the Supreme Court. The following described prerogative of the Supreme Court is in addition to the right of removal from a State court to an inferior court of the Federal judiciary before the proceedings have been completed in the courts of a State. When a case has been prosecuted to a decree in the highest court of any State, and it appears that the decision is against the validity of a treaty, statute or other evidence of the authority of the United States, or where it appears that complaint is made that a law of the State is repugnant to the Constitution and statutes of the United States, and the validity of the law has been sustained, or where it appears that there has been a decision against any right or title set up by any person under the laws and authority of the United States, that is to say, when any question has been raised and decided adversely to the Federal authorities, power is given to the Supreme Court to examine the case upon a writ of error, the writ having the same effect as if it had been sued out in a court of the United States The Supreme Court is given authority to reverse, modify or affirm the judgment or decree of the State courts, and may award execution, or remand the case to the court in which it had its former decision, for execution of the decree as determined upon by the Supreme Court.

Similar provisions to those in effect with regard to the Federal courts in the United States are made applicable as to appeals from the supreme courts of the various territories and with Porto Rico, and the Supreme Court of the United States has jurisdiction to review and take appropriate action on the final decrees of the supreme court of the Philippine Islands involving constitutional questions, or in which real estate is involved exceeding in value the sum of $25,000. Certain provisions which are common to the Supreme Court, as well as to the other Federal courts, will be summarized under the heading of "The Judiciary," the aim of the present chapter being to outline the particulars in which the Supreme Court differs from the inferior courts of the Federal system.

SUBORDINATE OFFICERS OF THE SUPREME COURT.

Subordinate officers of the Supreme Court who are appointed by the court but whose compensation is fixed by law, are the clerk, the marshal and the reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court. The clerk, who must give a bond which may be from $5,000 to $20,000, is compensated by fees in accordance with a fee table which is fixed by the court, his compensation, however, not to exceed $6,000 per year. He is allowed deputies according to the pleasure of the court, and provision is made by which he may recover for the malfeasance in office of any deputy for whose conduct he is responsible. The marshal, who attends upon the court and serves all processes, who takes charge of the property of the United States and used by the court and its members, and who disburses the official expense money of the court, receives $3,500 per year. He is required to attend all the sessions of the court, and is provided with such assistance and messengers as the Chief Justice may approve, including a bailiff or crier for the court, their compensation to be fixed by the court. The reporter of the Supreme Court of the United States occupies an important and, it is believed, a lucrative office. He is allowed by law a salary of $4,500 a year, for the publication of one volume of the reports of the decisions of the Supreme Court annually, and $1,200 more if he publishes a second volume annually by direction of the court. He is also allowed $1,200 per annum for clerk hire, and $600 for office rent and stationery. For these appropriations he is required to furnish the Government with three hundred copies of each volume of the decisions published by him, and he is allowed to sell other volumes to the public at a fixed price of $2 per volume. The decisions of the court are furnished to the reporter in manuscript by the justices making the decisions, and his work consists of making the syllabus or synopsis of the case which heads the text of the decision, and of arranging for the printing of the volumes, and performing the editorial work thereon.

Upon the assembling of the Supreme Court on the second

Monday in October, it is the practice for the court to adjourn after the opening ceremonies, for the purpose of calling upon the President in a body, accompanied by the Attorney General and the officers of the court, in order to pay the court's respects to the Executive. On the following day the business of the session begins with the hearing of motions, admission of new members to the bar, and the calling of the docket. The court exercises considerable discretion in the matter of forwarding cases upon the list, as without such discretion cases of importance might be required to remain without decision for a long period, while comparatively unimportant cases were being argued. It is provided by law that criminal cases on writs of error from State courts shall be given precedence over other cases, except such as the Supreme Court may deem to be of public importance. The latter class of cases, including those in which the government of the United States is especially anxious for a speedy determination, and cases on which depend the adjudication of a considerable number of controversies in the lower courts, may be advanced, at the discretion of the court, for hearing before other cases which have been entered on the list at an earlier date. Monday is generally utilized as motion day and for rendering decisions in the Supreme Court, and arguments are heard on the following days of the week except on Saturday, when no arguments are heard except in unusual cases. While the arguments in cases are generally heard by the whole bench, the work of preparing decisions is assigned in each case to one member, who submits his conclusion to the full bench in their consultation room for assent or dissent. In the majority of cases, perhaps, the opinion read by the individual justice is that of the entire court. It is by no means uncommon, however, for notice to be given that one or more of the judges dissent, either expressing their unwillingness to agree to the view of the majority, or reading a dissenting opinion, giving their views of the case at length. The decisions are read in full in court from carefully prepared manuscripts, but generally in so low a tone that few outside the first circle of the attorneys within the bar profit

materially from the decision as it is read, a fact which is of little consequence, as the decisions are available in printed form very shortly after they have been delivered.

TABLE OF FEES TO BE CHARGED BY THE CLERK OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.

For docketing a case and filing and indorsing the transcript of the record, five dollars.

For entering an appearance, twenty-five cents.

For entering a continuance, twenty-five cents.

For filing a motion, order, or other paper, twenty-five cents. For entering any rule, or for making or copying any record or other paper, twenty cents per folio of each one hundred words. For transferring each case to a subsequent docket and indexing the same, one dollar.

For entering a judgment or decree, one dollar.

For every search of the records of the court, one dollar.

For a certificate and seal, two dollars.

For receiving, keeping, and paying money in pursuance of any statute or order of court, two per cent. on the amount so received, kept, and paid.

For an admission to the bar and certificate under seal, ten dollars.

For preparing the record or a transcript thereof for the printer, indexing the same, supervising the printing and distributing the printed copies to the justices, the reporter, the law library, and the parties or their counsel, fifteen cents per folio.

For making a manuscript copy of the record, when required under Rule 10, twenty cents per folio, but nothing in addition for supervising the printing.

For issuing a writ of error and accompanying papers, five dollars.

For a mandate or other process, five dollars.

For filing briefs, five dollars for each party appearing.

For every copy of any opinion of the court or any justice thereof, certified under seal, one dollar for every printed page, but not to exceed five dollars in the whole for any copy.

CHAPTER V.

THE OFFICERS OF THE CONGRESS—THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED

STATES-SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA

TIVES SUBORDINATE OFFICIALS.

The Vice-President of the United States is elected at the same time and in the same manner as the President of the United States and must have similar qualifications. He would not be a resident of the same State as the person elected President for the reason explained in the chapter on the President. He receives a salary of $12,000 a year and cannot resign or refuse to serve except in writing over his own name, the paper to be filed with the Secretary of State.

Upon the death or inability to perform his official duties of the President, the Vice-President becomes President upon taking the oath of office. While Vice-President, the person holding that office is also President of the Senate. He is sworn in by a member of the Senate, the function being assigned as a matter of courtesy to the oldest member of the Senate or to the retiring President pro tempore. The Vice-President as President of the Senate may administer oaths of office to Senators and to witnesses in Senate proceedings of inquiry. He presides over the sessions of the Senate, but has no vote unless in case of a tie vote of the Senate, when he casts the deciding vote. He presides over impeachment proceedings except in the event of the impeachment of a President, when, as a party interested in the result, the Vice-President is replaced by the Chief Justice of the United States.

The Vice-President heads the list of those officials, including members of Congress and United States officials generally, who are exempt from militia duty and is specifically named as being entitled to the privileges of the Congressional library. He is by