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volatility of the Nations basic
law.
Illustrative was his dissent in the
case of Home Building and Loan
Association VS.. Blaisdell, involving
the Minnesota mortgage morator-
| ium In 1t he said:
Whether the legislation under
review is wise or unwise is matter
with which we have nothing to do.
The only legitimate inquiry we can
make is whether it is constitutional
IF it is not, its virtues, If it have
any, cannot save it, If it is, its
faults cannot be invoked to ac-
complish its destruction.
IF the provisions of the consti-
tuition be not upheld when they
pinch as we'll as when they comfort,
they may as well be abandoned"
Holding this view, he found most
of the New Deal cases which came
before the court inconsistent with
the language and intent OF the con-
stitution. OF the 13 such cases
which were heard before the term
starting in October, 1896, he voted
to uphold the administration in
only one, and that was the limited
approval given the Tennessee VAL
ley Authority. In the 1936-37 term,
Justice Sutherland voted against
four New Deal projects and in
favor of 10.
His record in this respect matched
exactly that of Justice Willis Van
Devanter whose retirement from
the high bench on June 2, 1887, was
one of the determining factors in
halting President Franklin Roose-
velt's project to appoint additional
justices when court members of re-
| firing age refused to quit active
| work.
Justices Sutherland, Van Devan-
ter, Butler and McReynolds gener
ally were found together in the "s
to A. decisions Of the hectic New
Deal days. Twice they were Joined
by Justice Roberts and administra-
tions laws were overthrown; five
times Roberts voted the other way
and New Deal enactments were up
held
Sutherland's pre-supreme court
background was a long record Of
public activity in Utah where he was
one of the wheel horses Of the Re-
publican party. Taken to the west
ern territory when he was baby, he
grew up under pioneering condi.
tions, studied law at the University
of Michigan and practiced his pro.
fession while winning places ir
Utah's first state legislature, the
House and the Senate. He wa,
elected to the House in 1900, defeat.
ing William H. King, Democrat, hi.
former law partner. He went tt
the Senate in 1905, serving two
terms and retiring when defeated
in 1916 by Mr.. King.
Alien Birth Bar to Cabinet.
His place in his party's counsel.
was shown by his choice as a dele.
gate to the Republican national con.
ventions Of 1900, 1904 and 1908
Some ascribed to Justice Sutherland
the appearance of Utah as one of tn.
two States carried by President Taft
in the three-way presidential cam,
paign Of 1912. In 1920 he was at.
tached to the campaign headquar.
ters of Warren G. Harding Al
Marion, Ohio. President Harding
nominated him for the Supreme
Court September S, 1922.
1t was said by some of his friends
that Justice Sutherland might hav.
been Secretary of State in the Hard
ing cabinet had it not been for hi!
foreign birth. He was born at Stony
Stratford, Buckinghamshire, Eng
land, March Is, 1862, this fact max.
ing him the only Supreme Cour
justice to be born abroad Of alier
parents since 1894.
Justice Sutherland was brought ts
America when he was 10 month.
old, his parents settling in Utah
He entered Brigham Young Academ,
when he was II, studied there twt
years, then went to the Universit,
of Michigan and studied law for
year. He continued to read for hi
profession under tutelage of Judg'
Thomas W. Cooley, then dean O
the law scnool, and won admission
to practice in the Michigan Su
preme Court in March, 1888, a few
days before his 2lst birthday.
That same year he married Rosa
mond Lee of Tennessee. Born :,
them were three children, Emma
Philip Lee and Edith, who is nov
Mrs. Walter A. Bloedorn of Wash
ington.
Father Was Lawyer.
Justice Sutherland's parents wer,
Alexander G. and Frances Slate
Sutherland. The father, a Scotch
man, was lawyer by profession bu
after settling at Springville, Utah
in 1868, he engaged in mining ven.
lures in addition to his practice
The combination brought him mod
crate wealth.
The younger Sutherland lived ul
to his early promise In an inordi
nately short time after returning t.
Utah from Michigan. he gained re
pute as one of the leading lawyer
Of Utah. He was associated with hi
father at Provo for several years, bu
In 1894 moved to Salt Lake City