The National tribune., 1910-07-14
en- nominated soon for the Presi-

been nominated soon for the Presi-
dency. -
Something OF a boom for the; nomit
nation of Secretary of State Knox, OF
| Pennsylvania. has also been started.
His friends are saying that he would
make an admirable Chief Justice. like
Gov. Hughes, he is a man in the prime
Of life, is a lawyer of great ability, and
has been much mentioned for the PreS1-
dency. He was offered a place upon
the Supreme Court as Associate Justice
| by President Roosevelt, but declined it
Whether he would accept the Chief JUS
ticeship is not positively known, but
that is an honor which very few law
yers indeed would decline. Further
more, with Gov. Hughes and Secretary
KNOX both upon the Supreme bench.
the Court would be greatly strengthened
in ability and personnel consumma-
ton of which there is great need.
Chief Justice Fuller was Democrat
of the old school, nominated by Presi-
dent Cleveland in his first ,Administra-
tion, and had served % years. His sue
Ecessor viii undoubtedly be a Republic
| can. President Taft nominated Asso-
Eciate Justice HI. H. Eurton last Decem-
ber, Democrat, but that was largely
because Justice Lurton, a. jurist of dis
ttinguished ability, had been an old
friend and associate upon the Circuit
bench and, perhaps, in some part be-
cause there was a sort of demand that
the Court be continued on a basis Of six
Republicans and three Democrats. But
this will not be regarded in the nomi-
nation of a Chief, for the Democrats
have been credited with that Office for
nearly a quarter, Of a century, while
administrations at Washington have
been Republican during the period ex-
g., IL Alx+ay. A.Nyrr nrrg
| But if Justice Moody retires, it may
be a question whether some Democrat
may not be appointed to the vacancy
thus created. Nevertheless, the many
names suggested for such vacancy are
all Republicans 1t should be, said in
passing that, altho some stress is placed
upon the politics of Justices by outsd-
ers, it is supposed to have little influence
with the Justices themselves.
In any event, there will be much pres
sure upon the President to nominate
various men to the Supreme bench be-
cause of the one vacancy assured. For
If Gov. Hughes is promoted to the
Chiefship, tlaere.swiiE he another place
as Associate Justice. There will be
strong representations from many
States, and alike from several circuits.
Five members of the present court of
eight men come from two circuits
Justices Holmes and Moody are both
from Massachusetts in the first circuit
comprising the five eastermoSt New
England States Justices Harlan, Of
Kentucky; Day. of Ohio; and Lurton,
of Tennessee, are all from the Sixth
Circuit The Third Circuit, comprising
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Della
ware; the Fourth Circuit, comprising
Maryland, the two Virginias and the two
Carolinas; the Seventh Circuit, compris-
ing Illinois, from which State the late
toe I,Ycf TnIi nd
the great Eighth, comprising nearly n
dozen States in the very heart of the
| West, now have no Representatives on
the Supreme Court bench.
Plenty of Candidates.
There will be one or more candidates
for the Court from each of these four
circuits. While the argument as. to cir
cults will not be final with the Presi-
dent, it will have some weight, other
| things being equal. 1t will undoubt-
edly tell somewhat in favor of Secretary
of State Knox, provided he is willing
to accept the place and President Taft
is at all minded to nominate him. Only
recently the Pefnsylvanians wanted to
nominate Secretary Knox for Povernor
Of the State and he declined, for one
reason, because President Taft pre-
ferred to make no change in the Office
of premier of his Administration. The
SAINT ItdSpi IiOiu SOOu Win nlIit
President in naming a Chief Justice.
The President believes in promoting
capable Circuit Court Judges to the
! Supreme bench, and il Gov. Hughes is
| made Chief, it is not unlikely that one
of two or three Circuit Judges in the
big Eighth Circuit may be called to
Washington to become an Associate JUS
tice of the Supreme Court. Judges
Willis Van, n,.zDevanter, of o. Cheyenne.
Wyo., who was associated with Mr..
Taft as an official of the last Roosevelt
Administration, and William c. Hook.
of Leavenworth, Kan, are much men
toned as prospective candidates from
the Eighth Circuit. Should the Presi-
dent promote Gov Hughes to be Chief
Justice, and should he desire to name
| a Democrat to the Supreme bench Sem
ator Isador Rayner, of Maryland, in the
Fourth Circuit, which has been unrep-
| resented in the Court since the days of
Chief Justice Taney, has been suggested
Solicitor General Lloyd w. Bowers of
the Department of Justice. has been
much considered by President Taft for
a place upon the Supreme Court. He
comes from Chicago, the home city of
the late Chief Justice, in the Seventh
Circuit AS the time for making the
nominations approaches. other names
will be brought to the Presidents at
tention.
No other President for=many, many
years, perhaps not in the history of the
1 Government, has had so many Supreme
Court appointments. President Taft
/ has already nominated two Justices
Lurton and Hughes-and is now as
sured of the power to nominate a Chief
Justice. That is one-third of the
Court. If he has the naming of Justice
] Moody's successor, that will be four.
In the very nature of things. Justice
Harlan cannot serve many more years.
He is now ~ years old. only few
months younger than Chief Justice Full
Ter was. Justice oliver Wendell Holmes,
the first Supreme Court nomination
made by President Roosevelt, will be 20
years old March next, but will not
have served the necessary 10 years
for retirement upon full pay till De-
cember g.. 1912. and, if he lives, will
/ hardly retire before that time. But the
| chances are that the Supreme Court
on March 4, 1913, when President Tafts
/ present term. expires. will consist of
FIVE or six Justices that he has nomi-
nated-a clear majority of the tribunal.
/ The 1st Tex Cav.
Editor National Tribune: have been
a subscriber to your valuable paper for
nearly 20 years, and have not yet seen
the 1st Tex Cav. mentioned. I am sure
that my regiment did some service
Fl. ID. Bonnet, Captain. lSt, Tex Cav