USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > The courts of justice, bench & bar of Washington County, Pennsylvania > Part 18
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REV. FATHER JOHN FAUGHNAN, CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, WASHINGTON, PA. [ Half-tone by Bragdon, from photograph by Hallam.]
223
SERMON BY REV. JAMES H. SNOWDEN, D. D.
visitors from abroad, the judges and officers holding a delight- ful reception, each within his own bailiwick.
Thus ended the seventeenth day of November, 1900, in the next to the last month of the old century; and thence- forward the new court-house of Washington is to stand dedicated to its noble public uses.
SERMON BY THE REV. JAMES H. SNOWDEN, D. D.
After the foregoing pages were in type, our attention was called to an eloquent and instructive sermon preached in the Second Presbyterian Church, of Washington, Pennsylvania, on November 11, 1900, by the pastor, the Rev. James H. Snowden, D. D., and our effort to procure a copy for insertion here, that we might see ourselves as others saw us, was suc- cessful. The sermon was as follows:
" The powers that be are ordained of God."-Romans xiii. 1.
The completion of our new court-house suggests our sub- ject this morning. Its dedication on next Saturday will be an event of great popular interest, and will mark an epoch in the history of our county. We shall do well to be present on that occasion and to enter into its spirit.
1. The building itself, including both court-house and jail, meets all our expectations, and from every point of view wins our praise. It is, first, a durable building. It is not a cheap and flimsy structure, painted and gilded for show, but from its great foundation-stones, up through its stone walls and marble corridors and steel girders and terra-cotta dome, it is constructed of the most substantial materials solidly put together. It is an honest piece of workmanship. Mason and
224
COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
carpenter and plumber, marble-cutter and stucco-worker and frescoer, have done their best work under the most competent and careful superintendence, and it is all so nicely jointed and thoroughly cemented together that it is almost as solid as though it were carved out of a single block of stone.
It is a spacious, conveniently arranged, and thoroughly furnished building. Its ample dimensions afford space for court-rooms and offices that are not only sufficient for the needs of to-day, but will meet the growing needs of the future.
Our county is just beginning to develop its great wealth, our population is growing rapidly, and this will pour an ever- increasing volume of legal business into our courts. It was a wise step to build a court-house that has in view the needs of this near future. In convenience of arrangement and com- pleteness of outfit also, both the court-house and jail are all that could be desired. The needs and comforts of the officers and of the public are amply provided for, and the furniture and furnishings throughout are the best of their kind. Only one item of public convenience appears to be lacking - a town clock; but this can yet be supplied. It is also a beautiful building. Its exterior proportions and appearance are of striking dignity and grace. The stone walls and pillars and porch, the fine carving and ornamental figures, the picturesque roof broken into a variety of features and springing into its great central dome, all harmoniously combine into an exterior that instantly commands attention and elicits praise. This beauty without is equaled and surpassed by the beauty within. Here various arts have contributed their finest products. The marble floors and polished marble wainscoting, the massive bronzed iron stairways with their marble steps, the elegantly furnished offices and rooms, the exceedingly beautiful court- rooms finished in polished mahogany and oak, the elaborately
14400
THE FRONT PORTICO. [Half-tone by the Chasmar-Winchell Press, New York.]
225
SERMON BY REV. JAMES H. SNOWDEN, D. D.
decorated ceilings, and the great dome richly frescoed and lightly swung over it all, blend into a harmony of form and splendor of color that will please and satisfy the most culti- vated taste. In the daytime, or at night under the illumina- tion of its thousands of electric lights, it is a brilliant vision. It is rare that we see such art in a public building, and we would have to go far to find its equal. There is a surprise awaiting you there, and you will say that the half has not been told you.
Once more, it is an honest building. There has been no jobbery in this large undertaking, from the plans of the gifted architect through all its contracts and construction. No breath of suspicion has tainted it at any point. The judges and the commissioners have had the unqualified confidence of the people in their responsible and arduous labors, and the architect and contractors have faithfully fulfilled their obliga- tions. It has cost a large sum of money - upwards of nine hundred thousand dollars - but every dollar of it has been honestly expended, and the county to-day has the full worth of its money; indeed, it has far more, for the buildings could not be duplicated to-day for less than a million dollars. The honesty of its construction is an honor to those engaged in it and to us as a people, and helps to make it fit for a temple of justice.
