Omaha daily bee., 1909-03-21

high sense Of honor. Of his dogged perse-
verance n his disdatn OF temporary de-
feat, OF his keen-cdged intellect. of his saw
ing fun OF humor. Indeed. every trait Of
his mind and character may be traced
straight back to a germ in his forbears.
He took up the germ and nurtured and
developed Il until there are 2 hundred men
tai and moral corollaries. each distinctive
OF the type.
II means much 10 the after life Of Mr..
Miller that he was horn and reared in a
small town where he came into intimate
contact with those about him and where
he learned the value Of thoroughness in
little things. He Is a native Of Louisville,
ST. Lawrence county. New York, and came
into the world May q. 1s47. He was grad
uated from st. Lawrence university in 1859.
The sturdy mentality of the boy was shown
when he chose for his graduating grafton
a deeply philosophical subject. Once an
alumnus he became an instructor in math-
ematics and the Latin and Greek languages
in his alma mater. Mathematics sharpened
his reasoning powers, and the language
study make him feel. as we'll as know, the
meaning Of the words of his own tongue
an accomplishment that has served him
we'll in his life work.
He spent his college vacations in the
office Of his father, who was county clerk.
There legal terms and relationships grew
as familiar to him as balls and strikes to
the lad on the bleachers. He became
acquainted with lawyers who wanted to
know things and absorbed the whole
technical jargon Of the courts. He read law
at night during his teaching period and was
admitted to the bar at Ogdensburg, N. Y,
in 1870, when he was q years old. Four
years later he went to Chicago and began
the professional career which has brought
him international fame.
While Mr.. Miller, as lawyer, was kick
ing up his cloud Of legal dust, as citizen
he was giving serious advice to the gov
eminent how It could better It's machinery
for curbing the trusts.
II would have a commission similar to
the Interstate Commerce commission, "
said he, with full supervisory charge over
the control of the corporations. This COM
mission should be- a part of or be under
the Department of Commerce and Labor.
Its duties, in addition to a general sur
velllance over large combinations of capital
engaged In interstate commerce, should be
to construe the ANTITRUST laws, make their
lndistinct provisions clear and render of
practical operation laws which now fail to
perform the functions for which they were
intended"
His method Of argument Is simple, clear,
and concise. He usually talks In a
friendly, conciliatory, conversational way,
leaning forward, one hand on a table or
back of a chair, the other In his trousers
pocket. He assumes the court or jury will
understand the points he makes and that
before intelligent men there is no need for
loud speaking or violent .gesticulation. So
plainly put are his views that the listener
is likely to forget how careful was the
research, how painstsking the study that
preceded them, and to think only how true
the facts and the law are the arguments
and the conclusions. That is one of the
tests that has made Mr.. Miller famed at
the bar.
His family consists of Mrs. Miller and
one son and a daughter, who are still in
the school period. Mrs. Miller was Miss
Anna Gross, daughter of DR.. J. E Gross.
She was married to Mr.. Miller in 1887, just
after the busy lawyer was turning his
10th year. 1t is a happy family. whose
hearthstone is more attractive to the hus-
band and father than the ingienooks OF the
clubs.