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MR. JUSTICE PECKHAM BEFORE his elevation to the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States the late Mr. Justice Peckham had already distinguished himself as counsel in many important cases and as Associate Justice of the New York Court of Appeals. When President Cleveland saw fit to select for the high est court a Democratic jurist from New York State, the appointment was in no sense made for political reasons. Presi dent Cleveland clearly perceived his ability, and lived to see Justice Peckham demonstrate his usefulness in the high est tribunal of the nation and earn the universal respect of the bench and bar. The high opinion entertained of him by his colleagues is sufficiently attested solely by the opinions he was selected to right in a large number of important decisions. He dedicated his entire energy to the work of the court, and the care and ability with which he performed his duties, and the lucidity and direct ness of his written opinions, not to speak of his personal graces and merits, certainly contributed to the dignity of that court. Apart from the decisions arising under the Sherman act, Justice Peckham wrote the opinions in the oleomargerine case, holding that the sale of an article in original packages made by the importer from another state could not be restrained by state law, in the decision, during the
war with Spain, that a stamp tax on transactions at an exchange or board of trade is not a direct tax within the meaning of the Constitution, and in the New York gas case, holding that a pub lic service corporation is not entitled to a fair return on an increased valuation of its franchises without positive proof of such increase in their value. These decisions called for the highest form of juridical ability, and in them all he fully rose to the demand of the occasion. In learning and acumen the late Jus tice was perhaps excelled by some of his colleagues, but in his intense desire to do justice he was unsurpassed. One may disapprove of certain of his doc trines, but one cannot disapprove of him as a judge, or accuse him of any grave defect of judgment. If he was not a great constitutional jurist, there can be no doubt that he was the superior in this respect of many who have at various times occupied seats on the bench of the Supreme Court. To the collective wisdom of the court the strong yet gentle Justice Peckham doubtless contributed more than his share of oneninth. A GEORGIA CORONER'S VERDICT One of our readers in Moultrie, Ga., is good enough to send us this anec dote :— Down in the piney woods section of wiregrass Georgia, where the proverbial "Razor Back Hog" strops himself upon any con-
