Evening star., 1932-02-16
CARDOZO RECOGNIZED AS ONE
OF GREAT JURISTS OF PRESENT
Supreme Court Nominee Holds Respect of
All Parties, Lawyers and Laymen,
Conservatives and Liberals.

Before Judge Cardozo's term expired
the retirement of Chief Judge HiScock
on reaching the age Of 10. in 1925, fur
niShed another occasion for evaluating
Judge CardoZo's reputation. He was
nominally a Democrat, but had never
entered the scramble Of politics. never
theless the Republican and Democratic
parties, urged by bar and bench, par
ticularly by his associates in the Court
both parties. His election to the post of
chief Judge became only a matter of
popular routine.
In June. 1881, the Roosevelt Memorial
Association awarded him cne of the
Roosevelt Medals for DISTINGUISHED
Service. His citation read In part: "At
time when some of the lower courts
have been under fire, his integrity, his
love Of justice and high-minded ap-
proach to the duties of his post have
been a model and an inspiration to the
courts throughout the country and a
token to the public of the soundness Of
their judicial system. His penetrating
mind and unsual literary felicity have
clarified for the legal world the function
Of the judge IN shaping and developing
the law"
Judge Cardozo is the author Of "The
Nature Of the Judicial Process" Q92D
and of THE Growth of the Law"
Q924), as well as Of collected volume
Of his discussions as Carpenter lecturer
at Columbia University for 1928, pub
lished under the title of The Paradoxes
CT Legal Science"
In 1925 he was chairman Of a COM
mittee on plan and scope appointed
to aid an honorary commission author
lied by the State Legislature to investi-
gate defects in the law. He recon-
mended a permanent agency to func-
ton between courts and Legislature to
consider the changes essential to the
proper administration of justice In a
changing civilization.
Trustee Of Columbia.
In gatherings Of lawyers and laymen
the small, thin man, with the pallor Of
student and the eager eyes Of a
searcher for truth, under a shock Of
white hair, has come to be regarded
with awe as great mind as we'll as a
great judge. Honorary degrees have
been added to his name by universities
year after year. Columbia made him a
trustee in 1928
Judge Cardozo has devoted his life
to the study of law, and to the acquisi-
ton Of a general understanding of civil
liZation on which he holds the law
must be predicated. He never married
and Is a leading figure in Jewish edu-
cational movements.
When his name was first mentioned
the political reaction was that Presi-
dent Hoover could not afford to ap-
point another New Yorker to the Su-
preme Court on which there were al
ready two New Workers in the nine
seats, namely. Chief Justice Charles
Evans Hughes and Associate Justice
Harlan F. Stone. But the objection
that he would not be confirmed by
Senators from the West and South,
which have a minority representation
to disappear, however. in the face of
tributes from those sections showing
there was nothing regional about the
recognition OF Judge Cardozo as one
Of the outstanding judges not already a
member Of the Supreme Court, lib
eral and man pre-eminently qualified
to succeed Justice Holmes.
Upon motion of Samuel Seabury,
president of the New York State Bar
Association. at its recent annual meet
ing, letter was written to President
Hoover urging the appointment of Judge
Cardoza as "a man recognized by the
profession and the people alike as the
most distinguished jurist of our age
The entire law faculty of Columbia
University urged his appointment, as did
the Yale law faculty, which telegraphed
to the President that 'the Importance
of the Office is so high that the field of
choice ought not to be narrowed by any
consideration Of party faith or geog-
raphy."
Under these circumstances, Judge
Cardozo was selected for the highest
bench In the Nation.
(Copyright. 1892. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance, Inc)