The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-11-22

from Ohio. and the present chief Jus
 tice. Melville W. Fuller. of Illinois.
 The youngest man ever appointed to the Supreme bench was the famous
 Justice Story who was but thirty-two
 years old when commissioned by Pres
 ident Madison. The oldest sppointee
 was Ward Hunt, of New York. who
 vas stxty-two Of the chief Justices,
 six came from North of Mason and
 Dixon's line and three from the South. or the hfty-two associate justices. thtTty-two have been from the North
 and twenty from the South.
 At presnt there are three Democrats
 and six Republicans on the bench, sew en from the North and two from the
 South. Justice Harlan, of Kentucky
 appointed In 1877. is the senior mem comes next in length of service, hav- ing been appointed in 1888.
 It is believed that President elect
 Taft will consider the name of Judge Horace H. Lurton, of Tennessee. for appointment to the Supreme Court. Judge Lurton Is a Democrat. but Is a very close friend of Mir. Taft. they l having served together on the Federal circuit bench. If Mir. Taft should ap- point Judge Lurton. 1t would be the
 second time since the organization of n placed 8 man of the opposition party
 on the Supreme bench. The only oth-
 CT instance was when Benjamin Har-
 rison appointed Howell E. Jackson to
 be an associate justice. Like Judge
 Lurton, Jackson was a Democrat and
 a Teunesseean. As Lurton and Taft
 served together on bench. so had
 Jackson and Harrison served together
 in the Senate where they had become l intimate friends.
 While the force of politics Is applied
 to the Supreme Court from the out
 side. while Congress can regulate the
 number of It's members. and while the
 President supplies vacancies: it Is true that the Supreme Court itself has
 become less and less political through
 the years. From 17S9. when 1t was
 created until 1891. when Marshall
 came to the bench. the court was not
 very important. It had decided that
 1t could bring an unwilling State be- fore the court to answer as defendant to the suit of an individual. but this power was taken away from 1t by the
 Eleventh Amendment to the Supreme Court.
 John Marshall dominated the court 1 for over thirty years. His decisions
 shaped the future of the country and gave elasticity to the written consti- tuition by originating the doctrine of the grant of power to the Federal government by implication. The case | of McCulloch against Maryland waA epoch making. and has had more to do with the history of the United States than any other sigle event since the repeal of the allen and seditlon
 laws. The third era In the history of l the court was when 1t became respon-
 able to the intense democracy of the Jackson era. with Roger B. Fancy at
 its head. From that time until the civil war the court was strict in con-
 structIRg the written constitution. Dur | ing the Lincoln. Johnson and Grant ad- ministrations the court was frequent ly changing, but finally 1t gave tacit approval to the Congressional Recon
 struction program by greatly liberal- king it's opinions. Since that time the general trend has been backward 1. toward q strlcter construction, a not able exception to the rule being the Philippine tariff case.
 Taking the whole sweep of the his. tory of the country the record ok this
 unique court, the. most powerful on | earth. Is one of which Americans arc
 proud. Politics has affected it. as pol- itics affects everything, but there has never been the slightest suspicion of
 dislaonor cast upon member of the | Supreme Court and the record of that | bench Is spotless. There Is no doubt
 but that it will remain so, and every ] American will join in the prayer