The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-02

in evil to binding in fetters the con- science of the citizen with test oaths and paths of expurgation. To Judge Field belongs the great honor of sound ing thnir death -knell in America. Lov : CT of liberty as he was fortune could have given him opportunity t6 build in her honor no nobier nor more en-
 Judge Miller was appointed in 1882. He was q native of Kentucky and was q physician in his early days He ief. yer. because his views on slavery were decided, and upon the passage of the Kentucky Constitution of is4y he felt sSo,,t s1 mush ,,, out of sympashy with snoss be difficult If not impossible of attain ment From Kentucky. therefore he removed. faking up his residence tn Iowa He devoted himself to the prac- tlce of his profession. taking part in politics as a leading Republican but refusing to hold any office. After about twelve years residence he was unanimously recommended by senators, Congressman and bar for a place on the Supreme Court. And he made a most wonderful impression in this held greatest Master of The Rolls. Jessei. ss said of himself: T may be wrong--- probably sometimes am. but never have any doubts" Ills character was his mind. He was always vigorous. Ills directness of a statement and ar gument made both doubly forceful He had sure instinct for the very light of Arlington case as fine example of his judicial work and a notable contribu- ton to that class of opinions we are
 You all know Arlington as 1t stands wonder across the Potomoc from Wash ington. It's grand old Colonial columns and portico seen through rift in the hilfs. and from It's lawn there is spread out before you q panorama of interest and beauty rarely equalied. It was q gift by George Washington Parke GUS ,s 10 his aSstsF S f the wife ss Of R Ro1sss SsS son. General custis Lee. During the war 1t was sold for taxes and bought In by the United States. By Executive of'sr of ln,lItsry @ psioS station % and Nationai Cemetery. It seems that Mrs. Lees tenant had offered to pay the taxes for her but the commissioners had re- by Mrs Lee Tn person. The war being over and his mother having died. Gen. eral Custis Lee sued the officer Tn ssssf f9r ns sns cay hs as op ion of Judge Miller goes direct to me point--Who owns this property? Gen eral Lee owns 1t. Do the facts that the 1t under Executive order and. that 1t pose as ts . burial of our most honor ed dead Lave any bearing on the ques- tion7 None. Tn this country when one justifies under a warrant of the
 sovereign, that means he must show warrant from the only sovereign we have-the people; and the people write
 their warrants in constitution and laws. and if you cannot show your warrant written there it Is blank pa &es, U mat. ters not by what man--Pi..sident or Lit may be signed. There was never any danger that the United States
 would be dtspossessed of Arlington demn it and get a full title to it by paying for 1t. But even if this were
 not true. no one could. for moment3 refuse to confirm the title on fair
 terms. His knighthood would have put the thought to scorn- Judge Mil
 ler's opinion in this case has 2 cer-
 When the patriarch would have a se- butcher for Sarah and all his house he refused to have 1t given him, but of that silent city, where the narrow houses are built so close under the trees and over the green sward, with what uneasy siumber would fhey le in The great river by which Washington sleeps could have no monument re- fiected in Its waters whose foundation was not laid upon the corner-stone Of justice to all men. in all times and un- der every circumstance.
 Ehief Justice Chase succeeded the venerable Fancy in 1864. Ills career was so full of public service and he lived so long in the public gaze that there 10 no need to attempt his portrait appointed because of his eminent it, ness for the place: judgment well confirmed by his conduct in office. Some the ungenerous-said he was appointed as e means of getting rid of forInid- able rival. Those who believe Lincoln to have had the good of the country as his first object will believe the one account; those who believe Lincoln to have had his own fortune as his first object will believe the other account. It is so in the great event that marked the generous-think that in the legal-tender cases he reversed his judgment as Secretary of the Treasury because his conscience bade him so re- partial spirit as he would the acts or others. Some-the ungenerous-as- cribe his conduct. in, this matter to tunes. Those who believe that a great man, having a great mind. is apt, et least, to have a great soul and noble count. Those who envy great talent and high place and wish to bring them down to their own littleness will be- lIeve the other, It will ever be so that
 The event in the Judicial career of Chief Justice Chase, which l nave se- lected for special mention is a decision n of the Supreme, Court. -
 In April. 1865, Jefferson Davis, late President of the Confederate States, was captured. He was taken to Fort ress Monroe, where he was impris- oned until March, 1887. Within this period various efforts were made to induct the Chief Justice to hold q court fin Virginia. that State being attached to his circuit. The object was. as he knew. to ob tain an order, from fstrn to admit Mir. Davis to ball. The Cnlef sons, frankly stated. were that Mr. Davis was held under military order, and that if the court should require him to be produced and this should be refused, there would be no way to en- force the order. Aand, again. that m the predominant power: but as Virginia was still under the control of a Gen eral of the Army, 1t was beneath the dignity of a representative Of the highest civil authority to hold court under the shadow of military power; the officer in command at Fortress Monroe to surrender Mir. Davis to the civil authority. He was brought De- fore Judge Underwood and baiied. Tn December. 1868. the indictment charg- ing him with treason came on 70 pc tice Chase and Judge Underwood. The point was that the Fourteenth Amend inent to the Constitution prohibited those who had been officers Of the United States and then taken arms against it from ever holding any otiice oS profit or trust in the Government; that this was a punishment for the or fense and no other could be inflicted. It was the last act in great trag- edy. .so