Page:The Supreme Court in United States History vol 1.djvu/38

12 essential changes, this great piece of legislation has re- mained the law of the country to the present day. " The wisdom and forethought with which it was drawn, have been the admiration of succeeding genera- tions,*' said a Judge of the Supreme Court in 1911. " This was probably the most important and the most satisfactory Act ever passed by Congress.''^ That this commendation was justified is unquestionable. Nevertheless, in considering the eflfect of the Act upon the history of the Court, attention must be paid to the fact that it received severe criticism from many contemporary lawyers and statesmen. Within a year after its enactment, Attorney-Greneral Edmund Randolph made a lengthy report to the President, urging radical and extensive amendments. The early Judges of the Supreme Court constantly advocated important changes, especially in the provisions of the Act relating to Circuit Court duty.* William Grayson of Virginia wrote to Patrick Henry, immediately after the passage of the Act : ^^ The Judicial Bill has passed, but wears so monstrous an appearance that I think it

vided — "When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside." The Judiciary Act of Sept. 24, 1789, provided that the Supreme Court "shall consist of a chief justice and five associate justices.*' The Act of July 13, 1866, c. 210, for the first time officially used the term "Chief Justice of the United States" providing that "thereafter the Supreme Court shall consist of a Chief Justice of the United States and six associate justices." The Act of April 10, 1869, c. 22, provided that the Court shall "hereafter consist of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight associate justices." The Revised Statutes, Section 673, and the Act of March 3, 1911, c. 231, codifying the laws relating to the judiciary. Section 215, refer to "a Chief Justice of the United States." On the other hand, the statutes relating to the salaries of the Court, viz. : the Act of March 3, 1873, c. 226, the Act of Feb. 12, 1902, c. 547, and the Act of March 3, 1911, c 231, Section 218, all refer to "the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Stotes." New England Hiitarical and Oenealogieal Register (1895), XUX, 275.

^ Address of Mr. Justice Brown before the American Bar Association, August 20, 1911. As to the history and scope of this Act, see Virginia v. Rieee (1880), 100 U. S. 313, 338; Tennessee v. Dams (1880), 100 U. S. 257, especially dissenting opinion of Clifford, J. ; United States v. HoUiday (1866), 3 Wall. 417. See also Oenesis cf the Federal Judiciary System, by y(. B. Richards, Virg, State Bar Assn. (1904), XVII.


 * See infra, 86-00.