Show 1 W I 1 7 41 11 Z 1 F va p n N aaa 4 n V W 0 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON LIAM ILLIAM IL HOWARD TAFT chief justice of the united states has always been aw known as a genial man but just now the smile on ills his face la Is a little broader than ever before for one of ills his long cherished plans la Is about to be realized and the highest court in the land over which lie he presides Is to have n home at last A part of the govern e rn men me n ts building program for the national capital includes a magnificent structure for the united states supreme court tile the site for it has been selected and a commission has been created to provide plana for the building A As s every school boy knows oui our government erni nent ha has s three branc bran clies lieg legislative executive and judicial each presumably of equal importance it seems curious therefore that throughout the years of our nations history one of those three should d be something of it a sister nt at least BO far as its having a home bommen curate ur ate with its dignity and importance Is concerned the executive branch has always had its white house standing in solitary state binte as the symbol of its honor of housing the one man who Is the head of all of our sovern government ment activities tile the president for roost most of those years the leals dative branch has had its great domed capitol large enough to tateo take care of needs of the increasing membership of congress dut but the su court the judiciary branch of 00 ri government has hadi plate place in n which it could feel thep the pride rIdd of sole possession it lias has always been a tenant in the home of the legislative branch and the latter has sometimes been a very grudging landlord but MOW the supreme court la Is to move out of that sometime inhospitable home and set up housekeeping for itself in a new home which will be ns as distinctive as an the white house and the capitol and will proclaim in its gleaming white walls the power that resides within tile the new building will stand near the capitol so that congress and the supreme court will still till be neighbors the site for the new hall of justice lias has been chosen after a long controversy in which chief justice tuft taft has been the victor to win that victory he had to overcome the objections lons of some of the met members fibers 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 wits 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 east of the capitol and flanking the congressional library the first meeting of the supreme court after the new republic was established took place in new york city which was then the capital of the nation the meeting place was in tile the royal exchange bit building 11 ding at the toot foot of broad street and the date was february 1 1700 1790 it continued to meet there until the capital was moved to philadelphia then in february 1791 tho the chief justice opened court in tile the city hall building next to independence hall most of ns remember from our school histories who were the first men to hold the important executive positions in the new government but bow many of us know who were the he first justices of the supreme court those men upon whom involved the duty truty of interpreting tile the first farst laws passed aar or the guidance of the new nation the finot court as appointed ty by president was washington langton consisted of john jay of new york as chief justice who was then in his forty fourth ail i il wal i ZVI kajjy A az A t A K S 4 iaia iA iF libi A A 1 A P AAy 1 l f z 1 t Q w P care year and the following associate ate justices john blair of virginia aged fifty seven william gushing cushing of mas alas atso also fifty seven wilson of pennsylvania and a native of Scotia scotland nd who was just ten years the junior of these two justices rob kobert hanson harrison of MaryI maryland nud was next selected lie he was forty four years old and resigned the office just five days after lie he hall had been confirmed to io become of ills 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 iother Ai appointee to the bench was john rutledge of south carolina who however never attended a session of the court in 1701 lie he resigned to become chief justice of ills state ills place was filled by the appointment of thomas johnson of maryland when the government was moved to the now new capital on the potomac the supreme court remained in philadelphia until august 1800 and it was not until february 2 1801 that it finally put iti in an appearance at wash ington arriving the there rebe he court wits given temporary accommodations on the first floor of the capitol in a room known as aa tile the senate clerks office fice and now occupied by the marshal of the tha court there it remained un until 1 I 1 I 1808 but during one period of its history while repairs were being made to tile the capitol this solemn holy body held its meetings in n washington tavern when the repairs were completed tile the supreme court returned to the capitol to find that it had been placed on the basement noor floor underneath the senate chamber surely a good example of subordinating the judiciary to the legislative I 1 it was still occupying this room when the war of 1812 broke out a and d when the british army arrived in washington ellas dellaq Boudi boudinot nit caldwell clerk of the court took the court records to ills lionie houte at pennsylvania avenue arentie southeast for safekeeping there in this house houe which ts Is still standing the 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 fit the lie less part of the north wing of tile the capitol which had been burned by the british a place said to be little better ahrin a n dungeon this mr caldwell who was serving as clerk of the supreme court at tills this exciting period of its history wits an interesting character ile he was named for ellas elias boudinot of new york known as the first president of the united states because lie served ua its president of the united states in congress assembled under the of confederation from 1781 to boudinot was also one of the fars t law admitted to practice before the supreme court when it was established in 1791 of Cal caldwelll dwells history bistor Y john claggett proctor writing in the washington says say mr Cal dilons mother wa was S 1 is ie of f the martera of the american tion having been wantonly slain by a british soldier ills ilia father rev nev james caldwell of elizabethtown Ellzabeth Elizabeth town M N J vv was s chaplain ha plain to the jersey brigade and assistant commissary general from 1777 to 1779 just prior to the killing of mrs caldwell her husband moved from elizabethtown Ellzabeth Elizabeth town to connecticut farms for safety what ensued was told by his granddaughter miss rallis halila 4 wright as follows when the british troops passed through the farms mrs airs caldwell Calf lwell with lier maid retired to a secluded apartment with the children the girl looked but of the window and said A redcoat soldier has jumped over the fence and Is coming toward the house with a gun ellas elias boudinot caldwell two years old playing on an the floor called out let me peel and ran to the window mrs caldwell arose fro from 1 n her chair and at this moment tho the so soldier 1 fired his musket through the he window linz at her it was loaded with wo two balls which passed through hir her body and she instantly expired it Is related of mr caldwell that in n the battle that followed he showed the utmost ardor in the fight as if he would avenge avenge himself for the murder of his wife lie he galloped to the church nearby and brought back an armful of 0 psalm books to supply the men wills wa wadding adding for their fire locks and sho shouted u t now put watts into them bol boys y s put watts into th ernt although the supreme court du dureg rh g its long iong history has more or less wan dered about from place to place with no permanent home of its own the recent move to give it one was not the first As early as 1706 a committee of the house of representatives reported that a building for 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 hoine it has oeun been sald said that congress set a record for slowness in regard to erecting the washington monument that monument was authorized by a n joint resolution qu passed in 1790 hut but nearly half a century passed before file he corner stone was laid and it took too k 37 years longer to complete the structure ng as we see it today however congress record in regard to a supreme court build ing beats even that for it has taken our legislators exactly years to to pet get around to providing a po permanent i home for the lie greatest and most pow erful tribunal in all the world |