The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-03-17


mittee of the Whole House on the
same day, and the House again decid-
ed that Congress had the right to
deprive the judges of all judicial
powers; and also that t HAD tia light
to deprive them Of their salaries
wherever the Office was disestab-
lished. In other words, the House,
by vote of 81 yeas to 81 nays,
adopted a resolution declaring:
That the prayer of the petitions Of
William Tiglman, Oliver Wolcott,
Richard Bassett, Charles Magill,
Samuel Hitchcock, Benjamin Bourne,
Egbert Benson, Philip B. Key, Will
liam Griffith, jeremiah Smith, and
George B. Taylor ought not to be
granted, and the the petitioners
have leave to withdraw their petit
tions.
(Annals, Seventh Congress, Sc
cond session, P. 440.)
An on the same day (P. 439) the
House by a vote Of 81 noes to 80
ayes rejected a resolution declaring:
That provision ought to be made
by law for submitting to judicial
decision the right of (the same per-
sons, naming them) late judges OF
the circuit courts appointed under
an act entitled:
"An act for the more convenient
organization of the courts Of the
United States, passed on the 18th
day of February, 1901, which said
act was repealed at the last session
of Congress, to their compensa-
tion."
Now, in view Of his history, I de-
sre to call attention to publication
of the Department Of Justice, issued
during the present year, and entitled
"a list of United States Judges, At
torneys, and Marsha:s." This docu-
ment shows that since his accession
to office in 1901 President Roosevelt
has appointed Federal judges as fGl-
lows:
Supreme Court of the United
States, three associate judges-one-
third of the membership of that great
tribunal.
Circuit courts of the United States,
twelve of the twenty-nine judges, or
Alt per cent.
District courts of the United
States, forty-two of the eighty
Judges. or 52.5 per cent.
Judging these appointees by the
character of Judges Pritchard and
Jones, We may assume that some Of
them, at least, hold the opinions of
the appointing authority respecting
the necessity Of changing the Con-
stitution by judicial construction in
order to meet the exigencies Of those
corporations which contribute most
literally to the corruption fund of
the Republican party.
And before his present term expir-
es the President will probably have
! the opportunity of packing the courts
with enough men Of the same class
to insure the perpetuation Of his
socalled policies" by judicial action,
unless we act as our predecessors did
in 1902, and deprive some Of these
useless and time-serving judges Of
some or all Of their judicial powers,
Disregarding the fact that before
March 4, 1909, there is probabil-
ity of our having seven Roosevelt
!ndges on the Supreme Court bench,
we may by that time have in office
for the seventeen of the twenty-nine
circuit court judges and forty-seven
OF the eighty district court judges.
If Mr.. Roosevelt should be reelected,
as many of our Republican friends
anticipate, we should probably have
on the bench by 1913, as Roosevelt
appointees, twenty Of the tWenty-nine
circuit court judges and f1fty-nine OF
the eighty district court judges. If
this should happen the hands Of
Congress and of every State legisla-
ture would surely be tied hard and
fast by judicial usurpation. Will the
people of the Union submit to this?
Will We, as the representatives of
the people of the States, submit to
it? I think not. I know that it
ought not to be submitted to. We
have the power to abolish these in
ferior Federal courts. Cujus est in
stituere ejus est abrogare. Shall we
be dominated, abused, insulted, rack
ed, and ruined by our creatures, or
shall we put an end to their inso-
lence and their usurpations by fol-
lowing the precedent established in
1902? In principle it is our right
, 10 abolish these inferior courts.
AS to the question Of expediency,
it lies wholly within our legislative
discretion to continue them under
proper restrictions of jurisdiction
and powers, or to continue them and
provide different system, to be ad-
ministered by new appointees, whose
antecedents prove that they respect
the "inestimable institution Of juries"
and are not disposed to exercise
usurped power in order to lullify the
laws of the States and the constitu-
tional rights Of citizens by means
of writs of injunction or prohibition
or by punishments inflicted for con-
structive contempts Of court. To this
end l favor the complete reorganiza-
ton Of the Federal judiciary, and