Perth Amboy evening news., 1910-12-07
NO JERSEYMAN
ON THE BENCH
insurgents Object to w. S.
Gummere Being Named.
tFrom the NEWS Correspondent

tFrom the NEWS Correspomdsnt)
Washington, Dec. 7:-As q result
of the ultimatum served upon Pres
ident Taft with reference to b su
preme court appointments 1t looks
as though the insurgents" may pre-
vent a New Jersey jurist from get
ting a place on the coveted tribunal.
The Insurgents" expect to have
some of the Democratic senators as
allies, too, because 1t is felt in some
quarters that at least One of the APP
pointments should go to a Democrat.
When asked what was new In the
| situation, the senators from New
Jersey professed to know nothing at
all. The inference is, naturally, that
they do not wish to embarrass the
President by expressing an opinion
as to what he might do in making a
selection. 1t is also safe to infer
| that both Senator Kean and Senator
Briggs would be delighted to have a
| Jersey jurist selected for SO import
ant a position, as one Of the associ-
ate justices of the supreme court.
That William g. Gummere, chief
justice of the supreme court of New
Jersey would make a good man Tor
the supreme bench, Is admitted by
many outside of the New Jersey del
egation. The Jerseymen are all IA
vorable ito his selection, and Presi-
dent Taft Is well acquainted with his
qualifications. Justice Gummere
has had training such as few jurists
have had, and his appointment would
give general satisfaction. The "in-
surgents,' however, want recogni-
ton. That they mean to have 1t,
too, seems to be recognized by the
President, as he is doing consider
able negotiating with them In the
hopes of arriving at some arrange
ment whereby they may be placated
and al. the same time he will be in a
position 10 follow his own inclina-
tons. 1t is an interesting situation
and meanwhile many of the interest
ed parties are obliged to stand by
and hold their peace. This is espe-
ciaIly true of the senators from New
Jersey.
Jr. O. U. A. NJ. Fight.
For the purpose of thrashing out
the same old fight, the representa-
tives of the State Council, Junior
Order of United American Mechan-
les, are in this city and today a ses-
sion of the representatives from the
state bodies of New York, Pennsyl-
vania, New Jersey, Maryland and the
District of Columbia, had a confer
enee. The New Jersey representa-
tives are Rev. j. Morgan Reed, until
lately the president of Pennington
Seminary, ana William H. Miers, of
Trenton, the state council secre-
tary. 1t Is believed the states men
toned are disposed to organize a
separate body and secede from the
present national council. Just what
will be the better course for these
states to pursue will be determined
in the neal future, and 1t is probable
it will be submitted to the councils
of the state for ratification.
River and HarbOr Delegates.
Delegates from New Jersey to the
national rivers and harbors con-
gress since arriving here, and ascer-
tanning that the rivers and harbors
bill for this year has practically
been agreed upon. are fast coming
to the conclusion that they will prac-
tica1ly be working a year ahead.
since any action taken by the con-
gress at it's sessions this week will
not be placed before the cd&emittees
of Congress for another year, at
least. so that they can receive any
consideration. On the other hand,
while some of the congressman at
Etend the congress and make speech
es, the committees of the Senate and
| House make up their estimates from
| the reports of the Chief Of Engi-
neers, and it will soon begin to
| dawn upon the delegates that after
all they are really accomplishing
very little, outside of getting some
newspaper space, and having an
open discussion as to the policy.
Then the President m along,
talks nicely to the delegates, but
also indicates that he believes in a
policy OF economy. Many of the del
egates, If they could have their way,
would soon bankrupt the national
government by the magnitude of
work they would make provision
for.
Opinions of Message.
Republican congressman or New
Jersey. when asked their opinion OF
the message of President Taft, all
said that 1t was an excellent presen-
tation of his Views. The Democrats,
| while they have had adverse views
as to its tenor, declined to criticize
ii. The message was listened to
with considerable attention by both
sides of the House of Representa-
tives. 1t will be picked to pieces
later ON In the session by some OF
1.-The men who do not agree with Pres
ident Taft in his policies.