Evening star., 1946-04-23
Chief Justice Stone

anu CIldTm disappeared from the
American scene when Harlan Fiske
Stone died. The twelfth Chief Justice
might have achieved eminence in
any OF a considerable number of
different fields. Born and reared on
New Hampshire farm, he originally
intended to make career of agri-
culture. At Amherst he prepared to
go into medicine. When he had been
graduated, he accepted appointment
as an instructor of science in a high
school at Newburyport in Massachu-
setts. 1t was not until 1898 that he
was admitted to the bar, and even
then he devoted more of his energies
to teaching than to the battles of
trial experience. He was named
full professor at Columbia University
in 1905, was chosen dean of the law
school there in 1910 and remained
in that position until President
Coolidge called him to Washington
as Attorney General to reorganize
the Department of Justice in 1924.
One year later he was chosen to the
highest. tribunal of the land as
natural selection"
How wise and fortunate his eleva-
ton was did not appear at once.
Mr.. Stone had been regarded as
rigid conservative. He never had
made any secret of his distaste for
arbitrary reforms. Liberals in Con-
greSs opposed his nomination with
vigor and passion. But when he had
been confirmed and had entered
upon the routine of his duties, he
soon demonstrated his capacity for
the work he was to do. The country
at large was moving toward new
conceptions of government, and he
moved with it. For a while he was
in the minority, subsequently he
took his place with the majority,
in recent years he again had been a
dissenter. But both as an Associate
Justice and as Chief Justice, he was
consistent in his belief that it is the
business of Congress to make the
laws Of the Nation and not the busi-
ness of any other body to make them.
His opinions were pivotal in that
respect. While the court turned from
one extreme of Interpretation to an
other, he remained steadfast, always
a loyal adherent to the central doc
trine OF his philosophy-his convic-
tion that the National Legislature
alone possesses legislative power
within the Constitution.
Mr.. Stone became Chief Justice
upon the retirement of the distin-
guished Charles Evans Hughes in
the summer Of 1941, when the court
had not yet recovered fully from the
consequences Of the bitter fight over
the late President Roosevelt's effort
to reorganize the tribunal. His was
an appointment, however, which
greatly reassured those who had
feared for the independence of the
Supreme Court despite the defeat Of
the reorganization bill, and Mr..
Stone will be remembered with
appreciation as one who carried
forward a tradition of tremendous
power with dignity, fundamental
equity and elemental purity of pur-
pose. The court certainly was not
weakened by his leadership On the
contrary, it was advantaged by it
notably both in professional and in
popular estimation
But Mr.. Stone was not merely
Chief Justice. His influence went
far beyond that of the Office he
held. Endowed with stalwart phys
ical resources, he lived richly
rounded life from start to finish.
AS boy, he thought nothing of
milking twenty COWS of morning;
when he no longer was young, he
still loved to climb lofty hills. De-
voted to the out-of- doors, he valued
his occasional freedom to visit the
National Parks of the West, to fish
In Maine, to motor in nearby Mary
land and Virginia. His wife was his
constant companion on such excur-
Sions. He shared with her an
enthusiasm for books, art, music
and friendship.