| Show couret aal baffo J ir K R 1 I 1 I 1 w I 1 F 7 V TF w al n by ELMO SCOTT WATSON ILLIAM HOWARD TAFT chief justice of the united aw states has always been known as a genial man but just now how the smile on his face Is a little broader than ever before tor for one of hla his long cherished plans la Is about to be realized and the alie highest court in the land over which lie he pro prel sides Is to have a home at last A part of 0 the gove r n me n ts OW building program for the national capital includes a magnificent structure for the united states supreme court the site for it has been selected and ana a commission has been created to provide plans for the building As every school boy knows our government has three branches branch es 1 legislative executive and judicial each presumably of equal importance it seems seeing curious therefore that throughout outtie the years of our nations history one of those three should he be something of a stepsister step sister at least so far av as its having a home commensurate with its dignity and importance Is concerned the executive branch has always had tta its white house standing in solitary state as the symbol of its honor of housing the one man who Is the head of all of our government activities the president for most of those years tile the legislative branch has haa had its great domed capitol large enough to take care of the growing needs of the increasing membership of cong congress ress but the su preme court the judiciary branch of our government has never had bad a place in which it could feel tile the pride of sole possession it has always been a tenant in the home of the legislative ti branch ranch tind and the latter has fins sometimes been a very grudging landlord but bow the su supreme reme court Is to move more out of of that sor sometime etame inhof home un and d set up housekeeping for itself in a new home which will was be ns distinctive as ih the white eWhIte house and the capitol and will proclaim in its ita gleaming w white hate walls tile the power that resides within the new building will stand near the capitol so that congress and the supreme court will still be neighbors the site for the new hall of justice has been chosen after a long controversy in which chief justice taft has been the victor to win that victory he had to overcome the objections of some of the members member s of the court itself and of congress to any removal of the court from the present quarters kut but when the bill to create the commission for planning the new building was paired by congress con grest the last obstacle was removed and the new home of tile the supreme court will rise where the chief justice has desired it to be on the plaza enst east of the capitol and flanking the congressional library the first meeting of the supreme e court after the new republic was established took place in new york city which was then the capital of the nation tile the meeting place was in the eopal exchange building at the foot of broad street and the date was february 1 IT 1700 it continued to meet there until the capital wits moved to philadelphia then in february 1701 the chief justice opened court in the city hall building next to independence ecce hall most of us remember from our school histories who wore were the first men to hold the important executive positions in the new government but how many of us know who were the first justices of the supreme court those men upon whom involved the duty of interpreting the first laws baws passed for the guidance of the new nation cation the tha first court as appointed by president washington consisted of john jay of new york as chief justice who was then in his forty fourth in R 40 A berdi ill 4 year arid and the following associate justices john alair of virginia aged fifty seven william Qu bushing shIng of massachusetts also fifty seven james wilson of pennsylvania and a native of scotland who was just ten years the junior of these two justices hubert aobert hanson harrlson harrison 0 of maryland was next nest selected ile he was forty four years old and resigned signed fe the office just five days after he ha had bad been confirmed to become chancellor of his state james iredell was appointed to judge harrisons place lie ile was from north carolina and was the youngest member of the group being but thirty eight years old another appointee to the bench was john rutledge of south carolina who however never attended a session of the coort cort in 1701 hip ha resigned to become chief justice of his state his place was filled by the ap an of thomas johnson of maryland when the government was moved to the new capital on the potomac the supreme court remained remained in philadelphia until august 1800 and it wa was a not until february auary 2 1801 that it finally put in an appearance at washington arriving there the court was given temporary accommodations on tile the first floor of ft the capitol in a room known ns na the senate clerks office and now occupied by the marshal of 0 f the court there it remained until 1808 but during one period of its history while repairs were being made to the capitol this solemn body held its meetings in a washington tavern when the repairs completed tile the supreme court returned to the capitol callot to find that it had been placed on the tha basement floor underneath the senate chamber surely a good example of subordinating the judiciary jud to the legislative I 1 it was still occupying this room when the war of 1812 broke out and when the british army arrived in washington ellar boudinot caldwell clerk of the cout court tooh took the court records to his home at pennsylvania avenue Sout southeast hent for safekeeping there in this house which Is still standing tile alie court held its sessions until it moved back into the capitol in 1817 it was then provided with quarters temporarily prepared for its use in the less ruined part of the north wing of the capitol which had been burned by the british a place said to be little better than a dungeon this sir air caldwell who was serving os as clerk of the supreme court at this exciting period of its history was nn an interesting character lie ile was named for fok ellas boudinot of new york known as the first president of the united states because lie he sered as president odthe of the united states in congress assembled under the article of 0 confederation from 1781 to 1785 boudinot was also one odthe of the first lawyers admitted to practice before the supreme court when it was established shed in 1701 of caldwelle Cal dwells history john claggett proctor writing in the washington says mr caldwelle Cal dwells mother was waa one of the martyrs of the american revolution having been wantonly slain by n british soldier ills ilia father rev nev janice jamaca caldwell of elizabethtown Ellzabeth Elizabeth town N X J was chaplain to the jersey brigade and BB as latant commissary general from 1717 to 1779 just prior to the ot of mrs lira caldwell her husband moved Elizabeth elizabethtown town to connecticut farms farma for or safety what ensued was told by lili ills granddaughter miss halite 1 U wright as an follows fol lowe when the british troops passed through the farms mrs caldwell with liar her rnald maid retired to a secluded apartment with the children the gi girl rl looked out ot of the window and said A redcoat soldier has jumped over the fence and Is coming toward the house houe with a wun grun E ellas lias caldwell two years old playing on the floor called out lot let me freer and ran to the window mrs caldwell arose from her chair and at this thia moment the soldier sole eole dier fired his musk musket through the win dow at her it w was loaded with two balls which passed through her body and she instantly expired 1 it is a rel related abed of mr caldwell that in the battle that followed he showed the utmost ardor in the fight as it he would 11 id avenge himself tor for the murder of h his wife lie galloped ped t to 0 the church nearby and brought back an ar armful in ful of psalm palm books to supply the nun men with wadding edl U tor for their fare locks and shouted 1 l now put watts into them boyat bilut watts into theall although the supreme court durigg its long history has more or less won wan dered about from place to place with m permanent home of its own the recent move to give it one was not the first As early as 1700 a committee of the house ot of representatives reported that a building for or the judiciary was among the objects yet to be accomplished indicating that it recognized the need for or providing this important branch of the government with a home it has often been said that congress set ft a record for slowness lu fit regard to erecting the washington monument that monument was authorized by tt a joint resolution passed in 17 1709 but nearly half a century passed before the corner stone was laid and it took 37 years longer to complete the structure as aa we seo see it today however congress record in regard to a supreme court building heats beata even that for athas it has tal tadeu en our legislators exactly years to get around to providing a permanent home for the greatest and most powerful tribunal in all the world |