We are to be congratulated on having such a building. The court-house of a county ought to be worthy of its use. There might be constructed for very much less money a mere house or hall in which our legal business could be transacted. But a building should be a fitting embodiment of the purpose for which it is constructed, and this is eminently so of a temple of justice. The solidity and dignity, the majesty and the beauty, of the law should all find worthy expression in the
226
COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
temple in which it is enshrined. Its appearance and appoint- ments should all command respect and even inspire reverence. The court-house stands in the center of the county as its stone core towards which all civil interests converge and from which all the lines of justice radiate. It is the central hub of the county, binding all its interests into unity, around which all points on its circumference revolve. It is the mighty heart of the county, where its civic life beats pure and strong and whence it flows out through all its people. This temple should be no cheap and mean and temporary building, but it should be worthy of our county and embody the strength and nobility of its citizenship. It should be suggestive, not of pioneer days when " our fathers dwelt in tents," but of settled and developed civilization. It should represent, not penury and penuriousness, but our wealth and liberality. Above all, it should be a fitting incarnation of the spirit of justice, stand- ing before us dignified and majestic, suggesting thoughts and feelings of reverence and awe, a veritable sermon in stone. Such a building we have, a noble and grand symbol of law and order that will ever silently preach justice and make its mystic presence and power felt throughout all our bounds. Every one that looks upon its massive pile or stands within its precincts will feel its meaning and majesty. Under its protecting shadow all men will stand equal. It worthily represents our rank and standing among the counties of the state. It belongs to no one town or class of citizens, but will embody the civic life of all our people, and will be every man's just possession and every just man's pride.
2. Let us now look a little more deeply into this thing. That court-house has blossomed out upon that hill as an out- growth of our whole history and civil life. It has deep roots
PPP
SIDE VIEW OF FRONT PORTICO. [Half-tone hy the Chasmar-Winchell Press, New York. ]
227
SERMON BY REV. JAMES H. SNOWDEN, D. D.
running far back that have been bathed with the blood of countless generations. Other men labored, and we enter into their labors as we enter that building. That building em- bodies the civil organization and order that have grown up through long ages, and have come down to us as a precious inheritance of the past.
To be definite, it is the corner-stone of our self-govern- ment. A thorough-going despotism would not tolerate such a building, but would ruthlessly level it with the ground. An- cient civilization knew no such institution. It was only when the evolution of history limited the despotism of kings and lifted the people into power that such a building became pos- sible. The adoption of the Magna Charta, that the English barons extorted from King John, and that was signed on June 19, 1215, marks the moment when this institution became rooted in Anglo-Saxou civilization. The 39th article of that charter reads: "No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseised of his freehold, or liberties, or free customs, or be outlawed or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will we pass upon him nor condemn him but by lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land." "These three words," says Lord Chatham, "'no free man' have a meaning which interests us all; they deserve to be remembered; they deserve to be inculcated in our minds; they are worth all the classics." No freeman shall be condemned but by lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land; that is the meaning of that new building on the hill. It cost many a battle to get it there, countless men have laid down their lives for it; but there it stands, rock-rooted as the hill on which it is planted, and no human power shall tear it down and deprive us of its protec- tion. Self-government is the fundamental principle of our civil life. No hereditary, or self-appointed, or foreign power
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COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
shall control us and order our lives at will, but we will keep the reins of government in our own hands, and be ruled only by lawful judgment of our peers and by the law of the land. And when this fundamental principle of our civil life is in- fringed upon, we will look to that court-house on the hill to protect us in its full possession and enjoyment.
This general meaning of this institution may be special- ized into three subordinate meanings: the court-house stands for protection to life, liberty, and property.
Life is dear to us, and we want to keep it full and sweet. Each man has the same right to his life that every other man has to his, and in this general sense "all men are created equal." Whoever would take this life away, or maim or injure it, strikes us in the most vital part, and inflicts upon us the deepest wrong. But life is not life unless we can use it. Life becomes life only when it leaps into liberty. The freedom to develop and use our powers of body and mind is a necessary accompaniment of the powers themselves, without which they are caged birds or fettered hands. Our manhood can unfold and stand crowned with noble attainment and service only when we have a free and safe field in which to act. And who- ever or whatever would abolish or abridge this liberty so far imprisons us, cuts away so much of our manhood.
A special and highly important part of our liberty is the right of property. Private property is a corner-stone of our civilization. Men did not begin to rise out of barbarous tribal life until they began to own things. The private ownership of a piece of property, though it be but a bow and arrow, develops industry and thrift, foresight, plan, and purpose, ambition and responsibility. While man is building up property, property is building up man. Hence the ownership of private property
229
SERMON BY REV. JAMES H. SNOWDEN, D. D.
is taken by some scientific writers as the beginning of civiliza- tion. And we must retain and defend this right in all its parts and implications or we shall impair our civilization. These three rights, then, life, liberty, and property, lie at the root of our civil and personal welfare.
