The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1907-02-06
KNOWLEDGE OF THE LAW.
Federal Judges May Not Know As
Much As Lawyer Statesmen.

WASHINGTON, Feb. A. When a
federal Judge perches himself upon .
bench, and with the self assurance of
q Blackstone solemnly declares un.
constitutional some important law
passed by congress, it Is q question
whether the joke is on him or on the
lawyers Of the house and senate. To
put his judgment up against that of
300 or more lawyers, all more or less
able, who have threshed out the con.
st~itutionality of the measures in
the halls Of congress-, to say the least,
seems ridiculous.
OF the ninety members of the senate,
sixty-fve are lawyers, and of the 1856
members of the house 279 are lawyers.
Three other senator's say they are
lawyers but do not work at the trade.
They r Alger, Dryden and Clark,
of Montana.
The 279 lawyers In the house are too
numerous to mention. Among them,
however, are some of the leading law.
yers OF America. The entire delega-
ton of Alabama is composed of law.
yers. The same can be said of the
Arkansas delegation; also North Car.
DINA. Bourke Cochran, the we'll
known New York lawyer, was born in
Ireland and educated in France.
That accounts for his fighting quail.
ties at times, and his diplomatic po-
litical shifts at others.
The nineteen senator's who follow
business pursuits for a living are Per-
kins, Buckley, Alice, Dupont, Tall.
ferro, Dubois, Crane, Alger. Clark,
of Montana, Nixon, Dryden, Plat,
Smoot, Sutherland, Ankeny, Elkins,
Scott and Warren. In the house there
are just eight business men.
Notwithstanding the fact that agri.
culture predominates In the United
States as a wealth producer, Ameri.
can farmers are almost as scarce ia
congress as hens teeth. There are
only W. in the senate-Tillman and
Lattimer, both of South Carolina
In the house there are only nine who
admit it: Bankhead, Livingston,
Lowden, Trimble, Pollard, Cocks,
Williamson, Aiken and Ellerbe.
The only senator who doesn't make
public his occupation in his biography
in the congressional book is Aldrich,
OF Rhode Island. However, his sketch
would indicate that he had made poll.
tics his business most of his life.
Not a single member of the Kansas
d%eleg alton is a farmer. Reeder comes
nearer being one than any of the 9th.
ers. He used to own a farm, but the
way he got rid of it is an interesting
story. He and a partner owned a
bank, a big farm and a lot of other
stuff. When Reeder was first nomi-
mated for representative, the pops were
strong in his district, and they were
against bankers, as a rule. The part
ner saw a chance to dissolve partner.
ship and get a bank out of it. He felt
that Reeder would not take on a bank
while running for congress in a pop
district. He suggested a dissolution.
"All right" said Reeder. "Stack
the stuff up in two piles and I'll take
my choice.' The partner made two
stacks. He put the bank and some
truck in one pile and the farm and
some truck in the other. He loaded
the bank pile because he thought he
would get it. Reeder looked the two
piles over and grabbed onto the bank
pile. The partner hasn't spoken 70
him since. Reeder found the bank a
help rather than a hindrance in the
campaign.
Ohio leads all other states in the
birthplace Of present members. The
vice president, nine senntors and
thirty-three house members were born
there. Both of West Nirginia's seua-
tors are Buckeyes. Beveridge, ALI.
son, Alger, Fulton, Carter, Foraker