The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1920-11-25
NUMBER Y

provided. He had served the people
of Manitowoc county as their circuit
Judge little over four years when he
resigned and returned to the practice
of the law at Green Bay.
He was unquestionably a great
judge; in my humble estimation fully
equal to his predecessor Chief Justice
Stow. That he was a learned and
skillful lawyer is beyond question. Any
one who has read the report of the
great quo warranto case of State ex
rel. Bashford VS.. Barstow brought to
oust the governor of the state of Wis
consin from Office will readily concede
it. He and Chief Justice Ryan were
there pitted against the greatest in
tellects of the Wisconsin bar and were
successful
1t was my good fortune in after
life to be brought in contact with
Judge Howe in many ways. In ny
army life his brother was for a time
chaplain of my regiment, while his
! future son-in-law the late Hon. Enoch
Totten of Washington, d. C., was
first a lieutenant and later major COM
manding the regiment.
After my admission to the bar, like
many others, l dabbled somewhat in
politics at the period when Judge
| Howe was United States senator, and
had much to say in Wisconsin poll
tics. This brought me into cOrre-
spondence with him, and l received
many letters, some of which | still
preserve. l cherish my memories of
him and rank him as the greatest man
intellectually it was my fortune to
meet l frequently introduced him to
| ManitowoC audiences and am proud to
have spoken with him from the same
platform.
Judge EIowe's activities in political
life has obscured his fame as a lawyer.
But, nevertheless any one who fol-
lowed his career in the senate can see
that his success was largely due to his
legal training and ability. He was at
his best when debating some question
of constitutional or international law.
That his learning in the law was rec
ognized by his associates in the gov
ernment is well attested by the fact
that he was rendered the appointment
of chief justice of the Supreme court
of the United States by President
Grant upon the resignation of Chief
Justice Chase He declined the ap-
pointmcnt because the Wisconsin leg
islature was then Democratic and
would choose his successor.
The people of Manitowoc county and
the old Fourth circuit may well take
pride in the fact that in the early days
Hon Timothy c. Howe presided over
their court.
Judge Howe was possessed of a pc
culiar dry humor not unmxed with
sarcasm which was very effective both
on the bench and in his public
| speeches. One instance of this long sur
Niyed in the county lie had tried a
court case, and the attorney for the
plaintiff had piled up a large number
of books on the table and began to
speak. The judge said, ~ do not wish
to hear anything from the plaintiff"
The lawyer protested that his client
expected him 10 make the effort, that
he had carefully prepared his argu-
mcnt and ought TO be heard, that he
would need about two hours to de-
yclop it properly, etc.
The judge answered, 81 can't give
you all that time but am willing to
compromise with you-if you will give
up your argument | will give you
judgment as demanded in the COM
plant"
call to mind another instance.
Some time in the late Seventies"
Charles Francis Adams wrote and pub
lished in the North American Review
an article in which he rather severely
arraigned the policies of the Republi-
can party during and after the Civil
war, In it he had the questionable
taste to allude to his descent and con-
nection with the illustrious Adams
family.
In a scathing reply which Senator
Howe published in the Madison Jour
nal he ayalled himself of this opening
and said of the writer, "On examna-
tion of his pedigree we may fairly con-
cede that he has been sired by two
presidents and half"
This article is not the place TO speak
of Judge Howe's political career. II
comprised two terms as United States
senator, a commissioner TO negotiate a
treaty with the Indians for purchase
of the Black Hills, postmaster general
in President Arthur's cabinet.
He was great lawyer. great
judge, great statesman, and an hon
est, ineorruptible and unselfish man.
lie died at Washington, ID. c., on
March 25, 1888.
ITO be continued