Evening star., 1938-07-10

His Holiness Pope Plus XXI
cal Association during a meet
preme Court, tribunal of origina.
Jurisdiction. In February Of the fol.
lowing year, when he had been or
the bench only one month, Gov
Martin H. Glynn, a Democrat. namec
him to the State Court of Appeals
when that body asked for additional
justices so as to clear its calendar.
Unanimously Sought.
This action, ignoring the claim,
OF the ranking members of the Su.
preme Court. was based upon tn,
unanimous request of the judges o.
the Court Of Appeals The Governor
pointed out to them Justice Cardozo'.
juniority and the fact that he wa.
not even a member of the appellate
division, but they renewed their unani.
nous suggestion. and he was ap.
pointed
In 1917 Gov. Charles S. Whitman
Republican, made him a permanent
member of the Court of Appeals ir
succession to Samuel w. Seabury
who had resigned to run for Governor
Then in the fall of 1926 Cardozo wa.
nominated by both major parties tc
succeed Frank H. Hiscock as CHIEF
judge and he was elected for a full
term Of IA years.
This would have brought his serv-
ice at Albany to 1910 when, at 10
he would have been eligible for re-
tirement. But his appointment tc
the Nations Supreme Court by Pres
ident Hoover on February IS, 1892
transferred him to Washington.
AS member Of the Supreme Court
Justice Cardozo quickly bore out pre-
dictions that his construction Of the
Constitution would be extremely lib
eral. He had been on the high bench
less than year when President
Franklin D. Roosevelt's administra-
ton raised many new and complex
questions OF Federal powers. More
often than any other justice. Justice
Cardozo found reason to support these
New Deal measures.
In the historic court terms of 1884
to 1887, known as recovery years, -
~ Federal laws backed by the Presi-
dent were questioned in the Supreme
Court. On % occasions Justice Car
doZo sided with the administrat ton
The other five cases found the court
unanimous invalidating the N. R. A.,
the original farm moratorium, the
home loan law. the refund of i'm.
pounded taxes under the A. A. A. and
the dismissal by the Chief Executive
OF Federal trade commissioner.
Lone Dissenter in Oil Case.
He dissented from six majority
opinions. those against the Agricul-
tural Adjustment Act and in the
Guf1ey coal, railroad retirement
municipal bankruptcy. securities regis
tration and hot oil" cases. In the
oil case dissent he was alone.
In his concurring opinion in the
N. r. A. case Justice Cardozo coined
the oft-quoted phrase. this is delega-
ton running riot" He was referring
to the broad delegation of legislative
power by Congress. The President,
although warm friend Of Justice
Cardozo. characterized the N. r. A.
ruling as representing a horse and =
buggy days" Interpretation of the
Constitution
He wrote some famous majority
opinions on New Deal laws which
were upheld, notably those which sus-
tanned the unemployment and old
age pension provisions of the Social
Security Act.
In these he made clear his convic-
ton that the Constitution must not
be construed as rigid framework,
but as living organism which must
grow to meet the changing needs of
the Nation.
Nor is the concept Of the general
welfare static" he wrote. Needs
that were narrow or parochial a CEN
tury ago, may be interviewer in our
day with the well-being of the Ma
ton. What is critical or urgent,
changes with the times"
He read his opinions in a rather
high-pitched voice, a thin smile usually
on his face. The documents were
noted for their clarity and literary
quality. Possessing q tremendous ca
pacity for work. despite a somewhat
frail physique. he indited more than
his proportional share of the courts
opinions.
His manner on the bench was one of
gentle courtesy. especially when he
questioned counsel. His INQUIRIES.
however. frequently brought out points
inadvertently, or deliberately. con-
cealed by the arguer.
BY many he was regarded as the
courts outstanding authority on COM
mon law
Unvarying in his personal routine of
early rising. long hours of work and
early retirement, he also was metic,,.
lousy punctual. He always was on
time for sessions and conferences of
the court and almost never missed a
day from his duties.
"Monkish" in Habits,
Justice Cardozo was a bachelor and
man whom his friends described as
"monkish in his habits" He arose
regularly at am. was at his desk bv
1880 am. and seldom quit 1t before
1890 O'Clock at night. Not all these
hours were given over to legal labors
for he found recreation there. too. in
reading Greek, Latin, history and
philosophy
Once his Albany colleagues decided
he needed more exercise than was af-
forded by his short walks from his
hotel room to the court and told him
to play golf or stay of the bench. He
tried the game for week, but didn't
like 1t and went back to his books.
Justice Cardozo's professional repu-
tation rested not alone upon his legal
acumen He was famous for the sing
ing prose" in which his comments and