Evening star., 1953-09-09
Chief Justice Unison

qualities which contributed to the per-
Sonality of Chief Justice Vinson add poignancy
to the loss inflicted by his sudden death. Among
them was his capacity for genuine friendliness,
a dignity without Stuff1ness, full enjoyment of
the fun of living without impairment of the
duties of living. Warmly human in his per-
sonal contacts, he was one of the best-loved
figures in official Washington. Few men have
enjoyed wider circle of acquaintance in all
walks Of life, or possessed greater faculty for
making those who knew him feel some special
reason to cherish his friendship.
These were attributes of character that
inspired affection. There were others which
commanded respect. He was loyal to the
obligations of high office, shrewd and tolerant
observer of men and events He spent most
of his life in politics, and he knew every cog in
the political machinery. He was a conscientious
worker himself and he possessed an intuitive-
understanding of motives and human reactions
which added to his gifts as conciliator and
administrator.
Those were talents which President Roose-
velt recognized when he asked Mr.. VinSon to
quit his lifetime position on the United States
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia,
attained after long career in the House of
Representatives, and threw him into one of the
toughest wartime jobs in Washington-Directo
of Economic Sterilization. These same abilities
brought him successive appointments as Fed
eral Loan Administrator, Director of the Office
of War Mobilization and Reconversion, and
Secretary of the Treasury. If his appointment
by President Truman as Chief Justice of the
United States in June Of 1946 came as
surprise, it was followed by general realization
that the situation then prevailing on the court
called for man whose ability to get along
with others was as important a qualification
as background in the law.
For it was one of Mr.. Wilson's tasks to re-
pair some of the damage that the Supreme
Court had done to itself by unseemly quarrel
ing among men who graced it's bench. In a
brief statement which seemed to reveal a
certain wishful thinking on his part, Mr.. Tru-
man said, in announcing the appointment, Cali
of us have the utmost respect for the courts
of the country, and we know that that respect
will be enhanced when Mr.. Vinson becomes
Chief Justice of the United States actively on
the bench"
Preservation Of that respect for the courts
became guiding light to Mr.. Vinson as Chief
Justice. His prompt and decisive action In the
Rosenberg case last June, wholly aside from the
legal issue involved, was reflection of his
Sensitivity in regard to the courts prestige.
There is reason to believe that of those he wrote
as Chief Justice, he felt more deeply about the
Rosenberg opinion, his final one, into the
preparation of which he put an unusual amount
of time. He was meticulous in explaining the
considerations which Influenced the court, and
he was determined that his own firm convic-
tionS as to the recttude of the precedent
established be understood and shared by others.
At the same time, it was the Chief Justice
himself who most earnestly defended Justice
Douglas right, as judge to take the action
which had precipitated the issue.
good man, there was. in his attitude
toward public responsibility, something which
brought to mind that precept of conduct con-
tanned in Cardinal Wolsey's parting admonition
to his servant
Be Just and fear not.
Let all the ends thou din1'st at be thy countryS
Thu Gods and truths.