Evening star., 1946-04-28

the United States to succeed the late
Harlan Fiske Stone, President Truman
may determine the course of judicial
history for the next two decades. The
choice is comparable in Importance to
the election of President.
Few persons, even generally we'll in
formed lawyers, know the full power
and heavy burdens of the Chief Justice,
who is not only the presiding officer of
the Supreme Court. but is the head of
the judicial branch of the Federal Gov
ernment.
Former Chief Justice Hughes, in his
book, THE Supreme Court of the United
States" caAed the Chief Justice "the
most important judicial officer in the
world" Describing the duties of the
Supreme Court itself, he said that the
justices are bearing the heaviest burden
of severe and continuous intellectual
work that our country knows"
The Chief Justice, of course, has far
more duties and responsibilities than
the eight associate justices. That is why
President Truman's choice will be diff
cult to the point of awesome There
have been only II Chief Justices since
the Judiciary Act of 1889, and each has
left his imprint on our history One,
Chief Justice Marshall, who served from
1901 to 1885, had as much or more to
do in the shaping of the destiny of the
Union as any President. His successor,
Taney, has been held greatly to blame
for the Civil War by the Dred Scott
decision.
Critical Period Ahead.
The qualities demanded for the chief
justiceship are hard to find in any one
man. He must, of course, be profoundly
learned in the law and in history. He
should also be sound administrator,
an expert judge of men and their mo-
tlves, and have physical and mental
capacity for sustained effort year in and
year out. He must be endowed with a
personality and temperament which
will enable him to mass the court" to
use phrase of the late Chief Justice
Taft, meaning generalship and dis
cipline
Never before have these qualities been
more desirable than now, when the court
must draw the line between the wartime
necessities of Government and the
peacetime legal processes.
The present highest court is also being
Jared by cliques and factions which
may become permanent unless a strong
Chief Justice becomes balance wheel
In addition to affecting the historical
trend pf he
choice will in large measure determine
the speed at which the court will do its
work and whether the members get
along with each other.
Young in Experience.
This is more important than might
seem at first glance. Before Chief
Justice Taft speeded up the work of the
court, more than two years elapsed
between the docketing of case and the
rendering of an opinion. Now the
average time is between six and eight
months. The personal element also
affects the work of the justices, who
are men of strong convictions. 1t is
imperative that they associate together
with goodwill and tolerance
The present court is unprecedently
new" in point of service, if the first
court of 1889 is disregarded Justice
Black has been the longest on the bench.
less than nine years. 1t is also one of
the youngest courts in point of years.
The average age of the eight associate
justices is Sc years. When President
Roosevelt took Office in 1888 it was 68
years.
Although the Chief Justice has only
one of the nine votes in the decision of
a case, his power over the highest court
and the other courts of the land is far
reaching. Here is what former Chief
Justice Hughes wrote about the court,
during the interim between his services
as an associate and his appointment as
Chief Justice:
THE Chief Justice as the head of
the court has an outstanding position,
but in a small body of able men with
equal authority in the making of de-
cisions, it is evident that his actual
influence will depend upon the strength
OF his character and the demonstration
of his ability in the intimate relations
of the judges.
Clear Understanding of Each Other.
1T is safe to say that no member of
the Supreme Court is under any illusion
as to the mental equipment of his
brethren. Constant and close associa-
ton discloses the strength and ex-
poses the weaknesses of each.
f1Cnf,raoo nf
Ing, familiarity with precedents, exact
knowledge due to painstaking study Of
the case under consideration cannot fail
to command that profound respect
which Is always yielded to intellectual
power conscientiously applied. That in
fluence can be exerted by any member
of the court, whatever his rank in the
order of precedence.
"At the conference of the Supreme
Court, where after arguments have been
heard and records and briefs have been
examined, the members of the court
compare their views and register their
decisions, not only the cases under
review but the mental equipment and
character of the judges are necessarily
subject to the closest observation. Mar
shall's pre-eminence was due to the fact
that he was John Marshall, not simply
that he was Chief Justice; the combina-
ton of John Marshall and the chief
justiceship has given us our most illus
trious judicial figure"
AS Chief Justice, Hughes was de-
scribed by one of the justices as a
martinez" because of the clocklike pre-