Now, it would be exceedingly troublesome for us to defend these rights individually and personally, If each one had to do this for himself, it would involve us in constant watching and warfare, the strong would oppress the weak, no one's life or liberty or property would be secure, and the end would be anarchy or despotism. To avoid this intolerable condition, we have pooled our issues and built that court-house. We have organized a legal institution that takes care of these things for us. When any one of these rights is invaded, we refer the case to the court, and it settles it "by lawful judgment of our peers or by the law of the land." In- stead of defending ourselves, the judge and jury and sheriff are there to do this work for us. No one can injure our life, or interfere with our liberty, or deprive us of our property, with- out being summoned to that court and tried for his offense. There our property is registered, there all our rights are guar- anteed. The whole of society is thus organized and mar- shaled for our defense. As long as that temple stands in its purity and power, we are secure in our fundamental rights of life, liberty, and property.
Hence this institution should receive our loyal support. The impression is lurking in many minds that the court is a costly and clumsy affair of doubtful value, a device to obstruct justice with the law's tangled technicalities and interminable delays rather than to administer and expedite it, the rich man's friend and the big criminal's easy means of escape, the tool of
230
COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
trusts rather than the poor man's protection, at best a necessary evil. It is hard for us to rid ourselves of the feeling that there is something unfriendly and harsh and dangerous about law, and that it would be well for us to watch it and shut it up in the narrowest possible limits. These views color our feelings about taxation and the paying of our taxes. To many citizens taxation seems like a kind of robbery, in which we are " held up" by the tax collector for so much booty; and perhaps with all of us there is hardly any other bill that we pay with so much reluctauce and grumbling as our taxes, because we seem to get uothing in return for them.
Of course there is some ground for these feelings. Evils do lurk around our courts and creep up into them, just as they do in all other institutions, even the church and the pulpit. Sometimes corruption invades the jury-box, and may even stain and smirch the robes of the judge himself, though no such suspicion has ever attached itself to one of our judges. The law's extreme technicality and ready means of delay are evils that are justly complained of, and that the bench and bar themselves feel must be remedied. But all these evils are only incidental to human infirmity, and do not enter into the substance of the institution itself. The court stands on its merits as one of the most neces- sary and most useful of social institutions. It binds our civic life into unity and order, and throws over us its con- stant and mighty and beneficent protection. Because its benefits seem invisible, and do not force themselves upon our attention, they are little appreciated by us. In this respect they are like the atmosphere, which seems so much emptiness to us, and yet which we breathe every moment as our very life. The court breathes forth a kind of atmos- phere in which we live. Were it not for its sustaining
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SHERIFF'S RESIDENCE AND JAIL. [Half-tone by the Chasmar-Winchell Press, New York.]
231
SERMON BY REV. JAMES H. SNOWDEN, D. D.
presence and power society would fall to pieces. The simple truth is, hardly anything else costs us so little in propor- tion to the enormous benefits it confers upon us. If we could only see in concrete form what we really get for our taxes we would complain and grumble at them no more. Our taxes should be paid with cheerfulness and even with enthusiasm. Instead of ever trying to cheat the tax col- lector, we should make it a point of honor and of patriot- ism to pay our full dues. And it is wrong for us to cherish disparaging and evil thoughts of our courts. The law is not our enemy, but our friend. Instead of being a harsh restriction upon our life, it is the means of its liberty and enlargement. It fetters our life only as the steel track fet- ters the locomotive. As Paul expresses it: "Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he is a minis- ter of God to thee for good."
We should then honor the court and be in subjection to it. We should discharge all our duties in relation to it as good citizens. We should choose only pure and able men to serve in its judiciary, and we should be willing to give our time and service as jurors when called upon to do so. We should hold it in respect and reverence, and be ready to fulfill its commands. We have done well, then, to build that noble house for its home. As we build fine houses to live in, and fine churches to worship in, so should we build a fine court-house to administer justice in; and that beautiful and costly building is none too beau- tiful and costly for this high and holy use. There the majesty of the law finds worthy embodiment, and there the judge will sit in fitting state as the minister of God to us for good.
