Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-06-10

Charles Evans Hughes. republican
nominee for President of the United
States. was born in Glens Falls. n. Y.
April II. 1862. and is now ffty-four
years old. His father was David C.
Hughes. a clergyman.
He was appointed to the Supreme
Court by President Taft in 1910. and
resigned the governorship of New York
to take his seat on the bench. Since
that time he has served continuously on
the Supreme Court and has been recog-
nized as ono of the ablest judges now
serving.
Before being appointed to the Su-
preme bench, Justice Hughes was
widely talked of as probable nom-
inee for the presidency on the repub-
lican ticket to succeed President Taft
His appointment. however. put an end
to such talk. and for the last six years
he had been entirely out of politics.
Won Fame as Investigator.
Justice Hughes first won public
recognition by his work as an investi-
gator of two pieces of corporate man.
agement in New York in 1905, one the
examination of the gas and electric
lighting companies of Greater New
York. and the other the examination OF
the affairs of the life insurance COM
panies of the state
Justice Hughes was graduated from
Brown University when he was only
nineteen years old. although he had
suffered for years under the handicaI
or poor health. AS soon as he lef
college he began to teach Greek ant
mathematics in Delaware county. go
ing later to the Columbia Law School
where he had won a small scholarship
There he displayed his true caliber. fol
while keeping well at the head of hi!
classes he taught for three years in
night school attached to the college
had private classes of law students
and a the same time was an activ'
law clerk in the offices of Chamberlain
Carter & Hornblower.
Two years after his graduation
found him teaching law at Cornell.
Enters Practice of Law.
The quietness of academic life 500
palled on him, and he left his chair a
Cornell to engage in active practic
with the late Walter S. Carter, o
Brooklyn, his father-in-law. 500
after returning to active practice-thi
was in 1ss3-Mr. Hughes was sent t
Oregon as the representative of tn
bondholderS of an unsuccessful rail
road company. 1t took him seve
months to straighten affairs out an
then he returned to New York. becom
ing the court member of the new fir
of Carter. Hughes & Dwight.
When Mr.. Hughes took up the inves
| tigation of the gas trust the genera
public had to be told who and wha
he was. When the work of the Steven
committee was over and the first rea
steps toward cheaper gas had becom
assured facts, the public had goo
idea of what kind of man had bee
chosen for the task, although it too
the insurance investigation to max
his name literally household wore
But Mr.. Hughes had done much worl
before the gas investigation moved tn
spotlight in his direction.
In Big Legal Fights.
Some of the big legal fights in whicl
he appeared are more than worthy o
notice. Among these big cases wa
the fight of the New York, Westcheste
and Boston Railroad Company to ge
a franchise from the board of alder
men. in which he appeared against tn
company's rival, the New York an
Port Chester Railroad Company. H
was also counsel for the assignee o
John L. Searles, the sugar man VIII
failed; he supported ex-Sheriff Erlan
ger in his fight to abolish arrest an,
Imprisonment for civil action; he wa
counsel for the Mercantile Trust Com
pany at the time of the shipbuildin,
trust scandal, and was one of the coun
sci for James w. Alexander in the firs
part of the fight to Gust James H
Hyde from the control of the Equitable
Life Assurance Society.
His part in the searching investiga
ton of the insurance business and thu
iniauities which he disclosed are still
matter of cotemporaneous news ant
comment.
All unsought, his work in that in
yestigation brought him the nomina
ton by the republicans Tor mayor o
New York city. Mr.. Hughes had made
absolutely no effort to get the nomi
nation. and Senator Elsberg was hal
way through his speech nominating
Hughes before the convention kne"
who was being proposed. Then. in
t,nuIt of enthusia SIN, he was nomi
mated by reclamation Three DAY!
later Mr. Hughes, believing that MS IN
s,,rance work was perhaps still unnn
isbed. declined the nomination, whlcf
m,as then given to william NJ WINS.
Mr.. Hughes was special assistant tt
the Attorney General in the mater Oh
coal investigation in 1915.
Governor of New York.
He was elected governor OF Ne"
York on the republican ticket for two
terms. one from January 1. 1907. te
December 81, 1908. and the other from
January /, 1908. to December 81. 1910
He was appointed by President Taft
to be an associate justice Of the Su.
nreme Court in 1910 and was confirmed
nv the senate May 2. 1910. He resigned
the office of Governor Of New York
october 6. 1910. and took his seat on
the bench October 10.
While Governor of New York, Mr.
refused to be controlled or
guided by the political machine of the
state. He was independent in his APP
he put through the legis-
iature laws which he conceived were
needed to safeguard the public-in par
ticular, the public utilities law to regu-
late public service corporations. 1t
was fought vigorously BY the great
of the state. but in vain.
and the legislature was afraid of the
people.
Vetoed Two-Cent Fares.
Later Gov. Hughes vetoed the So
called 2-cent fare bill. This method
Oh getting back" at the railroads was