A Century of Federal Judicature.
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A CENTURY OF FEDERAL JUDICATURE. V. BY VAN VECHTEN VEEDER. THE period follpwing the Civil War forms a well-defined era in the court's history. New problems were met by new judges. The times demanded the highest order of ability. No more difficult and momentous questions were ever presented to any court than those which came before the Supreme Court during this eventful period. When the first judges of the new era took their seats the country was straining every nerve and exert ing its utmost power to suppress the greatest civil war known to history. In consequence of the legislative and executive activities arising out of this emergency, great problems crowd ed for solution—the jurisdiction of military tribunals, the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, the legislation to uphold the credit of the government, and many other questions of personal liberty and constitu tional right of far-reaching importance. Upon the return of peace, the effort to re-establish order and to readjust affairs in accordance with changed social and political condit'ons developed further questions of great difficulty —the restoration of civil over military author ity, the reconstruction of the State govern ments, and, above all, the war amendments to the constitution. The Thirteenth, Four teenth and Fifteenth Amendments, designed to give further security to personal rights, brought before the court questions of great interest, involving the establishment of na tional supremacy together with the preserva tion of the just rights of the States. Recon struction was followed by a period ofwonder ful material development. The feverish en ergies developed in deadly strife were turned into the channels of industry and commerce; vast enterprises were undertaken, and wealth accumulated on a gigantic scale. Indeed, the
conditions of life underwent a complete change; and out of these changed social and economic conditions arose a vast amount of litigation of vital consequence to the future prosperity of the country. Inventions multi plied the conveniences of life as well as the possibilities of achievement, drawing in their wake a large addition to the business of the court. The development of the agencies of steam and electricity, and their application to railway and steamship transportation and to the transmission of intelligence by tele graph and telephone, involved new and intri cate legal problems. The enlarged commerce on the seas, on the great lakes and on the navigable waters of the country brought a great increase in the number of admiralty and maritime cases. Unlimited facilities for the formation of corporations, and their rapid development and concentration, have added enormously to litigation. All this progress in wealth and prosperity, and increased facili ties for transportation and communication, gave new importance to interstate commerce and flooded the court with controversies con cerning State taxation and regulations. The development of the mineral resources of the country, and the vast grants of the public do main in aid of the construction of railways and for educational purposes, have also added materially to the business of the court. The frequency with which the court has been forced to exercise its solemn function of nulli fying unconstitutional acts of legislation af fords a basis of comparison for estimating the extent and importance of the court's 'labors during this period. Aside from the action of the judges with respect to the at tempt of Congress to confer jurisdiction upon the Supreme Court in claims for pensions
