Jewish Jurists and the U.S. supreme Court
By DAVID SCHWARTZ
(Copyright 1968,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
In all, including_ the new Chief
Justice designate, Abe Fortas, there
have been only five Jews on the
Supreme Court bench.
There might have been one more,
but, Senator Judah P. Benjamin of
Louisiana in the very early days
of the country, was offered a seat
by President Franklin Pierce but
turned it down.
In Taft's administration many
urged the appointment of Judge
Mayer Sulzberger of Philadelphia.
He was one of the great jurists of
the country, a scholar and a man
. respected by all—Jew and non-
Jew. He was a good man person-
ally too. For instance, although he
was not a Zionist, he kept Naphtali
Herz Imber, the author of Hatikva,
from starving. DeSpite all the qual-
ifications, Taft turned down the
idea saying, according to story,
"How would it look for a man on
the Supreme Court to have a name
like Sulzberger" •
* *
Taft, be it remembered, was a
well-educated man. He was friend-
ly to Jews. The Tafts lived just
around the corner from the great
Reform rabbi, Isaac M. Wise of
Cincinnati, and the families often
visited each other, yet Taft could
not reconcile himself to a man with
the name Sulzberger on the Su-
preme Bench. If his name was
Winterbottom o r Throgmorton,
would his decisions be more just?
Taft did offer Sulzberger the
appointment of Ambassador to
Turkey. In those days, every Presi-
dent was always offering some
Jew the ambassadorship . Tur-
key. Oscar Straus was Amassador
to Turkey, Morgenthau was Am-.
, bassador to Turkey. It got so that
some of the Jewish leaders were
. afraid of visiting the White House
: for fear of becoming ambassador
to Turkey.
* *
*
The first Jew actually to get a
Supreme Court appointment was
Louis D. Brandeis. He had been
one of ‘''esident Wilson's chief ad-
visers on financial legislation.
Brande.i, knew-the corporate struc-
ture as few did. He was the author
of a little book "Other People's
: Money" in which he showed that
some of the financial doings were
not always kosher. As soon as WU-
. son announced his appointment,
• there was alarm, especially in Bos-
ton. Wilson sent Norman Hapgood
to investigate. In his book on the
Wilson Administration, Josephus..
Daniels of North Carolina, who was
a member of Wilson's cabinet,
gives the explanation: "The : Tory
Brahmins were up in arms against
a Hebrew who had exposed some
of their doings. The organized op-
position was under the leadership
of President Abbot - Lawrence Low-
ell of Harvard and that portion of
the Boston bar, which was for the
status quo."
.
.
While President Lowell of Har-
vard was the most vehement of i
the opporientS of Brandeis, the
former preside nt of Harvard,
Charles W. Eliot, very much re-
spected nationally, was one of
Brandeis' strongest supporters.
Wilson was worried whether the
Senate Judiciary committee would
confirm the appointment and there-
by hangs an amusing tale as told
by Daniels. Senator Overman,
chairman of the Judiciary com-
mittee, insisted he could not vote
to confirm but Daniels reassured
Wilson, coming from the same
state as . Overman, that at the
proper 'time, Overman would fall
in line. Just about this time, oddly
enough, Wilson was scheduled to
speak in Charlotte, N.C., and Over-
man was anxious that he stop at
Salisbury, N.C. The people of Salis-
bury were demanding of Overman
that he stop there. Finally Wilson
agreed. Then, Daniels writes, Sen-
ator Chilton. came to him and
asked: "What have you people
done to Overman? He is insisting
that everyone vote to confirni the
Brandeis appointment."
Benjamin N. Cardozo who was
appointed to the Supreme Court by
President Hoover, came from the
Jewish "Pilgrim Fathers" — the
earliest Jewish settlers. John How-
ard Payne, author of "Home Sweet
Home," was a relative of the fam-
ily, part Of which had inter-
married.
When Franklin Roosevelt named
Prof. Felix Frankfurter of the Har-
vard Law School, President Lowell
of Harvard voiced no opposition.
Maybe he had learned something
-in the intervening years, but the
old anti-Semitic virus had not en-
tirely left him. When someone pro-
posed another Jewish teacher at
the 'Harvard Law School, he wise-
cracked, "One Frankfurter to the
•Pound is enough." Roscoe Pound
was Dean of the school.
The appointment of Arthur Gold--
berg to the Bench by President
Kennedy seemed to evoke little
opposition, even though Goldberg
is a more Jewish name than Sulz-
beiger.
British Jews Are Saluted by British Govt. Official'
LONDON (JTA)—British Home
Secretary James Callaghan speak-
ing at a Guildhall dinner marking
the silver . jubilee of the Leo Baeck
Lodge of Bnai Brith hailed the
Jewish community of ' Britain for
its contributions to the vigor Ind
strength of the country.
Callaghan declared that British
Jews have brought a "productive
approach" to the nation's com-
merce and industry and contrib-
uted substantially to the advance-
ment of the arts.
"You are a gifted people," he
said, adding, "If you were not, I
don't know how long you could
have survived." Quinton' Hogg,
shadow cabinet home secretary,
said that most Jews had come 'fib
Britain persecuted and ignorant of
the language and have built then).
selves into -a solidly responsible
and respected body of British
citizenry. .
