Evening star., 1938-10-23
Hankturte1; the Legal Liberal
His Friends Believe He Would Fit Holmes Tradition

CAMbH1OIE, MaSS-SpeculaClOn grew
today whether Felix Frankfurter, Harvard
Law School professor and close New Deal
adviser, would follow to the Supreme Court
bench two other great liberals from that
school, the late Justice Oliver Wendell
Holmes and Justice Louis D. Brandeis.
Both President Roosevelt and his fire.
quent consultant, Frankfurter, stood silent
on recurrent reports that he was being
considered for the vacancy left by the
death Of Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo.
Frankfurter returned from a recent visit
with the Chief Executive to step immedi-
ately, as he has in recent years, into the
comparative obscurity of his professional
sanctum. His retreat. however, now has
achieved all the isolation of a busy post
Office
His chief exercise" said an acquaintance,
lis answering the telephone"
New Deal Law Talent Scout"
Should the little gray-haired professor
of administrative law accept a call to
Government service, he would be following
the path he has outlined for so many bright
young Harvard law graduates
The former Austrian immigrant boy, who
is held by many to possess one Of the
keenest minds In the country, has played
some part in spotting for high positions
in the Federal Government such men as:
James M. Lands, former chairman of
the S. E. c. and now dean of Harvard
Law School;
Thomas G. Corcoran;
Dean Acheson. former Undersecretary Of
the Treasury;
Calvert Magruder, formerly of the Labor
Board under the N. R. A.;
William Gorham Rice. jr.. of the In
ternational Labor Office at Geneva
"A continuous supply of the best type of
young men would furnish constant renewal
of energy in public administration" Frank
furter once wrote.
In this country we have been so anxious
to avoid the dangers of having the expert
on top that We suffer from strong reluc-
tance to have him on tap" he declared
nearly decade ago.
Acts Efficiently When Asked.
One who knows him has said that Frank
furter has never asked a job favor on
behalf of any one He has. said this friend,
the reputation of filling a position with
the right man when he is asked
Frankfurter's sharp. bright blue eyes
under a rather bulging forehead indicate
the agile mind that works behind them.
Partly for that reason, and despite his
thinning gray hair, he gives the appearance
Of youth.
Perhaps it is his constant association with
students. He and his wife, the former
Marion A. Denman of Springfield, Mass,
have no children, but weekly groups of his
brightest students gather at his home to
match wits in long bull sessions.
No dead wood" lasts long at these meet
ings or comes again.
His students either like him tremendously
or dislike him heartily, and his conduct of
classes is unorthodox and informal-his
attitude seeming to be that of student
who just happens to know little more.
Short, rather broad-shouldered, he fire.
quently will stride into the lecture room
talking as he comes. Sometimes he will
turn over the lecture to a student then
bVAIlu III Vic IcdI Ol GI1e IOOIn anu Qelp
heckle.
Impatient With Muddled Thinking.
He detests foggy thinking, and will inter-
rupt reciting student with you didn't
mean that. This is what you mean to
say ="
He once asked a student how he thought
he had "hit" an exam, and the student
cracked, "Only God in His infinite mercy
knows"
And God won't reveal the answer for
some time" Frankfurther is said to have
replied.
Frankfurter Is an enthusiast for thor
oughness in his classes, and former stu
dent said Of him:
He is always thinking. He finds 1t
very difficult to relax. There are many
people who like to spend a nice dull eve
ming, and no evening with Prof. Frank
furter is ever dull"
Frankfurter takes no exercise besides
walks with friends. He plays no golf,
tennis, or cards, but he will drink cock
tail and smoke moderately.
He reads omnivorously and has pho
tographic mind" that allows him to absorb
the gist of printed pages rapidly. He loves
fine music, and his wife is an accomplished
painter Entirely unselfsh he aids hun