The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-04-20


men. The late Congressman Heard Of
Ohio. and the late Casey Young OF
| Tennessee appeared in cases, as the
records of the Patent Office show, while
they We're members Of Congress. But
of course, the Government had no prop
erty or monetary interest in such cases
Another man of international reputa-
ton and of the highest character who
| tried q case for a fee, before Senator
| EIkins, when the Senator was Secre-
| tary of War, was ex-senator and ex-
| Treasurer John G.. Carlisle. This was
! a case like the one I was accused OF
| trying; that is, it involved no money
or property interest for the Govern
ment.
| SENATOR'S CONSCIENCE QUOTED.
This man, and many others of equal
distinction, knew of the statute, and Of
Tended against it, as I was accused of
doing l reiterate, however, that they
did not intend to violate the law.
There had never been a prosecu-
ton under the statute when / was in
dicted, and the law had been forgotten.
Senator, now Judge, Jeter c. Pritch-
ard of North Carolina was offered d
fee while he was Senator, by brother
lawyer, now the Governor of the State
of North Carolina, to help him in a
case then pending before the Commits
sioner of Internal Revenue. Not know
ing of any law against his accepting
the proffered employment. he did, how
ever, out of an abundance of caution,
inquire of the Department of Justice
about his right to appear in such a
case, and he received an opinion in
writing from the Acting Attorney Gene
raj, Judge Boyd, that there was no law
against his accepting the fee. He
therefore accepted $500 and appeared in
the case This was in 1900. Judge
Boyd, who gave the written opinion,
was afterward appointed to the United
States District bench for one of the
South Carolina districts, and is now
holding that position
He asserted that one Senator in 1901
had practiced before Judge Willis Van
deventer, who tried and sentenced Mr..
Burton, while the Judge was an official
of the Interior Department. A mining
case involving valuable property was
up before Mr.. Vandeventer.
w HGIl was HioiCtcus "eHt Oi NIL
Burton, this Senator boldly announced
that if I was guilty he likewise was
guilty. The Senator made no conceal
ment of what he had done. He was not
conscious of having violated the law.
The Department of Justice and Mr..
Roosevelt were fully advised of the act
of the Senator in appearing in the case
to which have referred. The Statute
of Limitations had not then run.
THAT Senator, occupying his seat in
the Senate Chamber. with the Gov,
eminent in possession of all the facts,
and my incarceration in Jail at Ironton.
is a fair sample of what this Admin
istration means when it hypocritically
shouts about the square DEAL
Case after case could be given. show
ing that the very ablest and best law
yers in the country have unwittingly
violated the law I shall mention only
one other, vouched for to me by a
brother Senator-that one of the JUS
tees of the present Supreme Court
acknowledged to having offended
against this statute while he was
member of Congress. OF course, he
Gid not know that he was violating the
law
SCORN FOR SUPREME COURT
JUDGES.
.sThen there is the opinion of the
four great lawyers on the bench, Chief
Justice Fuller, Mr.. Justice Brewer, Mr.. |
Justice White, and Mr.. Justice Peck
hama very, very large majority of
that bench if measured by ability
say that the statute does not apply to
a case like that brought against me-
that even if I did the act charged
against me. 1 did no wrong. Then, |
if / was guilty, what was my offense, |
in fact?
ST had misinterpreted a statute; that
and nothing more. I had construed
the statute, presuming as the law does. |
that I knew of it's existence-as it had |
always been construed by every one
until now. l had construed the statute |
as the Supreme Court in the States |
had invariably construed similar stat
utes, for a century. I had construed |
the statute as similar statutes had |
been construed in Great Britain, from |
the days of Magma Charta. If guilty |
my offense was that I did not know |
more law than all the Judges of all the |
courts of the English-speaking race, |
for more than 200 years. My offense |
was, as clearly and specifically de-
fined, that I was no better lawyer than |
Chief Justice Fuller, Mr.. Justice Brew |
er, Mr.. Justice White, and Mr.. Justice |
Peckham, and not as good a lawyer as |
Justice McKenna, against whose con-
flrmation the bar Of San Francisco |
protested; not as good a lawyer as Mr..
Justice Holmes, who, though appoint
ed from Massachusetts,, could not Sc
cure the Endorsement of the great law
yer and statesman, Senator Hoar; not |
as good a lawyer as Mr.. Justice Day,
who I am told was the former coun-
selor. if not partner, of the late Abner
Mckinley, in government contracts;
not as good a lawyer as poor old Jus
tice Brown, whose fading mind had |
already entered the shadows of a rap
i'd decline; not as good a lawyer as
Mr.. Justice Harlan, the father of Mr..
James Harlan, appointed by President
Roosevelt on the Interstate Commerce
Commission, shortly after the Justice
delivered the last opinion in my case
Il submit if there was not too much
legal knowledge required of a country
LAWYER whan fhe