Evening star., 1936-04-13
Opponents in Ne,u Deal Join
In Mourning Death of Beck
Glowing Tributes Paid
Former Solicitor Gen.
eral of Nation.
BY the Associated Press.

nents In many a bitter constitutional
battle, leading New Dealers today
paid glowing tribute to James Mont
gomery Beck, who died suddenly at
his home here yesterday.
The 75-year-old veteran Of many
notable battles at the bar, in Congress
and on the orators rostrum suffered
heart attack shortly after eating
luncheon at his home, 1924 Twenty
first street. He died within short
time.
Funeral arrangements had not been
made today, although it was expected
he will be buried in Washington. He
is survived by his widow, Mrs. Lila
Mitchell Beck; a daughter, Mrs. Bea-
trice Beck Tuck, and son, James M.
Beck jr., who lives in London.
Those who came in contact with the
former solicitor general had nothing
but praise for his ability as lawyer
and the service rendered by him to
the country.
His sudden DEATH" said Solicitor
General Stanley Reed, who as Beck's
opponent, argued some recent New
Deal cases in the Supreme Court
sis a great loss to the Nation.
"He has been an assiduous student
of the law throughout his life and
Joined with his great legal ability q
felicity of expression which enabled
him to make his knowledge available
to others"
Speaker Byrns, with whom Mr.. Beck
served in the House as a Republican
member from Pennsylvania, said:
Every one will be shocked to learn
of the death of this distinguished citi-
zen, who has been so prominent In
public affairs. He was a lawyer OF
international prominence and a man
of great ability"
Beck was born in Philadelphia. and
was graduated from Moravian Col
lege at Bethlehem, Pa. At 19 he went
to work as a clerk for the Philadel-
phia & Reading Railway. He studied
law at night and was admitted to
the bar in 1884.
He began his political career as a
Democrat, being appointed by Presi-
dent Cleveland as Federal attorney
in Pennsylvania. Disagreeing with the
platform of William Jennings Bryan,
he switched to the Republican party.
He campaigned for Mckinley in 1896
and four years later was appointed
Assistant Attorney General. job in
which he gained attention as trust
buster"
Resigning in 1908, he entered private
practice in New York, but in 1921
President Harding appointed him So
| licitor general. He represented the
Government In approximately 1000
cases before the Supreme Court, being
successful in rs per cent.
| Beck was elected to the House In
1927 and reelected for two additional
terms. During his third term, he an
nounced on September 13, 1884, that
he was resigning
Under present conditions" he said,
Congress Is merely a rubber stamp
for the Executive and to be one-four-
hundredth part Of rubber stamp no
longer appeals to me-"
Among his frequent criticisms of
the New Deal was a recent assertion
| that "the administration OF President
Roosevelt has been an insidious revolt
against our form of government" He
was member of the Lawyers Com
mittee of the American Liberty League.
Sheer power of intellect marked
Beck among his colleagues in the ma
tional House Of Representatives and In
legal profession
In the United States he was known
, as an authoritative constitutionalist,
a great political orator and trust
buster" Abroad he was the first
American lawyer to appear before the
Prvy Council, Great Britain's highest
court; was bencher of Gray's Inn in
London, an officer OF the French
Legion of Honor and a commander
of the Order of the Crown in Belgium.
Seated in the House as Republican
he voted against the Hawley-Smoo
tariff bill of 1929 and was said to be
first Pennsylvania Republican to oppose
a protective tariff in the National
Legislature. He contended that the bill
delegated to the President powers of
taxation which the Constitution vested
in Congress.
His oratorical powers brought mem
bers of the House of Representatives
flocking to the floor from the coat
rooms and lobbies whenever it became
noised around that he was to speak.
His addresses were based on pro-
found scholarship ana natural elo-
quence and were acclaimed as master
pieces of logic and argument.
On February 8, 1880, when he ad-
dressed the House on 'The Revolt
Against Prohibition" his peroration
was the signal for applause from vets
and drys alike. He warned that the