Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1910-07-18


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persons, and do equal right to the
poor and to the rich, and that will
faithfully and impartially discharge
and perform all the duties incum-
bent on me as Chief Justice of the
United States according to the best
of my abilities and understanding,
agreeably to the Constitution and
laws Of the United States, so help me
Cod"
1t is an interesting coincidence
that several OF the Chief Justices
have entered upon their duties ct
times when new questions of the
gravest Importance confronted the
country. In the time of Marshall
who became chief Justice in 1901,
the great problem was the construc-
tion Of the Constitution, and his de-
cisions shaped the course Of the re-
public. 1t developed upon Marshall
to place in effect the intentions Of
those who made the constitution.
Some of the men who assisted in the
construction of that great instrument
differed with the judge as to what
the intention of the constructors had
been but it was MarshalPs opinion
that counted.
1t was Marshall who first asserted
the right of the supreme court to de-
clare invalid acts of congress that, in
the opinion of the court we're in con-
flict with the Constitution. He
created the American system Of
Jurisprudence and assured the per-
manency of a government that until
his time was an experiment.
Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, be-
came Chief Justice in 1886, a time
when the country was about to ex-
perience wonderful development.
Railroads had begun to succeed
wagon transportation, coal mines
were being developed on large
scale and public works of Importance
were placed under way. Aside from
new questions arising in connection
wit hthose matters, however, Taney
had to deal with the troublesome
matters that preceded the civil war.
He was the author of the Dred Scott
decision which became a burning
issue.
A court order by a Chief Justice
is practically final but one issued by
Taney was an exception to the rule,
perhaps the only case in which a
Chief Justice was ever overruled. A
man was arrested on the charge of
treason in Baltimore, where the oper-
alton of the writs of habeas corpus
had been suspended by the army.
The facts were submitted to Taney,
who issued an order that the prison
er be produced in court. The officer
in command refused to surrender the
man and Taney demanded peremp-
tory compliance with his order. The
troubled officer put it up to the War
Department and the Department
asked President Lincoln to decide.
Lincoln held that under the condi-
tions that prevailed in Baltimore at
that time 1t would be unwise to re-
lease prisoners on writs Of habeas
corpus or any other writs, especially
in treason cases. AS Taney had no
army with which to enforce his order
he was obliged to submit to the
President who was backed up by the
military power of the government.
Big problems presented to the
court when Morrison r. Waite be-
came Chief Justice in 1874 grew out
of the war and were involved in
changing conditions. The court was
called upon to construe the new
to the Constitution and
to rule upon the liquor question,
federal control of cleo
tions and the right of states to regu-
late railroads. 1t was in Waite's
time that the court decided that a
woman was a citizen but without the
right TO vote.
The new Chief Justice will take
part in the settlement Of questions
growing out of the corporation tax
and the Standard Oil, Tobacco and
Sugar trust cases, in which the de-
cisions of the court, in the minds "
many men, may have n most i'm
portant influence on the future Of
the country.
The Supreme Court was established
In 1889 with a Chief Justice and
five associate justices. The number
Of associate justices was increased to
eight In 1897.