The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1920-12-29

well-prepared and ready for trial OF
his cases in Court. 1t is not strange,
therefore, that he built up an excel
lent practice.
At this point may state that Eu-
gene Gary married young, in 1877.
Good taste forbids that I should say
more than this-that he was most
fortunate in his marriage. In the ex-
pressive language of Holy Writ, he
obtained favour of the Lord"
We have already seen that in 1898
he was honoured with seat on the
Supreme Bench as Associate Justice
and that in 1912 he was chosen to be
Chief tustice,-a well-merited pro-
motion, the goal he had aimed at
when he began to read law with his
uncle. He still holds that high office,
the highest and most responsible Of
flee in the commonwealth, second
only to the Chief-Justiceship of the
United States, held in honour not only
in South Carolina, but in all her sister
states. The Supreme Court of South
Carolina has long attracted the at
tention and gained the respect and
confidence of Judges and lawyers
and textwriters in America and in the
old country. Its decision on the prin-
ciples of the common law, and Of
commercial law, and upon the doc
trines of equity Jurisprudence, are
cited with approval, and many of
them as leading cases, in all the
courts of the United States and in the
high court of Westminster Hall. /
well remember how high was the esti-
nation in which our Supreme Court
reports were held by Judge Dillon
and Judge Cooley, those learned
Judges and standard text-writers. In
conversation with me they both show
ed they were familiar with our law
Reports and referred to some of our
leading cases in terms of highest
praise, naming even the Chancellors
or the Justices who had written the
opinions they spoke of.
It lis excellent to reflect that our
Supreme Court has a traditional rep
utation for its great learning, judicial
ability, and the wisdom and sound
ness of it's opinions,-a reputation of
which the Bench and the Bar and the
, State at large have good reason to be
proud. 1t would not be proper nor is it
necessary, for me to pass upon the
merits of the incumbent Chief jus
tice and Associate Justices. 1t is
enough to say that, Judging from the
frequency with which their opinions
are cited as authority in all the Am.
erican Courts and included with com
mendation in the volumes of leading
cases, they are doing their important
work in a manner worthy of the best
traditions of our Supreme Court.
And yet it would not be an Of
fense against the canons of good
taste to say that Chief Justice Gary
is learned Judge. His whole life
since boyhood has been spent in lay
ing up stores of legal knowledge, of
which his numerous opinions afford
ample proof. They also show that he
is endowed with the judicial cast of
mind, and possesses the analytical fac
ulty to discern the real points at is
sue. They manifest his intimate ac-
quaintance with precedents and apt
ness in applying them. Whether pass.
ing upon statute law or the common
law, the lex scripta or the lex non
seripta, or upon the fundamental
principles of law and equity, his de-
cisions are marked by clearness, con-
ciseness, and freedom from technic-
atty; and greatly to the satisfaction
of the members of the Bar, those de-
cisions, excepting in rare instances,
are brief. This quality of brevity is
much to be commended; all the more
so because it is more rarely found in
the decisions of courts than formerly.
There has been a perceptible length
ening during the last forty or fifty
years. Compare volume of the Unit
ed States Supreme Court reports of
, the year 1900 with volume of the
year 1900, and you will find a great