The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-03-07

| felt the necessity for dissenting on
some constitutional question:; Justice
White has a trick of beginning a
sentence loudly, but dwindlng his
voice down to nothing after the first
three words Justice McIienna has a
weak voice, despite his efforts to en-.
unciate clearly and even Justice
| Holmes. who has strong enough
voice with Boston accent) takes de.
| light in verbal intricacies that ar,
hard to follow.
But this is only one of the troubles
of the newspaper men. The Supreme
| Court is a stickler for tradition pro-
| cedure, and forms, and it would
never do to favor the press. There
| for, the correspondents must manage
to get along without advance copies
of opinions. There is a slight conces-
sion to press associations, the repres-
entatives of which are assigned seats
directly i'm front of the bar, and given
pages who carry their copy" to mes
sengers outside the court room.
Naturally the members of the
Court are the foremost legal tech
nicians of the country. Their opin-
abstruse legal situations Therefore
it happens that the correspondents
who, if they were legal sharps,
wouldn't be in the newspaper game,
have a hard time of il ascertaining
just what is meant by such.
1t isn't safe for the reporter to
send out a bulletin or a flash regard
ing decision of the Court until the
justice delivering shall have said the
last word-and sometimes not even
then. 1t is favorite trick for the
justices in delivering opinions, to
start with one side, apparently full
ly sustain every point, and, when the
newspaper man has just about de-
cided to make his bulletin to this
effect, suddenly to veer off, with the
words however" etc, or with what
Is apparently just as fully an afiir-
nation of the opposite view.
Then, frequently, the court doesn't
directly specify affirmed" or "re-
versed" but qualities this action with
other instructions. This is the signal
for the press men TO tear their hair.
For instance, last year on the courts
decision on the commodities clause"
of the railway rate lava case of
tremendous importance, each of the
three association men at the court
sent out different flash. It took
them "A half an hour to figure out,
afterward, just exactly what Justice
White meant in his opinion, and
then were able to do it only with the
assistance of Solicitor General Hoyt.
Another instance. A press associ-
alton man at the court hears an
opinion on case 254,-the question of
whether the secretary of war has the
authority to make the Olentagy
Bridge company raise its bridge six
inches. He writes out bulletin en-
bracing that he thinks the court has
iecided,-that the secretary has the |
power Fifteen minutes later, when |
ne Is dcspairingly attempting to dis |
'over what the Chief Justlc had been |
saying about case number "625," he |
3 handed a message from his boss. |
opposition says re Olentagy bridge, |
mat secretary of war has not got |
the power. How?"
The correspondent doesn't dare
leave the court room until all the
decisions have been rendered, for
fear of losing an important one. A
press association man last year left
he room for just a moment, TO |
'traighten out query" from his |
'fiice, and in that time, Chif Justic |
FULLER announced that the court had |
ienied the petition of the Government |
or hearing of the $4,000, 900 |
standard Oil Case. He didn't get
his extremely important news item
or at least ten minutes-and then
'hly because he happened to hear
'ome lawyers talking about Il.
editors: And the man who got
was not the u. p. cores
1ondent.)
From the fact that the opinions al |
by the court contain only |
legal history" of the case and sell |
iom present the facts in a way n
which they could be used by the |
lewspapermen and also because ,very
'ften the justice merely announces
Case so-and so; for reasons stat |
I'd in the opinion, we reverse the
Judgment" 1t is necessary for the cor
to have a prepared |
of every case on the docket
Ill ready, from which to secure the
essential facts nthe litigation i'm |
questions when decisions is rendered
rhe only way to get this information
$ to digest the transcript of the re-
ord, which often spreads through
lalt dozen volumes. The Missouri
Rlver Rate Cases take I'D seven
arge books of 400 odd pages each
he Tobacco Trust cases fill up two
100 page volumes, there are many
'thers just as bulky.
One of the press association men
low covering the court has been at |
hat work for fifteen years, and every
Monday, the regular decision day of |
he court, he has the same sort of |
tage fright sthe youngsters.
representative Mann of Illinois, the |
Official Objecter" for the Republican |
organization has objected to the |
'rders he received and has thrown
Up the job. This is the most import
mt piece of gossip going the rounds |
u the house just now, and specu-
atlon Is rife as TO who will be the
nan to succeed him in the thanI<less
ask. The matter is complicated 10
'ome extent in the eyes OF the reg
llars by the fact that Mann insists
IN still playing the role to which he