The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-03-14
HISTORY BUILDERS.
The Man Who Made a President.
tNrrtt~n EXPRESSLY for The Washington Herald. }
By DIR. T.. j. EDWARDS

At time when the late Judge William
! Il. HornhlOwer. who died in the summe =
! OF 1914 Just after he had taken the seat
| upon the bench of the Court of Appeals
| OF New York State. was talking with me
/ r"mInlscently. of some of his experiences
with the great judges of his day. ne
! spoke particularly of Justice Joseph T.
! Bradley. of New Jersey, who was nomi-
| mated by President Grant in 1870, as as
Soclat" justice of the Supreme Court at
/ Washington. Justice Bradley had been
associated professionally with one of
the great lawyers of New Jersey. Chief
Justice Hornblower. who was near akin
TO Judge William Il. HornbIower
. Il sometimes think one of the most
extraordinary combination of Circum-
stances that ever occurred in our ma
tlonal history was that which brought
Justice Bradley into membership with
the electoral commission of 1877, which
was created by Congress for the pur-
pose of deciding the disputed points
involved in the Presidential election of
1876 said Judge HOrnblOwer.
Aside from the fact that the crea-
ton Of this commission and the pledge
given by Congress that it would accept
whatever report the commission made
wcr" probably the most wonderful
demonstration of the fundamental spir-
il of patriotism of the American peo-
pie. there WAS another remarkable fact
and a very curious one. which was sud
denly injected into this commission
The commission was composed of If
ten members and its chairman was the
Chief Justice of the United States.
Members of Congress and members of
the supreme Court bench made up the
commission. At the time Congress au-
thorized the creation of this commits
sion David Davis was member of the
supreme Court bench. 1t was COM
monty understood that he would be
designated one of the members of
the commission and il was generally
believed that Judge Davis was of the
opinion that Gov. Tilden had been fair
ly elected President by a small cleo
toral majority.
Just the commission was to be
organized. the Illinois legislature
which had been in deadlock. by a COM
bination or fusion. suddenly elected
Judge Davis as United States Senator
He had been getting rather tired of his
life upon the Supreme Court bench. He
was a man of Considerab BILE wealth and
there We're some who Thought that he
nurscd a secret ambition to be nomi-
mated as candidate for President, for
in fact. he had received some votes in
one of the national conventions of 1872
Judge Davis Immediately resigned as
that Judge Bradley be named to fill
his place.
Nobody could tell. when the COM
mission was in session and listening
to arguments. from the expression Of
Judge Bradley'S face or from any
movement which he made what he
was thinking about or how he was i'm
pressed. He sat like a craven image.
listening but with Spinxlike coun-
10 ha
striking figure of all the members of
the commission. partly because he was a
mystery.
After the commission had heard the
arguments and examined the evidence
the members retired for consultation.
One after another of the members set
forth his opinion. Justice Bradley sat
silent. listening. He was the last to
b.. appointed member OF the commits
sion. and he felt. therefore. that he
should be the last to be heard. When
the time came for him to speak it was
seen that the commission was evenly
divided. eight to eight. Upon him.
therefore, rested the great responsible ]
ity of deciding by his own vote who
was to he declared elected President of
the United States. He produced a pa
per from his pocket. read clearly. with !,
out any sign OF emotion. the opinion |
upon which he justified the vote which |
he was TO give for Gov. Hayes for |
President. and Congressman Wheeler |
for Vice President. That same evening. |
when great excitement prevailed. not |
only in Washington. but throughout |
the country. Judge Bradley devoted |
himself to astronomy. his favorite pas
time"
Downright 1915 b. the Mcclure Newspaper Syudi- |
cate
Tomorrow DR.. Edwards will tell of
"a Judge with a Mathematical Turn"