Evening star., 1951-01-28

| NSOSI
when the Supreme Court criel
called. "Oyez," for the first tims
in this city and asked God to save
the United States and this hon.
orable court.
On that traditional groundhoe
date, the tribunal hardly cast 8
shadow. Mr.. Justice William
Gushing alone showed up on the
bench in a 24-by-30-foot back
room on the ground floor of the
Caritol's only completed section
a bit north of the present rotunda
For lack of a quorum the court
adjourned until II am. the next
day. For the same reason it hao
to adjourn to Wednesday, Febru-
airy 4, at the same hour. Then
according to the elegantly hand
written minutes treasured today
in the courts files:
Minutes Preserved
"A commission from the Presi-
dent Of the United States to John
Marshall, bearing date of the 3lst
Of January. AID, 1901, and of the
independence of the United States
the 25th. and constituting the said
John Marshall the Chief Justice OF
the Supreme Court of the United
States. is now read in open court
and the said John Marshall having
taken the oath prescribed by Law
took his seat upon the bench"
Thus began the Supreme Courts
work in Washington. And thus
started "a years of service of the
great jurist acclaimed as having
done more than any other to es-
tablish the position of the court
as supreme" in its sphere.
Even as today, when the meet.
ing hour is noon instead of IL m.
lawyers came for admission tc
practice before the court. The
first to be sworn in was Philip Bar
ton Key, uncle of Francis Scott
Key.
That offers a good local new.
item" not only because Mr.. Key
lived near Georgetown" but be.
cause he later was a member o1
Congress who had a lot to do with
setting up a permanent District
Committee In the House.
Subsequent events added historic
interest to that scene as Mr.. KEY
stood before Chief Justice Mar.
shall and Justices Cushing. Samue
Chase and Bushrod Washington
nephew Of the late President.
Adams in White House
Justice Chase was impeacheo
by the House and tried by the
Senate, principally on charges OF
unjudicial conduct in advising
grand juries and injudicious COM
ments in criticizing the Jefferson
administration. He was acquitted
in 1905. His counsel was Mr.. Key
John Adams had another month
to stay in the White House when
the Supreme Court finally found
a home in the Capitol. It's tiny
quarters adjoined the present
Senate barbershop and almost CO.
incided with the room where q
Senate Appropriations subcom-
mittee now tries to trim the
budget.
Since 1889 the court had occu-
pied such varied premises as New
York City's old Exchange Build
ing 0ater the domain of the
Society of st. Tammany) ano
independence Hall and City Hal.
in Philadelphia.
Before daring to dream o1
dwelling in marble halls as mag.
nificent as the structure it has
possessed since 1885. the court
almost literally went from pillar
to post in and near the Capitol.
Besides the original Chamber ~
other cramped or drafty or leaky
or eyebrow-lifting quarters that
housed the five, seven, nine or
10 members included:
The present congressional law
library on the ground floor under
the old Senate chamber, Longs
Tavern on the present site of the
front steps of the Library of Con-
gress, and the residence of The
courts clerk, Elias B. Caldwell,
where the New House Office Build
ing now fronts on Pennsylvania
avenue.
The court accepted the hos
pitality of Mr.. Caldwell after the
British ruff1ed its judicial GOODNESS
by burning the Capitol in 1914
The justices returned to the Cap
itol's ground floor room beneath
the Senate chamber in June, 1916,
and moved upstairs when the
Senate entered its new wing in
1859.
There they stayed until 1895
except for a brief sojourn in a
Senate committee room in 1898