History

John S. Wise

lawyer and former Virginia gubernatorial candidate · active 1907

New York lawyer, one-time Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, who addressed the Maryland State Bar Association at Ocean City on Wednesday 3 July 1907 on 'Centralization by Construction.' He told the meeting that many of the things President Roosevelt was doing had no justification in the Constitution, and that the document was being treated so as to make it 'an india-rubber Constitution.'

In the record (1)

  1. 1907 · 1907-07-03

    The Maryland State Bar Association meets at the Atlantic Hotel and hears John S. Wise attack Roosevelt's "india-rubber Constitution."

    The Evening Star of 3 July 1907 carried a dateline from the town: "OCEAN CITY, Md., July 3. - Lawyers from all over the state, as well as several judges, are here preparatory to the annual meeting of the Maryland Bar Association, which began today. The features of the first session will be the address of President Conway W. Sams and an address by Mr. John S. Wise, the noted New York lawyer, upon 'Centralization by Construction.'" Judges Boyd and Pearce of the Court of Appeals and Judges Alfred S. Niles and others were present. Der Deutsche Correspondent of 5 July put sixty-three people in the Atlantic Hotel session where Judge Sams spoke on "The law and its enforcement" and argued that no new trial should be granted on technical grounds. Wise's address, summarised by the Alexandria Gazette, said that many of the things President Roosevelt was doing had "no justification in the Constitution" and that the Constitution was being so treated "as to make it an india-rubber Constitution." The Baltimore County Union of 13 July called it "the most successful meeting ever held by the Maryland State Bar Association"; membership was largely increased, and L. Allison Wilmer of La Plata was elected president for the coming year, with Robley D. Jones of Snow Hill vice-president for the First Circuit.

    Atlantic HotelMaryland State Bar AssociationJudge Conway W. Sams

    Source · checked 2026-08-06