Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-23
CHE WALKS UPRICHTLY,"
TRIBUTE TO HUGHES
Works of Famed Chief Justice of the
United States Supreme
Court Recalled.
Continued From Third pagel

(Contlnued From Third Page)
fame or otherwise, on his bad luck.
President Harding stood by with smile
Of utter enjoyment, and, as. Judge
Hughes made the last stroke that ex-
tricated the ball, the President said:
mr.. Secretary that was a wonderful
demonstration of Baptist faithl"
No less calm and controlled was Mr..
Hughes in 1915. when. after four days
OF doubt and confusion, 1t at last be-
came reasonably apparent that he had
been defeated in the presidential elec-
ton by Q narrow margin of 1906 votes
States % electoral votes. Less than
1000 votes stood between Hughes and
the presidency, out of a total popular
vote of nearly $4,000, 900; yet Hughes
took his defeat calmly, quietly, uncom-
plainingly. There were no recrimina
tons, no charges of betrayal" by men,
bers Of his own party, no charges Of
fraud against the other party. To Mr..
Hughes 1t was just another election, and
he proceeded to resume the practice of
the law, which he had quit when he
became Governor of New York in 1907.
It Is Just that quality Of calmness about
Mr. Hughes that is responsible for what
little criticism there has been of his ap-
pointment by President Hoover.
Not a Flag Bearing Crusader"
Mr.. Hughes is not, never has been
and never will be a fag-bearing
crusader against the wrongs of the
world. Crusaders are necessary: they
have their place in the world, but, very
distinctly, the judges bench is not the
place for a man bent on reforming the
social scheme and government of the
Nation. It is in the legislative assem-
blies, IN the Congress and in town hall
meetings that the proposals Of crusaders
must be considered and put to the tests
OF common sense and common welfare.
The judges on the bench must take the
law as they find it and apply it to the
controversies that arise in the varied
contacts Of men. Their inner attitude
must necessarily be that they do not
even know any of the parties to the
litigation. Before them all men must
be Of the same stature, whether cap
tains Of industry or workers in the
mines and factories. The judicial bench
most emphatically is not the place for
what may be termed, without invidious
reflection, the "reformer." Our whole
system Of government contemplates q
judiciary free from bias, prejudice or
enthusiastic zeal to exploit some per-
sonal hobby.
Mr.. Hughes always has known the
difference In duty as between the judge
and the advocate. He has ben both
judge and advocate-but never stimuli
taneously. Whether serving as Judge or
acting Is advocate there always has
been Q mental balance that precluded
use Of his great powers in a spirit of
vtndicttveneSS or disregard of the rights
Of others. He never has posed as o re-
former, even in the days when he was
Q candidate for offlce and reforming
was popular. Yet, as q matter Of fact,
when elected, he brought about more
reforms Of practical, needful and dur
able nature than had been advocated
by protested and professional reformers
Hughes Guiding Spirit.
To any one who will take the time to
study the whole Hughes career II is
plainly apparent that the guiding spirit,
the animating motive, Of the man
throughout all the years has been to do
well whatever job he undertook. If he
had engaged himself to defend the ac-
ton OF some great corporation in con-
Quoting its business in a manner
charged by the Government to be an
unlawful restraint of trade he gave to
that defense the full measure of his
great legal and intellectual resources.
II ne was hired, as a young and COM
pAracvely obscure lawyer by a legis-
lattve committee to investigate the
dealings OF gas companies and insur-
ance companies charged with extortion
and imposition upon the public he gave
the peoples cause every atom of his
energy, intellect and talent. If, In later
years, he was called upon to defend
labor union oficialS who had called a
strike charged by the Government to be
violation OF law he gave himself as
unsttntedly to their cause as he did to
that OF corporation client whose fee
might be 100000 or more.
glance at the Hughes career inter-
prets the character Of the man ap-
pointed TO preside over the highest
court Of the land.
He was no pampered son Of the idle
r1ch. Hts father was a Baptist min
ister In q small New York town, who
hao come to this country from Wales.
his mother before her marriage was
Mary Catherine Connolly, q school
teacher. His paternal grandfather had
been identified with the founding of the
American Bible Society in London. An
uncle had been preacher in Wales.
With such an ancestry it was almost in
evitable that Charles Evans Hughes
would md his interest in the serious
matters Of life.
How He Prepared for College.
Largely under his mothers and IA
theirs tutelage he gained his prapara-
Cion Tor college. When he had finished
at Colgate University, at the age of 19,
ne taught Greek, mathematics and
French in small school for a year, be-
cause he possessed little money with
which TO further his own education
Then he came to New York City and
studied law for two years at Columbia
University, meanwhile securing a clerk
Sfip IN law ONCE. When he was adj
mitted to the bar in 1884 he had no
rich, powerful clients or friends. He
added TO what income he derived from
his early clients by tutoring in law night
after night.
tice Of the law he left the practice to
accept law professorship at Cornell
HIS health was impaired and it did not
seem likely that he would return to the
struggle necessary In the practice Of the
law. But, two years later, he was back
In New York City, again engaged In the
practice OF his profession. Not for 10
years more was he to emerge from the
obscurity Of Woodworking lawyer in
New York's busy world. In 1905, upon
the recommendation Of one Of his
clients, he was employed by a commit
tee OF the New York Legislature to as
siSt IN the investigation of the practices
Of certain gas companies.
Inquiry Thorough and Effective.
Hughes conducted the investigation
with thoroughness and effectiveness
that won general approval and COM
mendation. Here for the first time was
revealed to the public generally the
quality of his intellect The intricacy
of the involved affairs of 81 gas COM
panies, the intercorporate financial
transactions, the maze of figures on cor
porate books concealing instead of re-