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COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
3. There is a still deeper view of this matter, which need only be touched on briefly in this connection. "The powers that be are ordained of God." That court-house is one of the places where God speaks to us, even as he speaks to us in the church and through his Word. Its de- cisions, when justly rendered, are a transcript from the decrees of the court of heaven, and bear the seal of the great judge of all the earth. This invests our court with the highest authority and solemnity, and gives point and power to Paul's injunction, "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers." Not only so, but that court-house is a particular expression and symbol of the divine govern- ment that rules over all this world and over all worlds. We live in a universe of law and order, and of reward and retribution, in which every man shall be judged according to his works. This divine government expresses itself in all the particular judgments of this life, whether through civil or moral or physical law; and it is ever heading towards and will culminate in that "one far - off, divine event to which the whole creation moves," that final assize and great day of judgment, when the books shall be opened and every man shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body. This lifts our life up out of the dust, and clothes it with tremendous responsibility and solemnity. But just as that court we have built is our friend, and not our enemy, so may this infinitely greater court of final judgment, if we live in accordance with its just and good laws, be viewed with trust and honor and reverence, and at last be welcomed as a joyous day of glorious reward.
And now, may we not reverently invoke and pronounce the benediction of Almighty God upon that new court-house we are about to dedicate as a temple of justice? May never
CHESKARMICHEL
WASHINGTON, UPON THE DOME. [Half-tone by the Chasmar-Winchell Press, New York.]
233
SERMON BY REV. JAMES H. SNOWDEN, D. D.
any but pure men sit on its bench, and honest men in its jury-box, and honorable men at its bar. There may strict and impartial justice ever be done, justice that knows no distinction between rich and poor, high and low, strong and weak, justice that ever defends the innocent and lets no guilty one escape. May no slightest suspicion of cor- rupt influences ever taint its decisions. May all men stand free and equal under its shadow, to enjoy its just protec- tion and to receive their just dues. From that fountain may our civic life flow pure and strong. May we all ren- der unto it its just dues, and be in subjection to it. And may the benediction of God rest upon it, that it may ever bless us and glorify Him.
XI.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE YEAR 1900.
ON previous pages (79-85) there was presented from the official report of the county auditors, made in January, 1861, the account of the county commissioners for the year 1860, indicating the extent of the business of the county for that year. Here, to show the development of that business since that period, there is reproduced, for the information of the future, the report of the county auditors upon the
ANNUAL STATEMENT OF THE COMMISSIONERS FOR THE YEAR END- ING ON DECEMBER 31, 1900.
AUDITORS' REPORT.
ORDERS ISSUED.
ASSESSING.
Assessing and enrolling
$9,272 86
$9,272 86
BRIDGE REPAIRS.
William Crispin
$124 95
Al. L. Lindley
22 03
John McNary
39 00
R. B. Plants
29 04
S. D. Miller
2 00
H. B. Brownlee
74 00
A. B. Sampson
10 14
J. B. Dunlap
76 75
N. W. Plants et al
158 63
Wood Morgan.
172 18
Rodgers & Snodgrass
162 45
John S. Wright.
55 40
.
231
JOHN M. DUNN, COUNTY COMMISSIONER, 1897-1902. [Half-tone by Bragdon, from photograph by Hallam. ]
235
DEVELOPMENT IN THE YEAR 1900.
John A. Burr
41 90
Henry Leopold
29 38
J. W. Shidler 47 35
William Baily et al
88 82
L. L. Baine
10 00
L. E. Foster
11 95
John Shres
119 60
S. C. Baine
32 50
John K. Nichols et al
48 04
J. N. Smiley
71 30
John Shriver
25 20
Robert Gillespie 73 00
R. J. Donaldson
6 49
T. L. Brownlee 3 13
F. R. Baker
36 85
Samuel Munnell
22 93
H. H. Plants
71 30
D. O. Hancer
177 00
William L. Dille
79 50
H. C. Sprowls
774 27
Charles H. Spriggs
137 70
W. F. Klein
655 57
Samuel Munnell
110 45
William Forgie
56 70
Pittsburgh Bridge Company
4,296 00
Fort Pitt Bridge Company
2,516 34
Charles Buring 25 00
Mack Hewitt
40 00
L. F. Miller
29 49
J. F. Fitzsimons 59 00
Clinton Sprowls
3 60
Duncan & Porter et al
134 40
William Hockley
1,174 22
Plants & Stollar et al
644 48
A. F. McIlvaine
140 00
W. L. Craft
17 50
William Cosgrove 195 00
J. P. & W. B. Linn
17 27
John E. Mitchner 45 00
Henry Messenger
635 44
236
COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
W. H. Linn 20 00
William Hickman
1,350 00
Wilson & Buchanan Company
4,503 00
J. R. Hemphill et al
66 50
Wilson & Boyd 1,262 25
Christman Publishing Company 4 35
S. D. Abercrombie et al
150 00
Wilson & McNary
196 35
John Sparr.
