The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1909-12-23
EULOBY By
MR. PARKER
o. PEC|'!kHAN.
At a Meeting Of Lawyers and
Highest Court Members
in Capitol.
COURT MUCH PRAISED
As the Safety Valve of the
Government in All Its
History.

WiSA y uo6c sfAiIuH -. f,bTlker, OF fCNeW
York. presiding and delivering an adj
dress Of eulogyp members OF the bar
and supreme court OF the United
States met in the supreme court rooms
at the capital today ana adopted res
olutions commemorating the death of
Justice Rufus Peckham, associate
Justice of the supreme court.
In his address, Alton B. Parker. Of
New York, paid . high tribute to JUS
tice Peckhasn and incidentally spoke
of the highest court of the nation in
terms of.prafse.
I'VE are here. today. he said, ..to
commemorate a public career em-
bodytng the highest Developments Of
our democratic institutions. as mai,i-
Tested in our judicial system, and, at
the same time, to recall a man sturdy.
independent, Kindly, modest, WELL
poised and many.sided.
THE devotion OF Rufus Wheeler
Peckiam to sthe law,swas akin to his
heritage of life itself. Hesicame from
an ancestry distinctly legal. There
have been families whose members
have illustrated. in one generation af-
ter another, the best human qualities
but our history does not reveal an
other in which the public career of
a son has touched that of a father at
more, If so many, points"
After citing instances in which
Judge Peckham and Judge Peckham's
father had filed the same positions.
MIR. Parker said:
Ellis personality was engaging and
kindly. His attachment for old
friends warm and tenacious. His
hatred of fraud, and deceit was so
deep-seated, and his vigilance of it's
detection SO untiring, that he who in
the words of Lord Blackburn, so pail
tiers in double sense as to Lie like
truth" could not thereby escape the
consequences OF his deceit. y
He loved Justice with all his heart,
and his highest indeed his only am
Ibition, was to devote his life to its adj
mfnistration. Therefore he welcomed
the opportunity which his modesty
and dignity prevented him from seek
ling. of service to all the people OF the
United states in their court of last
resort.
And so, In a process of evolution
as orderly-I had almost said as any
of the processes of nature-Rufus w.
Peckham came to be constituent of
the tribunal which occupies this mod
est court room. And what Tribu-
nal!
ut is at once the eminence and the
base Of the most imposing. the most
benefcent, the most firmly planted of
the governments the world has eyer
known. s5g
IN its beginning statesmen and
students Of history gravely considered
whether government could live with
such power lodged in the court: but
after and amid the .vlcissitudes of a
century and nearly one-quarter.. IN
voiving bitter strife in the domain OF
politics, heated and even angry con-
troversies in the Legislative halls
lquarrels between the legislature and
\ the executive, and contest of arms
evoking destruction OF lives and
material treasure appalling to the i'm.
agination. its light burns with =
brighter glow and a wider radiance
hope and assurance among mankind
Through 1t all this court has pre-.
served its serenity. its modesty. its IN.
lauence. its power and the respect ant
|confidence OF all the people. To the
sovereign state It says here is the
limit OF your territory or your au.
Ithority:" to the legislative department
state or national. 1t says you have ex,
ceeded the limit of your power ant
your doing is void to the humbles
land most destitute of humans It un
locks the prison door closed upol
him by a sovereign; to the creates
/ aggregations of organized wealth ant
power It says dissolve and dispense,
j and 1t is so. And all this has been ac
J compllshed. in the words of the Mar
Y quis de Mobis. by power which ha
Inc guards, no palaces, no treasures
mo armies. but truth and wisdom
4 Justice Peckham. he said. had en-
HANGED the dignity and increased tn,
affection of the peop'e for the su
prone Court.
i Into this court the very crown o
!. our judicial system" he continued
Judge Peckham entered with his rip
experience buttressed by a stroni
), mental equipment. AS result he dit
not have to grope his way but as
sumed at once his natural place
among equals AS ne had adopted FOL
I his own the apostolic command
I whatsoever thy hand finds to do, d
1t with all they might" his phenome
nal industry was newly devoted to thu
consideration of the most vital CUES
/ lions just as it had been given I,
!, those which had absorbed him durinl
the whole OF his career as a lawye
and q Judge.
sit was his privilege. although h,
could not foresee It at the beginning
TO be member OF the court during
Y period when p,ore nueatioo az far