Weekly journal-miner., 1908-12-02
CHOATE IS BOOKED FOR SUPREME
 COURT Chief Justice FulIer's Successor Is Not
 Announced


 ucut New York Republican who have been no Washington lately are author. itv for the ,'orv that there is tacit agreement between President Roosc. vel and President elr Taft that Jos. cph 'hoatc. former ambassador to Great Britain, shall ...y the next va rlnrv on thc United States supreme Bcncn, provided t is an associatc jus tice and mol the chief justice who re. tires next. The chief iusticcship is said Co be reserved for another, but no hiking is to bc had as 10 the identity of the man slated Co succeed Chief Justice Fuller.
 IT one ot the associate justices re. tires before March next. the nomius- ton of Mr. choate will be sent to tho senate by President Roosevelt. If no vacancy occurs until after Mr. Taft is inauguratcd president, he is equally convinced that Mr. Cnoate is the prop CT man Co appoint Such. at least, is the story vouchcd for by the New Workers.
 Mr. Choatc is generally recognized by lawyers a, standing at the head of the American bar and is conceded to be one of the greatest living an. thoritics on constitutional law. It is true he is corporation lawyer in the most cStromc sense. his practice being confined almost entirely Co the inter. csts of The huge corporations; but in the y.cw of tne president and the president elect this does not necessar. fly unfit him for office under the gov. crnmcnt. Their reasoning IS that successful practice for corporations is evidence of mans great legal abil. itty and that. his other qualifications being up to the standard. it is desir able that the government retain his services. In this age and day. they believe. it is a poor sort of lawyer who doesn't have corporation practice.
 The possibility that Mir. Choate will 20 ,o the supreme court recalls the fact that he Is the only lawyer who ever was known to "call down. the ahief justice of the United States. NIT. Choate was arguing ease one day and was being subjected to rather nnmcrciful quizzing by the court. Tho venerable judges, protect. cd by that dignity which hedges in the worlds most august tribunal. have a way of taking young lawyers over the hot sands of legal lore, to the evident enjoyment of the court and the amusement of spectators. Mir. Choate evidently thought he was en titled to be treated as graduate from the cadet class and there was n note of impaticnce in some of the an. swers he gave. Finally, Chief Jus tice Fuller asked question that was particularly searching and not cspec- ially hattering to the advocate.
 Mir. Cnoate stopped his argument, carefully and deliberately laid his pa. pers on the table, and looked the chief justice squarely in tho eye. "Your honor,' he said, "that question is i'm. pert
 The solemn hush of the court room became more solemn and more hushed. The dropping of pin would have crashed like bomb explosion. Ev. eryone looked al the caief justice and the chief justice look at Mir Choate. | For fully half minute they stared into each others eyes unblinkingly. | Then the chief justice slowly sank in his chair and folded his arms. "Coun- | sel will proeced," was all he said. If It be true, as reported, that the successor of Chief Justice Fuller al. | ready mas been selected, there is ample excuse for great deal of cu- riosity as to his identity. It was re. ported some time ago and widely cred. | tied that Elihu Root was slated for the chief justceshp, but now it is on the cards that Mir Root is to succeed | Thomas Collier Platt as the next sen. ator from New York. Of course there are great many able and brilliant lawyers well fitted to be chief justice, but which one of them seems to MT. Taft, himself once an sspiraDt for the honor, the best dtecd of them allf
 It is practically assured that the appointment of chief justice will be | left for MT. Taft to make. Chief | Justice Fuller is seventyfivc years old and eligible to retire at any time, | hut it is understood he prefers that Taft rather than Roosevelt should | have the naming of his successor and | will not re'inquish his office until after March {.
 It is extremely probable that in ad dtion to chief justice Mir. Taft dur. ing the next four years will have op. portuniiy Co name at least three asso- tut. Al