Show A PROTEST AGAINST HEEHTSTA i It has been the general supposition that Attorney General McKenna would be appointed to succeed Associate Justice Jus-tice Field upon the latters retirement from the supreme court of the United States That event occurred on theist I inst As yet no nomination to fill the j I vacancy thus created has been made and in any case would hardly be until I congress met its session being so near at hand But when Justice Fields successor suc-cessor is nominated will he be Attor t ney General McKenna I Not if the bench and bar of the state of Oregon can have their way They J have sent a protest to the president and senate declaring that he ought not I to be appointed or confirmed as a justice jus-tice of the supreme court of the United I States It says that such office is a life tenure the highest known to the I profession of law and system of jurisprudence juris-prudence of this country and necessarily neces-sarily ought to be held only by one who in learning intellectual ability and determined de-termined character has shown himself to be among the few most eminent of the legal profession and capable of executing the great trust placed upon him and of maintaining the character for ability and independence which has made the supreme court of the United States one of the first if not the very first of the tribunals of the world It is further stated that rather than dilute di-lute the high quality of the supreme court it would be better that some one not from the Pacific coast be selected The protest then states that the common com-mon reputation of a man among his profesisonal brethren is a just and sure guide to his worth It ends as follows The Hon Joseph McKennas common com-mon reputation among his legal brethren breth-ren or among his judicial brethren has not accorded him a high place but on the contrary though many who estimated esti-mated him until now refrained from an expression of opinion the consensus of opinion has been and is that he is not either by natural gifts acquired learning learn-ing or decision of character qualified for any judicial place of importance much less for the highest place in the landHis His life record as a barrister politician politi-cian judge and attorney general is accessible ac-cessible and should speak for itselfbut I believing the estimate of him by the members of his profession to be a test and believing that we of that profession profes-sion owe it to ourselves and our country coun-try to no longer keep silence we acting act-ing without malice without personal feeling and without preference for any particular individual earnestly protest against the appointment or confirmation confirma-tion of the Hon Joseph McKenna as a justice of the supreme court of the United States This petition is signed by United States District Attorney Judge Bel linger many of the state judges and leading members of the bar What if any effect this protest will have on Judge McKennas nomination or whether it will be made as generally supposed it Is impossible to say That he has been attorney general is not evidence that he is qualified for a place on the supreme bench in fact there have been many attorney generals who would have made very poor judges some who made rather poor attorney generals And there hare been men appointed ap-pointed to the supreme bench against whom there were many protests though they may not have been formal for-mal such an instance was the case of Stanley Matthews If the president really intends to send in the name of his attorney general as Justice Fields successor he will almost j be compelled to take heed of this protest pro-test at least to the extent of giving it careful consideration |