The Springfield herald., 1909-10-29
SUPREME COURT
JUSTICE is DEAD
RUFUs W. PEckHAM, APPOINTED
BY CLEVELAND, sUccUM6s
TO sRIGHT's DISEASE.
WAS AN UPRIGHT JUDGE
HARD WORKER AND AUTHOR OF
MANY IMPORTANT RECENT
DECISIONS.

Albany. N. Y.-Rufus w. Peckham.
Justice of the United States Supreme
Court. died at his summer home at
Altamont at S:15 Sunday night
Death was due to complication OF
diseases-heart trouble. Bright's dis
ease and hardening of the arteries
contributing.
Justice Peckham has been in Ill
health for some time, but his condi-
ton was not considered serious until
recently. Following adjournment Of
the May term of the United States
Supreme Court, he came on from
Washington with Mrs. Peckham to
pecting to return for the beginning Of
the October term.
A few days ago his condition be-
came such that his physicians said he
was likely to die at any time or might
| linger for several months. Up to a
few days ago Justice Peckham ex-
hibited considerable strength and was
able to be about the house The cir
culatory disturbance which con-
tributed to his death was first no.
ticed about six years ago.
Washington. - The announcement
of the death of Justice Peckham,
while expected, came as shock to
his associates on the bench and in Of
ficial circles, and everywhere express
sions of regret were heard
Justice Peckham was Democrat
and before taking a seat on the bench
gave considerable attention to poll
tics in New York. He was born in
Albany. N. Y, Nov 8, 1888, and had
been on the bench, state and federal,
for twenty-six years. He came from
the Court of Appealsh of his native
state
Mr.. Peckham's first office was that
of district attorney of Albany county.
He was elected to that position in
| 1858. He afterward became in sue
cession corporation counsel for AL
bany. member of the Supreme Court
of the state and associate justice Of
the State Court of Appeals. He was
the last of President Cleveland's DEM
ocratic annopintees to the federal Su-
preme Court, Chief Justice Fuller and
Justice White being the other two. He
| took his seat in January, 1896.
Ais chief distinction was that Of
giving his time exclusively to the du-
ties of the court. He accepted no out
side appointments and undertook no
work not connected with the high
tribunal. But he was in constant at
tendance on the court and he gave
the most careful attention to all mat
ters before it. He was married but
went little into society. He accepted
no invitations to public functions and
made no public addresses after TAX
ing his seat as justice.
Cases involving the rights of corpo-
rations received special consideration
at Justice Peckham's hands and he
was the author of some of the courts
most noteworthy opinions Of recent
date along this line.
Among them may be mentioned the
Consolidated Gas Company of New
York, in which he held that while
rates fixed by the Legislature must al
low fair return on investments, fed
eral courts could not interfere to de.
clare them invalid unless they were
so unreasonably low as to be confis'
catory. One result of that decision
was to cause the return of several
million dollars to consumers of gas in
New York City.
Several of Mr.. Peckham's corpora.
tion decisions dealt with the Sher'
man antitrust law as applied BY rail-
roads. These included the joint traf-
fic and transmissouri cases, in both
of which he held the law to be appli-
cable.