Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-12-20

Britain.
With one exception. he was the
youngest member of the Continental
congress. and his Address to the
People of Great Britain" delivered al
one of it's meetings, made his name
known throughout the colonies. AT
ter the Revolution had begun he was
sent to Spain to negotiate treaty
for the free use of the Mississippi
river and to borrow $2,OOO,OO0. Sew
eral years later he went with Franklin
Adams and Laurens to arrange a
treaty of peace with Great Britain
When Washington became president
he made Jay his secretary of foreign
affairs: then in 1890 appointed him
chief justice. and four years after,
while Jay was still holding the office,
sent him as a special envoy to nego-
tiate a treaty with Great Britain.
During his absence the people of New
York chose Jay as their governor. To
accept the office he resigned his posi-
ton in the supreme court upon his
return with an exceedingly unpopular
treaty One of those most violent In
attacking it was John Rutledge, whom
Washington nominated to succeed
Jay But the senate rejected him.
and William Cushing. who had
d
chief Justice of Massachusetts, and
presiding chief justice of the United
States was appointed. only to resign.
This appointment of Washington's fur
nished the only example of a chief
justice being chosen from the MEM
bership of the supreme court until the
other day, when Associate Justice
White was honored by President Taft.
Oliver Ellsworth finally succeeded
to Jays place. At that time he was
a federaliSt senator from Connecticut,
who was learned in the law and also
in politics, being the Aldrich Of the
senate and boss of his own state.
He was we'll fitted for the position of
chief justice, for he had been one of
the most important and influential
members of the convention which
framed the constitution. 1t Is to Ellis
worth that we owe our present judi
ciary system. His reasoning power.
sagacity, sound sense in the conduct of
affairs and moderation Of temper were
admired by Daniel Webster. Ellsworth
did not stay on the bench long, for
in 1899 he resigned to become minis
ter to France.
The next chief justice, John Mar
shall, Is considered the greatest Of the
seven men who have held that posi-
ton. His term of thirty-siX years
marked an epoch in the history of the
United States and of Jurisprudence.
During that time LOO opinions were
rendered under him, and Of those he
himself wrote 519. These decisions,
which outnumber those of any other
period of our national history, in
terpreted the constitution adequately
for the first time and established a
a
the supreme court out of the influence
of politics and personal ambition to a
dignified place in the nations govern
mental system.
Marshalls first important decision
was to the effect that the supreme
court had the right and power to de-
clare an act of congress null and void
if in the opinion of the justices 1t
violated the constitution. Until this
opinion had been given the people
of the country had considered the leg
islative power of congress unlimited.
Marshalrs Interpretation Of the sim
Pile commerce clause in the constitu-
ton relative to the famous case of
Gibbons VS.. ogden established the
power of the Federal government over
interstate commerce.
John Marshall was a man Of truly
great intellectual power and versatile
ty. He distinguished himself not
only in the judiciary but as a soldier,
statesman, historian and diplomat. In
spite of his dislike for politics he was
elected to the Virginia legislature. He
blossomed out as the leader Of the
bar in his state while a young man,
and soon gained national reputation.
Strangely enough he lost the one case
argued by him before the court which
he was later to preside over so ably
for many years.
Washington, who was his neighbor
and patron, wished to make him at
torney general, but the appointment
was declined. He went to France,
however, as envoy at the request of
the president, and in his mission out
witted Talleyrand, the cleverest diplo-
mat of his time. After his return
Marshall refused to accept an appoint
ment as associate justice to the su-
gress, and afterward accepted the
chief justiceship, both at Washington's
desire.
At the death of Marshall, in 1886,
Roger B. Taney received the office
of chief justice at the hands Of An
drew Jackson, whose nominations of
Taney as secretary of the treasury and
as associate justic had been rejected
by a senate opposed to Jackson'S and
views. AS attorney general
in Jackson's cabinet Taney had writ
ten the correspondence for the nulli-
fcation conspiracy and had made the
of the United States Bank
case. Before that he had as a lawyer
pleaded case in all parts of the coun-
try.
In the Dred Scott decision, for
which the chief justice was response
BILE. Taney held that Scott, as a negro,
was not a citizen of the United States,
and consequently had no standing in
court. The negro, he argued, had no
social or political rights. He himself
had freed the slaves that he had in
herited, and had never refused pro-
feSSional aid to negroes seeking fire.
dom. This case ended his career, for
he was seldom in the supreme court
afterward and heard no more i'm
portant cases. For two years pre-
viOus to his death. in 1864, Taney did
not possess the strength to sit in court,
but nevertheless he stubbOrnly re-
fused TO resign, for the reason that
he did not wish Lincoln to appoint
his successor.
When Lincoln finally did get to
choose the chief justice. Salmon p.
Chase was selected for the place. Af-
ter being graduated from Bowdoin
college Chase taught school in Wash
ington. d. c.. and at the same time
studied law with William Writ. Upon
admission to the bar he moved to
Cincinnati, where he built up an eX-
tenSive practice. His intense love for
literature led him to write for the
and newspapers and to
compose poems which show some gen.
ius. But his literary work did not
make his name so we'll known as did
his defense of a fugitive slave. He
lost the case. but his conduct was
popular in the north and called for
respect from the south. ChaSe's in
terest in escaping slaves led TO his be-
ing nicknamed the Attorney Cen
eral for Runaway Niggers." A case
the constitutionality of the
fugitive slave law was tried before the
supreme court by Chase and William
II. Seward, but they lost
In 1850 Chase went to the United
States senate at one of OhiO's repre-
sentatives and five years later became
governor of his state. He assisted in
the Republican party at