Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-09
RESPECT SHOWN
TO LATE JUDGE
BY LOCAL BAR
Resolutions Honoring Brantly
Drafted by Committee
of Attorneys.

hApiCooAuS the respect anu ITIcuu-
ship of the members of the Cascade
County Bar association, resolutions
honoring the late Chief Justice Theo-
dore Brantly were recently passed by
that association.
The resolutions were prepared by a
committee consisting of Attorney Ran
som Cooper, chairman; Judge ]. B.
Leslie and Mayor R. NJ. Armour.
The resolutions read in part:
IAN ancient maxim tells US that we
should speak nothing but good of the
dead. The philosophy of this is doubt
less based upon the fact that the lives
of normal men and women are made up
more of good deeds than of bad ones,
and at the end of the life, the balance
is bound to be good.
In making the estimate of the life
of one who has served the public in an
official capacity through a long series
of years, faithfully, We are more prone
to underrate than overrate the esteem
In which such a one should be held,
because W. are prone to say he did but
his duty. It was his duty to be faith
full.
"But few of us are able to realize
what it is to be sternly faithful in the
discharge of duty in a judicial position.
The function of a judge is unique.
He cannot know friend or foe-which
means that, officially, he can have no
friends and no enemies.
Served Since 1899
1.-The Honorable Theodore Brantly
was elected to the office of chief justice
of the supreme court of Montana in
1899, and was three times thereafter
reelected. so that, had he lived to the
close of his last term he would have
rounded out "a years of service in the
capacity of chief justice.
ii came into office at a very trying
period of the states history. Mining
litigation of unprecedented import was
pending and arising, into which great
bitterness of feeling, because of the
enormous interests involved, was in
jected, and it required a man of I'M
usual judicial temper to so dispose of
such weighty matters that those who
lost might know that they had justly
lost.
"But that such unusual situations
were met with marked success is man
ifested by the fact that Chief Justice
Brantly was thrice thereafter elected
to the highest judicial office within the
gift of the people of Montana in times
of great political heat.
THAT Chief Justice Brantly was a
man of marked industry is demonstrate
ed by the great number of opinions
prepared by him, found in the more
than 30 volumes of Montana reports
turned out since he came on the SUI
preme bench in 1900, and these opin-
ions display a wealth of learning, q
depth of reasoning, and a clearness of
statement which mark him in spite of
his modest demeanOr as the possessor
of a judicial mind of fine caliber.
Devotion Held Responsible
THAT his untimely departure from
our midst is due largely to his devotion
to the duties devolving upon him, all
must recognize, and, recognizing, give
to him the honorable reward due for
devotion to his duty, and our inexpress-
able regret at his untimely demise.
Nothing that we can say by way of
praise ear be of benefit to him, for his
efficient, able work, manifesting his
ability, his diligence, his integrity and
his learning is set forth in the volumes
of reports referred to, to which he has
so long been a contributor, in more
enduring form and in greater and more
effective clearness, than any words of
praise coming from US could be.
And so far as Chief Justice Brant-
ly is concerned, we could we'll leave
his record as he has made it. feeling
on inability to add to that which al
ready has such great excellence.
Nevertheless, those who depart
from US with so much regret, leaving
a record in which we are able to take
so much pride, leave behind them those
to whom the dead are near and dear
for reasons other than the faithful dis
charge of official duty, and to such we
owe an attempt at the expression of
that sympathy and grief which all must
keenly feel on such occasion.
Praised as a Man
Therefore, while our words here
properly relate chiefly to Chief JUS
tice Brantley as an able, upright judge
because the relations which most of
us had with him in the nature of
things, were official, we do not forget
that he was a man, a husband, d faith |
or, and a friend of irreproachable
character, and as such, beloved by all
who knew him, and we here tender
to his wife, his children. and his
friends our deep and abiding sympa-
thy, although we realize that words
are empty vessels inadequate to ex-
press our deep feel of respect and our
great regret at the untimely departure
of him whom we and they, mourn. We.
nevertheless tender our words, mad
equate though they be, for such Solace
as they in their sincerity, may be able
to afford.
Therefore, be it resolved. That an
engrossed copy of this memorial be
transmitted to Mrs. Brantley, to the
end that she and her children may be
advised Of the esteem and regard in
which we hold her distinguished hus-
band and their father, and of our sym
pathy for herself and children on ac-
count of her and their great loss.
"And be it further resolved, That
the supreme bench of Montana be re-
quested to make our action herein a
part of it's permanent records as a fur |
ther mark of respect for Chief Jus
tice Brantly."