. oa~a
administration He is satisfied that he has
Zone his duty properly, that the canal
affairs rave been administered honestly
and that he can refute every charge that
has been made against the plans for the
construction Of this great waterway. A
very natural desire to remain at the head
of the canal administration long enough to
refute his critics, as he is confident OF his
ability to do, makes the Secretary OF War
reluctant to surrender his Cabinet portfolio,
for the present at least. But should the
President determine to appoint him to the
Supreme Court he will accept the COM
pliment.
If Mr.. Taft's friends have correctly
gagged his mind he has not taken into
consideration his prospects OF obtaining
the Presidential nomination in making
Up Ills nina JIldJ lie WOuIu IdIioT Iti"hli
in the Cabinet than become q Supreme
Court Justice. His apparent unseldshness
in this connection has been a source of
Wonder to his associates, who are con-
WINGED that his present attitude is based
purely on devotion to duty and that he has
eliminated any questions Of purely selfish
concern. While some of those who have
advised him within the past day or two
have spoken Of his chance to succeed Presi-
dent Roosevelt, others in whose judgment
he places the greatest reliance have held
that in justice to himself he should COM
plete the work cut out for him as Secretary
of War before giving up that Office for the
less active life Of a Federal Judge.
1t should not be understood that Mr..
Taft's is the only name that the President
has under consideration in connection
with the appointment of a successor to
Justice Brown. From unquestionable
sources of authority it is learned that he
has prepared a list Of the following, with a
view to selecting one of them should he
determine to observe Mr.. Taft's personal
desire:
Walter Henry Sanborn, st. Paul, MINI,
United States Circuit Judge OF Eighth
Judicial district since March II, 1892,
Native Of New Hampshire and graduate
Of Dartmouth; age, 81.
Willis Van Deventer, Cheyenne. Wyo,
I nited States Circuit Judge Of Eighth
circuit, appointed February 10, 1908; As
sistant Attorney-General, assigned to
Interior Department; prominent in the bar
Of Wyoming; age, Al.
Horace Harmon Lurton, Nashville, Tenn, !
United States Circuit Judge Of Sixth judicial
district since March 20, 1893: member
Supreme Court Of Tennessee, 1SS8-93, and
Chief Justice same court from january to
April, 1898; age,e 81.
Henry Martin Hoyt Of Pennsylvania,
Solicitor-G General of the United States since
1908; graduate of Yale and Pennsylvania;
Assistant Attorney-G General, 1so7-19o3; age,
so.
Lloyd W. Bowers, Chicago. general 90
eel of Chicago and Northwestern Railroad
since June. 1893; age, Al.
Francis Joseph swayze Of Newark, N. j.,
Justice Of the Supreme Court Of New Jersey;
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