Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 22.pdf/570

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HERE will be general regret at

the vigor of his comparative youth, will make him a most admirable pre siding oflicer for the Court, and on this

the circumstances which have led Mr. Justice Moody to announce his determination to retire under the enab

score alone, in our judgment, Mr. Hughes’ services can be more proﬁtably utilized by the American people by

ling act recently passed by Congress.

He is only ﬁfty-seven years of age, and

giving him the Chief Justiceship than by making him Associate Justice. As

the prospects of his eventual complete recovery appear to be good, so that

for the question of his judicial ability, time alone can supply the answer.

SUPREME COURT CHANGES

Mr. Justice Moody's act of patriotic

Mr. Hughes is hardly the inferior, in

self-renunciation means that the Court will lose the services of an able jurist

intellectual vigor, of any present mem

whose work in time to come would have been likely to prove invaluable. Mr. justice Moody, however, can leave the

ber of the Court. It is still too early to declare, with conﬁdence, that there is no possibility of his intellect being able to dominate the Court, as in the

bench with the feeling that his retire ment has been well earned by conspicu ous public services, and that his judicial labors have already earned him an honored name which will go down in

case

history linked with some important decisions. Rumors that Mr. Justice Hughes will be designated for the Chief Justice

opinion that the President will do best

ship have been persistent.

There have

been some sporadic symtoms of an inclination to criticize such a step, but we believe that the appointment would be supported by the weight of opinion in the profession. It is true that Mr. Hughes‘ experience has been mainly in the ﬁeld of public administration, and there are doubtless those who

differ with him in his views on consti tutional questions and on electoral re

form. But no one can deny that his marked executive ability, together with

of

some

notable

predecessors.

Time alone will assign him his place in the judicial history of the United States. In ﬁlling the two vacancies which remain, we are inclined to hazard the to make his selections from the higher

ranks of the state and federal judiciary. Eligible candidates outside the judiciary, of the cast of Governor Hughes, are the exception and not the rule, and the

most efficient kind of service on the bench does not command that reward of popular fame which leads to the

reiterated mention of candidates less worthy. If the Senate is soon convened in extraordinary session to ﬁll these vacancies, as we hope it will be, the promotion of two of the ablest judges

the President is able to pick from the American bench would certainly be received with marked favor by the bar.