250 00
$19,509 88
BOOKS AND STATIONERY.
G. W. Roberts
$2 25
HI. F. Ward
2,121 15
J. Howard Blair 2 00
Observer Job Rooms
621 45
Acheson & Bartlett
248 64
Hart & Foster
7 74
E. E. Crumrine
4 80
Blaney Bros
7 00
J. Howard Cramer
94 25
$3,109 28
BOUNTIES.
Bounties for fox, mink
$239 00
$239 00
BORROWED MONEY AND INTEREST.
Citizens National Bank
$5,000 00
Farmers and Mechanics National Bank. 5,000 00
Interest
83 34
$10,083 34
BURIAL OF INDIGENT SOLDIERS.
Funerals
$455 00
Markers
150 00
$605 00
BOUNTY TO ASSOCIATIONS.
Burgettstown Agricultural Association. $100 00
Washington Fair Association 100 00
$200 00
237
DEVELOPMENT IN THE YEAR 1900.
COURT EXPENSES.
Jurors' fees, mileage $10,058 68
Justice, constables' costs
6,096 42
Charles E. Baker
1,561 93
H. T. Bailey
779 02
Witness' fees
4,358 45
Court crier, tipstaves
2,205 00
Court stenographer
2,663 75
District attorney
2,056 15
Coroner
1,860 60
Constables' returns
950 32
Jurors' board on homicide cases 200 00
Interpreter
1 00
A. T. Morgan, auditing in county offices.
25 00
J. T. Hemphill, sheriff's costs, Q. S.
570 30
J. T. Hemphill, sheriff, summoning jurors
246 37
Lunacy proceedings
271 80
$33,904 79
DIRECTORS OF THE POOR.
John Wilson, superintendent county
home $15,000 00
W. K. Lyle, superintendent child's home 8,250 00
$23,250 00
INSTITUTIONS.
Allegheny County work-house $1,815 70
Huntingdon reformatory 707 00
Morganza reform school
2,296 86
Wernersville hospital
651 43
Western Pennsylvania hospital, Dix- mont
3,165 65
Western penitentiary, Riverside
4,754 33
$13,390 97
JAIL.
J. T. Hemphill, sheriff, board, commit- ments. $5,263 16
J. T. Hemphill, jailers' wages 349 92
238
COURTS OF JUSTICE, BENCH, AND BAR.
J. T. Hemphill, supplies for jail 1,015 84
J. T. Hemphill, transportation 582 30
J. T. Hemphill, commitments 75 00
J. T. Hemphill, report to board of char- ity 50 00
J. T. Hemphill, habeas corpus proceed- ings 4 00
J. T. Hemphill, telephone service 36 00
J. T. Hemphill, postage
12 00
Jail physician, Dr. G. B. Woods
20 87
Jail physician, Dr. William Denny
300 00
G. E. Whiting, guarding Jones and Ward 60 00
$7,769 09
LIVERY HIRE.
A. G. Bane
$34 00
Vance Bros
4 00
A. R. Renshaw
50 00
Bernard Sloan
55 50
A. B. Dunn
46 00
Blayney Bros
8 00
J. R. Thompson
3 00
W. R. Warrick
3 00
Grimes & Machan
4 00
$207 50
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS.
Charles T. Rhodes, drilling and casing well $349 00
$349 00
PUBLIC REPAIRS.
Walker & Slater
$48 27
T. E. Redman
71 33
Sunderland & Foley
10 07
J. E. Neff
14 60
Peoples Light & Heat Company
6 24
H. P. Chambers
3 00
F. Hermann
72 76
$226 27
W. J. SHILLITO, COUNTY COMMISSIONER, 1897-1902. [Half-tone by Bragdon, from photograph by Hallam.]
239
DEVELOPMENT IN THE YEAR 1900.
PRINTING.
C. W. Hazzard $147 26
Acheson & Bartlett
33 73
Observer Job Rooms
86 50
Sid. C. Wilson
94 25
J. L. and John Melvin
91 59
George Collins, Jr.
94 25
W. N. Worrell
94 25
H. C. Wilson
94 25
John G. Charlton
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