Evening star., 1935-04-26
CONGRESS STUDIES
HOLMES FUND USE
Roosevelt Urges BequeSt
Be Employed in Some
Special Way.

In a special message to Congress
President Roosevelt yesterday recon-
mended that the $250,0o0 bequest
Oliver Wendell Holmes made the Gov
ernment ''be devoted to some purpose
worthy Of the great man who gave 1t. !"
The Presidents message follows:
ITO the Congress of the United
States:
"The Congress Is aware that Mr..
Justice Holmes bequeathed his resid-
uary estate to the Government of his
country. 1t Is gift of one who in
war and in peace devoted his life to its
service. Clearly he thereby sought,
with generous emphasis, to mark the
full measure of his faith in those
principles of freedom and justice which
the country was founded to preserve.
Il shall, I think, be interpreting
Alright the feeling of the country and
the wishes of the Congress if Sug-
gest that this striking gift be devoted
to some purpose worthy of the great
man who gave 1t. Mr.. Justice Holmes
was fond Of saying that we live by
symbols. Our fellow citizens of this
generation would, am confident, de-
sire the Congress to translate this
gift into a form that may serve as .
permanent impulse for the mainte-
nance of the deepest tradition that
Mr.. Justice Holmes embodied.
Kept Law Up to Date.
"That tradition was q faith in the
creative possibilities of the law. For
him law was an instrument of just
relations between man and man. With
an insight into its history that no
American has surpassed; with a Ca
pacity to mold ancient principles to
present needs, unique in range and
remarkable in prophetic power; with
a grasp of its significance as the basis
upon which the purposes of man are
shaped, MIR. Justice Holmes sought to
make the jurisprudence Of the United
States fulfill the great ends our Nation
was established to accomplish. Our
generation will not soon forget, as the
learned world over will long re-
member, his extraordinary achieve
ments as judge, as historian and as
philosopher of the law.
Not Mere Commemoration.
1.-The Congress will, I am sure, agree
that it is fitting to utilize this oppor-
tunity to remind those who will come
after US of our sense of the eminence
of Mr.. Justice Holmes. In so doing We
do not merely commemorate the dis
tinction Of an American to whom the
whole world has paid tribute. We also
mark for posterity our pride in his
faith in American democracy, his con.
fidence in the power of our legal insti'
tutions to realize, when rightly used
the highest American ideals. PosteritJ
which learns the significance of life
such as that of Oliver Wendell
Holmes, jr., draws inspiration from its
understanding.
"I therefore commend to the Con-
gress that the bequest OF Mr.. Justice
Holmes be not covered into the gen.
eral fund of the Treasury, but that II
be set aside in a special fund at this
time and at a later date be devoted
to purposes which will effectively pro-
mote the contributions which law car
make to the national welfare. Once
it is decided the Holmes bequest be
set apart for special use, the precise
object may await ample deliberation
A select committee of the Congress
acting in collaboration with a COM
mittee Of the Supreme Court of the
United States, will doubtless evolve
the wisest uses to which this noble
bequest should be put