***********0
•
SUNDAY:*
It was said of Cardozo as it was
said of Oliver Wendell Holmes,
that they didn't need the Supreme
Court appointment for glory. car-
dozo's decisions in New York as
Holmes' decisions in Massachu-
MI
)1(
•
setts were admired by lawyers all
.
over the country. Senator Borah
urging Hoover to appoint Cardozo
told him: "Your administration
:T :e' finest clothing m it
may best be remembered by your
*the cOtintry—at about
appointment of Cardozo as John
As • Galileo said, the world does An Early U.S. Settler
Adams is for his appointment of move. .
Asser Levy was the first Ameri- )11
0 1 /2 the price you ex-i
John Marshall to the Supreme
can Jewish citizen and a champion
Court."
of civil and religious liberty among
Vocational Schools
early settlers in New York City. Spect to pay.
To Cardozo, the judge had the
He died in 1681. .
function not only of the historian for the West Bank
111
of the _past, but of the prophet . of
JERUSALEM
(JTA)
—
Five
THE
IF
YOU
TURN
the future. He predicted that a
hundred years hence, posterity vocational schools will be opened
*Fine Clothes For Over 30 YearSO
might look at the entire existing on the occupied West Bank to
$ 15200 W. Seven Mile Rd. 0(
UPSIDE DOWN YOU WOW?
penal system.. as something from 'train 460 young Atabs in electrical
ig Daily to 6:00 P.M. Mon. & Thurs.$
FIND A FINER WINE THAN
the Dark Ages, that medicine
Noon to 9:00 P.M.
work,
engraving
and
welding,
the
might join with the law in deter-
Al Sunday 11:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.m.*
region's
military
government
an-
mining the punishment of every
awe Honor MICHIGAN BANKARD$
offender.
nounced Tuesday.
a
and SECURITY
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HARRY THOMAS
6.
12—Friday, July 12, 1968
Milan Wineries, Detroit, Mich.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
NATIONAL BANK
OF DETROIT
11 a ICI. II
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CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET—JUNE 30, 1968
Main Office, Woodward at Fort
AS S ETS
Board of Directors .
Cash and Due From Banks
$ 630,523,756
Securities—At Amortized Cost:
United States Government
. .
Obligations of Federal Agencies...I
Obligations of States and Political
Subdivisions
.
Other Securities
8
Loans:
Commercial and Consumer..:...... I.
Real Estate Mortgage
: • • • • :
462,305,640
25,355,110
988,422,408
. •
41,096,586
Total Assets
I
M. A. Cudlip
Chairman—McLouth Steel Corporation
Harry B. Cunningham
Chairman and President—S. S. Kresge Company
William M.-- Day
•
President—The Michigan Bell-Telephone
Company
• .. •
Edward F. Fisher
Director—General Motori Corporation
Everell E. Fisher.
1,838,051,426
41,779,053
38,669,782
$3,537,446,425
era
Henry T. Bodman
Chairman of the Board
Chairman, Executive Committee"—•
The Dow Chemical Company
498,812,636
Bank Premises and Equipment
(at cost less accumulated depreciation
- of $21,110,462)
Other Assets
. • • sew
Chairman—Consumers Power•Company
Leland I. Doan
$1,380,335,376
1,879,148,012
Less Allowance for Possible Loan
Losses
t
488,206,154
12,555,504
A. H. Aymond
Vice President and Director—Prins*
Securities Corporation
,
A. P. Fontaine
Chairman—The Bendix Corporation
John B. Ford
•
Director—Wyandotte Chemicals Corporation
John F. Gordon
Director—General Motors Corporation
Joseph L. Hudson, Jr.
President—The J. L. Hudson Company.
Donald F. Kigar
Retired President—The _Detroit Edison Company
LIABILITIES AND CAPITAL ACCOUNTS
• .•
Ellis B. Merry
Deposits:
Demand
.
Individual Savings and Time
Other Savings and Time
Other Liabilities:
Funds Borrowed .
••••
Unearned Income
and Sundry Liabilities
Ralph T. McElvenny
President—American Natural Got Company
Chairman of the Executive Comrn ittH
$1 542,911,670
1,282,824,657
,
324,606,643
3,150,342,970
Peter J. Monaghan
Partner—Monaghan, McCrea. *
Campbell 8 Crawmer
George E. Parker, Jile • ,
Attorney at Low
$ 91,585,000
L • o7s
F. W. Misch
Detroit, Michigan
Robert B. Semple.
President—Wyandotte Chemlcoli Corporation
53,695,810
Capital Accounts:
Common Stock, par $12.50 (authorized
and outstanding 4,800,000 shares)
SurplUs
I • • •
• 0 4.40
Undivided Profits - •
.-.
..I .
Total Liabilities and
Capital Accounts...
g •-. S •re oire
I 0.
,0
145,280,810
3,295,623,780
Nate'S. Shapero
Chairman—Cunningham Drug Storit, IM.
Austin Smith, M.D. ,
Chairman and President+
Parke,Davis S, Company
60,000,000
140,000,000
41,822,645
George A. Stinson
President—Notional Steel
241,822,645
gerpvratiest .
Dwight L. Stocker
•
Consultant—Brown Company,
Robert M. Surdam
$3,537,446,425
President
Donald F. Valley
Chairman, Finance Committee.
- S. S. Kresge Company
Assets carried at approximately $298,000,000 (including U. S. Government Securities carried at
$102,371,435) were pledged at June 30, 1968 to secure public deposits, including deposits of
$53,146,577 of the Treasurer, State of Michigan, and for other purposes required by law.
Michigan's Leading Bank
Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
4