Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1914-07-17
D.stA Of Jusac. La'tOn.

The sudden death from heart failure on MoDoay'
Srh instant, of Associate Justice H. H. LurtOn' U:
s. Supreme Court, Is distinct loss to the State OF
Tennessee from whence he came, and to the Na'
.tiOnal government, Of which he was both 9 GlSuH'
guished and faithful servant in place and favor.
The taking of Of Justice Lurton leaves q vacancy
in the very highest court of our Republic If not, IN
view of Americas greatness in wealth, population.
commercial enterp.i Use and influence, the greatest
tribunal on earth.
For the vacant chair the names of many able ana
otherwise well equipped jurists are being men
toned. among them that of ex-Pres't VIM. d: ia11'
The appointment rests with President Wilson,
subject, Of course, to confirmation by the Senate.
Mr.. Taft is. first and foremost above all Things
Ia gentleman, and a citizen the patriotism OF whose
purpose is exalted.
AS a jurist, he has had large and wide experience.
His qualifications nave often been put to the test
and, in every instance, the trial has served to show
his fitness for the high calling.
To that 1t may be added, he is at least the peer,
il not the superior, in capability, honesty and noel
ity of any man. be he Republican or Democrat, who
will be mentioned for the place.
And yet it is hardly probable-indeed. it is al
most unthinkable- that President Wilson, in his
wisdom and patriotism, will give to the claims OF
Mr.. Taft any really serious consideration.
Mr.. Wilson is q Democrat Of the ~strictest sect.
He believes in his party.
He believes, with absolute faith, that the great
principles for which it stands are the sanest foun-
|dations for the long life Of the Republic and the
happiness of the people composing its citizenship.
He knows, too, that in the ranks of his party may
be found as good material for filing the vacancy in
the important office-one of the most important in
our national form of government-as can possibly
be found outside Of it.
Such being the man controlling the appointment,
and such being the situation confronting him, it
needs no great powers of vision and appreciation
of conditions as they happen to be, to foresee and
forecast the pr 1per thing for him to do, and this is
the very thing he is most apt to do, if we may
safely judge of his future path by the light of the
lamp which guided his past.
And SO, for one, the BEACON entertains no fears
of the vacancy and what he will do with it.
With Woodrow Wilson as the servant of the peo-
|ple, the people need not have, and do not have, any
fears that he will make any mistake IN the selec-
ton of "a sentinel over their rights, liberty and
happiness" to say nothing of their lives and pro-
perty.
The Court is composed of nine members of whom
six, at present, are Republicans and, since Judge
Lurton's death, two Democrats.
1t has been so long the custom-a custom espec-
tally observed and emphasized by the Senate in the
exercise of its power to confirm or reject nomina-
,tions for the Supreme Court-to so keep the COM
position of the Court between the two great polti-
cal parties that the minority representation shall
not for any great period be less than three, it has
become an unwritteri law almost as closely observed
as would be a written statute to the same effect.
So we'll known is the binding force Of that just and
firmly established custom, it needs no elaboration
of its wisdom to justify the opinion that President
Wilson has no intention whatever of violating it.
That he therefore will appoint a Democrat goes
without saving.