26 MAY 1923, Page 20

Roger Brooke Taney will chiefly be remembered for his :amour

decision in the Dred Scott Case (1856-57), in which he :ook his stand against the anti-slavery movement. That ase alone, and his removal of the Government deposits from the United States Bank, are sufficient to prove how erroneous was his policy. Yet his prejudices were inherited, and at least he remained consistent. If, as one of his contemporaries said, " he erred infinitely and wretchedly," it must also be remem- bered that his service in standardizing the practice of the court was valuable in the extreme. Indeed, the impression left by Mr. Steiner's lucid and impartial biography is that, with all his faults, Chief Justice Taney was yet a great judge and a good man."