Show AM afo W WW ui a jr alf i as dvaz V W me dw flom abasi 3 M T 0 F pi 0 44 A AJ az E 0 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON ILLIAM HOWARD TAFT chief justice of the united states has always been known as a genial man but bat just now the smile on his face Is a little broader than ever before for one of his bis long cherished plans Is about to be realized and the highest court in the land over which he presides Is to have a home at last A part of the governments 7 e ern r n me ments n ill building program for the national capital includes a magnificent structure for the united states supreme counti the site for it has been selected and a commission has been created to provide plans for the building As every school boy knows our government has three branches legislative executive and judicial each presumably of equal importance it teems seems curious tur lous therefore that throughout the years of our nations his to tory one of those three should be somei something hing of a stepsister step sister at least so co far as its having a home commensurate with its dignity and importance Is concerned the executive branch has always bad its white house standing anding et 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 alie president for most or of those years the branch has had its great domed capitol large enough to take care of the growing needs deeds of the increasing membership of congress but the su preme court the alie judiciary branch of our government has never had a place in which it could feel the pride of sole possession it has bus always been a tenant la in the home of the legislative branch and tile the latter has ha sometimes been a veryl very grudging landlord butzow Bu the supreme court Is to move out of that sometime liabos inhospitable homeard hoine and set up for itself la in a new home borne which will be as distinctive as the white house and the capitol and will proclaim in its gleaming white walls the he power that resides within the new building will stand near the capitol so that hint congress and the supreme court will still till be neighbors the site for the new dew hall of justice lias has been chosen after a long controversy in which chief justice tuft has been the victor to win that victory he had bad to overcome the objections of some of the members of the court itself and of congress to any removal of the court from the present quarters but when the bill to create the commission for planning the new building was passed by congress the last obstacle was removed and the new home of the supreme court will rise where the chief justice has desired it to t 0 he be on the plaza east of the capitol and nd ranking flanking the congressional library the first meeting of the supreme cour tafter the new republic was established took place la in new york city which was then the ca capital pital of tile the nation the meeting placed place 1 was in the royal exchange building at the foot of broad street and the date was february 1 I 1 1790 it continued to meet there until the capital was moved to philadelphia then in february 1791 1701 the chi chief ef justice opened court to lo the city H hall all building next to independence hall most of us remember from our school histories who were flip first cenito menito hold the important executive positions in the new government but bill how low many of us know who were the first justices of toe the supreme court those men imen upon whom whole involved the fluty duty of interpreting the first laws passed ilor or the guidance of the new nation the bret flirt court as 89 appointed by president washington consisted of john jay of new newyork york as chief jus tice who was wag then in his forty fourth A jud year and the following associate justices john elair blair of virginia aged fifty seven william cushing cashing of massachusetts also fifty seven james wilson of pennsylvania and a native of 0 scotland who was just ten years the junior of these two justices robert hanson harrlson harrison of maryland was ads next selected he was forty four years old and resigned the office just five days after he had bad been confirmed to become chancellor of ills his state james iredell was appointed ko to judge place he was from north carolina and was the youngest member of the group being but thirty fright eight years old another appointee to the bench was vias john rutledge of south carolina who however never attended a session ion of the court in 1791 he resigned to become chief justice of fit his state UIs place was filled by the appointment po of thomas johnson johnsio John soo of maryland when the government was moved to the new capital on the potomac tiac the supreme court remained in pills until august 1800 and it was not until february 0 2 1801 that it finally put in an appearance at washington arriving there the court was given temporary accommodations on the first floor of the capitol in a room known as the senate clerks office and now occupied by the mar marshal of th court there it remained until 1808 but during one period of its h history while repairs were being made to the capitol this solemn body held its meetings to in a washington tavern when the repairs were completed the supreme court returned re to the lie ranj tol lot to find that it bad been placed on the basement floor underneath the sn n ate chamber surely a good example of subordinating the judiciary to the legislative I 1 it was still occupying llis to room va v benthe hen the war of 1812 broke oi t a and I 1 when arlien the british army arti art arrived I in n washington ellas boudinot ca caldwell well clerk of the court took the court records to his home at bog a venue avenue southeast for safekeeping there in this house houe which Is 1 still standing the court held its session sessions until it moved back luto into the capitol in 1817 1917 it was then provided whit quarters temporarily prepared t for or its use in the less ruined part of the north wing of the capitol which had bud been burned by the british a place said to be little better than a dungeon dung pon this mr caldwell who was serving its as clerk of the Su supreme court at this exciting period of its history was wag an interesting Jilter esting character he was named for elias bo boudinot of new york known as the first president of the united states stales because he bened as aa president of the united states in congress assembled under the articles article of confederation from 1781 to 1783 boudinot Bond inot was also one of the first lawyers admitted to practice before the supreme court when it was established in 1701 of caldwelle Cal dwells history john claggett CIapa ett proctor writing in the wash ington says mp W Cal caldwellsr Caldwel dwells lg mother was wag one of the martyrs of the american revolution having been wantonly slain by R british soldier ills ilia father rev james caldwell of elizabethtown Elizabeth town N J was chaplain to the jersey brigade and ma as blatant commissary general from 1177 1777 to 1779 just prior to the killing of mrs caldwell her husband moved tron from elizabethtown Elizabeth town to connecticut farms for safety what ensued was told by his granddaughter miss hallie H a life lr L wright as follows when the british troops passed through the farms mrs caldwell with her mald maid retired to a secluded apartment with the children th the carl irl looked out of the window and said A redcoat soldier has jumped over ever the fence and Is coming toward the house with a gun I olas iolas Boud boudinot not caldwell two years old playing on the floor door c called out let me see and ran to the window mrs caldwell arose from her chair alq and at this moment the so soldier fired his musket through the window at her it was loaded with two balls which passed through her body and she instantly expired it Is related of mr air caldwell that in th the battle that followed be showed the utmost ardor in the fight ficht as it if he would avenge himself for the murder of hs his wife lie he galloped to the church nearby and brought bark back an armful of psalm books to supply the men with w wai a edin aln for their fire locks locke and shouted d now put watts into them boys put watt walts s into them although the supreme court aurli g its long ions history has more or less we wandered n about front from place to place with no ni pernin nent home of its own tte recent move to give it one was no not the first As early as 1793 17 93 a 1 committee of the house of representatives representative reported that a building for tile the judiciary was among the objects yet to be accomplished indicating that it recognized the need for providing this important branch of the government with a home it has often been said that congress set a record for slowness to in regard to erecting the washington monument that monument was by a joint resolution passed in 17 7 am hut but nearly half a century tur y passed before the corner stone was laid and it took 37 years longer to complete the structure ns as we see it today toiley however congress record in regard to a supreme court build ing heats beats even that for it has taken our legislators exactly years to get around to providing a permanent home hoine for the t find and most powerful ef ful tribunal in all the world |