Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 08.pdf/139

 u8

fifty-two to sixty, from 1852 till 1860, when the exercise of his duties as legal practi tioner were interrupted by the opening of the War of the Rebellion. Judge Virgin, then one of the major-generals of the Maine militia, was at once placed upon active duty in the recruiting service, and aided in organ izing several of the early regiments that went to the front. In 1862 Mr. Virgin was commissioned colonel of the Twenty-third Maine Regi ment, which was a nine months' regiment, and with others was detailed to defend the approaches of Washington. Although not engaged in those bloody struggles which immortalized the Army of the Potomac, his discharge of the duties of his office won the commendation of the chief executive of the State, and of all others in authority. In 1865 and 1866 Colonel Virgin repre sented his county in the State Senate, pre siding over that body in 1866, and on December 26, 1872, was appointed to the Supreme Bench. By the accident of poli tics, Judge Virgin was not a member of the Supreme Court when it handed down its memorable decision in 1879, preserving the State of Maine from falling into the hands of a band of unscrupulous political conspir ators. Judge Virgin's term expired on December 26th of that year, and the Democratic gov ernor, Alonzo Garcclon, would have ap pointed his successor. The legislature of 1879 passed an act reducing the number of judges to seven, and Judge Virgin was the victim. The succeeding legislature, after the return of the State to Republican rule, with Governor Davis in the chief executive chair, restored the number to eight, and Governor Davis promptly re-appointed Judge Virgin, the Governor using the same pen and ink to approve the act of the legislature, and to write the name of William Wirt Virgin on the nomination book. The appointment was heartily indorsed by public opinion. The proceedings for a mandamus, upon the

petition of Nahum T. Hill, to compel the Secretary of State to exhibit the returns, were held before him at Fryeburg, at the December term, 1879, and the application was refused. His nisi prius opinion is pub lished in 70 Maine, 550. Its reasoning is regarded sound, and its effect was salutary. Some people not seeing his name among the judges who prepared and issued the admir able decisions in January following, and re ported in the same volume at p. 560, and which gave the death-blow to the Fusion Conspiracy, have reasoned from the refusal of the mandamus that he failed to join his brethren of the Bench from lack of sympathy with them. The real explanation, of course, is that Judge Virgin was not a member of the Bench. The inside story of the reduction of the number of judges was later shown to have been prompted by certain persons to gain purely personal ends. A. P. Gould and Edmund Wilson, both of Thomaston, and both influential Democrats and person ally hostile to each other, were the direct cause of the law limiting the number of judges to seven after Judge Virgin's term should expire. Gould wanted to be ap pointed judge, and had stated that he would be; and Wilson had determined that he should not be, if he could prevent it. Wil son was a member of the House of Rep resentatives in the legislature of 1879, of which the Fusiorfists had a large major ity. In order tp prevent Gould's appoint ment, Wilson either introduced or had in troduced the bill limiting the number of judges to seven. This he was able to do by appealing to the spirit of economy that had taken hold of the Fusionists at that time. The act was as follows, being a part of an act to cut down and regulate the salaries of most of the State officers. That part re lating to the judges was: "Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court, each two thousand dollars per annum; as new judges are ap pointed, and whenever there shall be a va