The Green Bag
56
Chief Justice White, however, being intended. "It may be remembered by some," it says, "that when the name of
tice for a suflicient length of time to enable the Executive to determine his fitness for the oflice of Chief Justice.
Chief Justice Fuller was under considera
Chief Justice White's exalted con ception of the duties of his high ofiice is illustrated by a story told by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “A delega tion of Atlanta citizens called on Chief Justice White at ten o'clock in the morn
tion by President Cleveland for the nomination,
the
Associate
Justices
strongly urged upon him the promotion of Justice Field to the place of Chief Justice; this the President declined to
do upon the ground that if the Asso ciate Justices could look to such advance ment, the expectation might lead to mutual jealousies and possible intrigue. The course followed by President Taft in the case of Justice White is in conflict with settled custom and tradition, and, should it be regarded in future as a precedent, might lead to most unfor tunate results." Senator Heyburn was the only mem
ber who opposed the confirmation of Mr. Chief Justice White when the ap pointment was presented to the Senate,
and he opposed it on the ground that selection of one of the Associate Jus tices was contrary both to precedent and
to policy.
Eventually he surrendered
ing, without notifying him. Luckily for them, he was at home and received the delegation cordially in his study. The
object of the delegation was to invite the new head of the nation's most august tri bunal to speak in Atlanta within a few weeks. The Chief Justice expressed his appreciation of the invitation, but made
it evident from the outset that he could not accept it. To show that he was sin cere in his declination, he exhibited some of his work to the visitors, saying: ‘I want all of you to realize and appreciate what none of you and very few lawyers appre ciate.’ "He crossed the room and pointed
to a pile of paper-back books, placed by the side of his desk chair.
There
with good grace, voting with the others
were two huge piles of books three or
so as to make the confirmation unani mous. On the question of the wisdom of this precedent, the sentiment of by far the greater part of the legal profession is probably voiced by the National Car poration Reporter, in its editorial obser
four feet high—some thin, some thick—
we have heard this week, and it is only
Thursday now. There will be others. They must be read. They must be
vation:-— While it is true that the Chief Justice of the United States has no duties that are not shared by his associates, and has no greater share than they in shaping the judicial history of the coun try, the mere name gives him a conspicuousness which he would not have if he were a mere pre siding officer at meetings of the court, elected as the presiding justice in many other appellate courts are, by his associates.
twenty or thirty of them in all. Point ing to this heap Chief Justice White said: ‘That, gentlemen, is why it is impossible for me to leave Washington. Those books represent the records in the cases
studied. I went to bed at one this mom ing, and I arose again at six. I have been working on these records. That
is the sort of life I have led for seven teen years on the bench.’" A man of great physical stature and strength, the new Chief Justice, at the
For this reason,
bench, and the best assurance of such eminence
age of sixty-five, keeps his working powers at their maximum efliciency not
would be capable services as an Associate Jus
only by reducing his hours of rest but
he should, if possible, be the ablest man on the
