Page images
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

WITH HEAD LINES, HEAD NOTES, STATEMENTS OF CASES,
POINTS AND AUTHORITIES OF COUNSEL, FOOT
NOTES AND PARALLEL REFERENCES,

BY

STEPHEN K. WILLIAMS,

Counselor at Law.

BOOK XXVI.

THE LAWYERS' CO-OPERATIVE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
NEWARK, WAYNE COUNTY, NEW YORK.

IAN

4 AUG 1!

LIBRARY

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-five, by

THE LAWYERS' CO-OPERATIVE PUBLISHING CO.,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.

E. R. ANDREWS, Printer, Rochester, N. Y.

[blocks in formation]

ALLOTMENTS, ETC., OF THE

JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES,

AS THEY STOOD DURING THE TERMS OF 1879, 1880-1, TOGETHER WITH THE DATES OF THEIR COMMISSIONS AND TERMS OF SERVICE, RESPECTIVELY.

[blocks in formation]

*From May 2, 1881 to Jan. 30, 1882 Mr. Justice HARLAN stood also allotted to the First Circuit. +From Jan. 30, 1882 to Apr. 3, 1882 Mr. Justice FIELD stood also allotted to the Second Circuit.

MEMORANDA FROM THE RECORDS.

MONDAY, December 20th, 1880.-Retirement grave inquiries MR. JUSTICE STRONG ably bore of Mr. Justice Strong.

Mr. Attorney-General Devens addressed the court as follows:

May it please your Honors: It was with much emotion that the members of the Bar learned, at the close of the session of this Court a week since, that they had seen for the last time the gracious presence of Mr. Justice Strong among his associates.

That he should have determined to retire while yet in the fullness of his great powers, and with "his natural force unabated," was a resolution formed, as they well knew, in the same careful and conscientious spirit which has distinguished his whole career.

The propriety of such a decision they are not entitled to question, although they would have willingly had it postponed, that there might be postponed also the separation which it compels. They desire, in parting from him, to express simply and unaffectedly their deep sense of the large and varied learning, the wide experience, the strong intellectual force, the rigid impartiality, of which those whose interests have been discussed here have had the full benefit, and of the unfailing courtesy and patience with which they have been listened to in representing those interests. No judicial tribunal historically known to us has ever had imposed upon it labors as grave as those imposed upon the Supreme Court by the Constitution of the United States While, in order that it may decide, a question must be submitted in the form of a case at law or in equity, its highest duty is not alone that of deciding cases between party and party.

Its heaviest responsibility results from the fact that it is one of the three distinct branches to which the Constitution has distributed all the powers of a complete government, and that it is charged with the duty of defining not only its own powers, but of restraining the other branches within their appropriate limits. Of the wide beneficial and permanent influence which it has exerted I shall not attempt to speak. The subject is too large, were I competent to deal with it. It is proper to observe, however, that Mr. Justice Strong came upon the Bench at a most interesting period in its history. Our great civil strife was over. It had left behind, among its legacies, legislation which, even if prompted by patriotic motives, was still debated, and perhaps debatable, and the constitutional amendments intended to embody and to preserve the principles settled by it. It was a time to examine carefully compass and chart, to determine whether we had been anywhere driven from our true course, and to ascertain also the direction and boundaries of the new course upon which we had entered. In these

his full share; and it will be recalled that, among many other important cases, he was intrusted by this Court with stating the reasons for its judgments in the "Legal-Tender Cases" in 1872, the "Confiscation Cases" in 1875, those involving the removal of criminal causes from the State to the United States courts, and those involving the rights of colored men to be jurors.

Whatever they may lose by the retirement of Mr. Justice Strong, the members of the Bar are sensible that those upon the Bench, with whom he was associated, must lose much more. He will carry into his dignified retirement the affectionate respect of all who have known him. All that "should accompany old age, as honor, love, obedience, troops of friends," will be his, and the evening of an upright life which has been full of kindness and courtesy to all men, and of great and honorable labor in the service of the country, cannot, they trust, fail to be serene and happy.

The Bar of this court have requested me to present the resolutions I am about to read and to make on their behalf, the motion with which they conclude.

RESOLUTIONS.

Resolved, That the members of the Bar of the Supreme Court have learned with deep regret of the voluntary retirement of Mr. Justice Strong, while in the full maturity of his great powers, from the labors and duties of the Bench.

Resolved, That in this termination of the agreeable and important relation he has sustained towards them they desire to express their cordial recognition of the profound learning, ripe wisdom, sincere anxiety to do justice, and absolute independence which have characterized this distinguished magistrate during his judicial career, as well as their grateful recollection of the kindly courtesy which he has constantly exhibited, and their sincere wishes for his continued health and happiness.

Resolved, That the Attorney-General be requested to present these resolutions to the Court, and ask that they may be entered on the minutes, and that they may be communicated by it to Mr. Justice Strong. Adopted.

Mr. Chief Justice Waite replied as follows: We are glad to receive from the Bar this expression of their regard for Judge Strong. It is but simple justice to say that, during the ten years and more he held a seat on this Bench, he never for a moment forgot what was due to the place he so ably filled. His judgments were always the result of his honest convictions of what was right, and we who have known him in the intimacy of long personal and official intercourse shall ever bear witness to his purity of character as a man and eminent abilities as a

« PreviousContinue »