The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-12-22
LORD ALVERSTONE, EX-CHIEF JUSTICE,
 IS SEVENTY-ONE

Sir Richard Eyerard Webster, first Baron AIverstone, who recently retir- ed as Lord Chief Justice of England. will pass his seventy-first milestone in life today The venerable jurist has been granted an annuity of $20,000 for life. In relinquishing the ermine to Sir Rufus Isaacs, Lord Aiverstone established a. precendent as being the first Lord Chief Justice in England's history to resign the office. Lord Al verstone was one of the British com
 nissiohers appointed to decide the Alaska boundary dispute between the United States and Canada, and he cast his vote with the United States commissioners. Continued ill-health, and not any belief in the theory that advancing years necessarily detract from a mans ability, caused Lord AL verstone to quit the bench.
 'fThe great men have known" said Lord Alverstone shortly before his re- tfrement, ''have done their best work between the ages of sixty-five and eighty, or certainly between sixty-five and seventy. Physical infirmities in cident to age may affect a mans judgment, but I am convinced that this is not so often the case as many would have us believe"
 Richard Everard Webster was born on Dec. 1s42. At Cambridge he stood high in scholarship and as an athlete, and he could cover mile in very near to record time. His rise in the profession of law was not rapid, but it was thorough. He achieved promi-i hence in one year, entering Parlfa-
 nent in 1885, and within the twelve months becoming Attorney-General of England, and a Knight Bachelor. He was a thinker rather than an orator, and his lack of eloquence, all the more pronounced because as Attorney-Gen eral he was frequently pitted against men who had kissed the BIarney Stone, led to the application by his political enemies of the title "Sir Wretched" Webster He was Attor- ney- General from 1885 until 1900, ex- cept for a period of three years, and in 1900 good fortune again visited up- on him a triple honor. Early in that year he was given the lucrative posi- tion of Master of the Rolls, and J.e- fore the year was out he was made Chief Justice, at salary of $4O,O00 a year, and was created a lord.
 In the famous Alaska boundary dis pute Lord A1verstone cast the decid- ing vote against his own country. The commission met in 1908, with Elthu Root, then Secretary of War; ex- Senator George Turner, of Washing ton, and Senator Henry c. Lodge Of Massachusetts representing the United States. The British commissioners were Sir Louis A. Jette and Hon.-A B. AyIesworth, of Canada, and Lord Alverstone- After month of argu- Canadian commissioners were still firmly convinced of the justice of their contentious, and it remained for Bar on Alevrstone to play the role of ar bitrator. The award, signed by Lord AIverstone and the three United States commissioners, gave to the United States a valuable part of Alaska, aI- though Canada gained a few small isl- 1 ands and was conceded one of Ter ! main contentious for a good Alaskan harbor.
 Lord Alverstone's ability as a jurist has been criticised by political oppon- ents, and as zealously defended by his l friends, but his honesty, his sincerity and his adherence to his highest con- ception of justice have never been questioned.