The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-10-21
I-I D IAE Islands SNLLLIl m IDE LIm.
Success Of Me- TAFT as Solicitor
General
vgoN IlAlll sIIETs

sgll lsis s.sss II 81
|iWietotleus iH the ceIebrased Alass6F,
Seal Fisheries csatrevsFsy His De-.
fense IT the d sISinlsy 1iil- Refassd
Golden Offers FOR seat iii The
Federal Bench.
Mr.. Tafts eight years Of history
making utility upon the bench Of the
Sixth federal circuit, during most OF
which period he was presiding Judge,
were pfefaeed by three years Of high
accomplishment as solicitor general OF
the United States. President HaFgi-
son picked him to be the legal repre-
sentative cf the United States liz nc.
tive lltIgntion In 1890, when lie was
onlS thlrtyt1rce years old and stlll had
three years OF his elective term upon
the superior court bench in Ohio to
serve. Solicitor general of the United
states ut thirty-threel Scarcely more
than q boy in years us rlpened matu.
rlty Is reckoDed and already doing
deeds Of national moment@decds Of
International moment, to he exact, for
inside of two weeks of taking the
oath be had put up to him the defense
of the government in the Alaska seal
fisheries controversy. at which tie
courts and the diplomats Of three coun-
trtes-the United States, England and
Canada-had been dinging for fourteen
years.
Briefly the sum and substance Of II
was this: We had captured and con.
demned to be sold the Canadian
schooner sayward for Illegal sealing IN
Alaska waters. England and Canada
supported the claim Of the owner for.
damages, which we rejected. Pend.
ing arbitration the case was brought
unexpectedly before the supreme court
1t was clever tactics on the other fel.
lows part, and it put us in rather a
pickle. While Canada would not be
bound by an adverse decision If the
case went against her--that is
would not be compelled to accept tilu
decision as fnaI-should we lose the
fact OF our losing in our own court
would count against us.
The new solicitor general sailed II.
He read the documents. He clutched
and held fast. When liz emerged from
the murk of international law treaties.
precedent and kindred ciaritfes he had
300 page brief ready to present to
the court It won for him and for the
United States against two Of the best
lawyers in the land Joseph H. Choate
and Calderon Carlisle, Jr.
Then it fell to him to defend the
Mckinley bill in an action brought BIZ
an importing firm who objected TO
paying higher duties imposed by the
bill and pleaded that Speaker Reeds
way of counting quorum, by which
tactics the bill had passed the house
OF representatives. was unconstitutlon.
al. The importers urged that enough
members present In the house, all
though constituting numerical quo.
rum, could break a quorum by not
voting.
III voting and not present is neces.
sary to make quorum, why is the
speaker empowered to employ the SER
geant at arms of the house TO compel
absentees to attend with the object Of
making n Squorum?' queried Mr.. So.
llcitor General Taft. The Mckinley
bill was saved.
The young solicitor general won;
won, won and kept on winning for the
government for the two years he was
in Office. Then President Harrison
set him upon what Mr.. Taft felt would
be the track leading to his real ambl.
tion-the supreme court bench. He
named him as circuit Judge. Judge
Taft accepted unhesitatingly. He did
It in face Of the well meant advice of
friends who wanted him to be a money
maker. Attractive partnerships were
proposed to him by big law firms, part.
nerships that meant $4,000, $4,000
and 100000 a year. The emoluments
Of the 0nch were only $4,000 annual.
ly Judge Taft shook his head. "There
are bigger and better things than mon.
Iey," was his reply to these silded sug.
gestions. he was then thlrty-fye. He
was q poor man, but he had enough
He Is now afty-one and a poor man
still by the standard Of the dollar.