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Commencement Address at Albany Law School

It was a generation ago when the Albany Law School charitably honored me with a diploma of graduation. The school was then housed in an ancient State Street building, reputed once to have been consecrated as a church. Its façade suggested a piety that was not fully sustained by the student body. It is a matter of pride to us, who will always remain in debt to the Albany Law School, that its intervening years have been marked by steadily improving facilities and advancing standards.

The Challenge of International Lawlessness

We lawyers would commit only a pardonable larceny if we should appropriate as an affirmation of the ideals of the legal profession a prayer from ancient liturgy:... As men experienced in the conduct of legal institutions which, among men, have largely displaced violence by adjudication, we should have some practical competence in measures to maintain justice among nations.

Our American Legal Philosophy

I am happy to share the hospitality of this occasion- not as a guest, but more nearly as a returned prodigal. When, over a quarter of a century ago, I became a member of this association, it was the expectation of serving for life at the bar of this state. I was lured away for a time from that strict course, although I cannot say that I did much to prevent my seduction.

Indifference to Our History

While the daily conduct of the war is not within the special competence of lawyers and judges, the factors that have slowed the democratic response to the challenge of war is something with which we may usefully concern ourselves.

The Besieged Strongholds of the Mind

When the times cry for action rather than words, an international discussion meeting such as this can justified only by the assumption that the deeds of men are the products of their thoughts. It is idle to deny that by and large the deeds of the United Nations, except in defense of actual homelands in Russia and England, have been on a disappointing level of accomplishment.

The Law Above Nations

At this time dissension and lawlessness have the upper hand in much of the world. But we members of the legal profession throughout the Americas happily are united in a community of interest in the development and improvement of the legal systems of our several countries.

The Law Is a Rule for Men to Live By

I believe it was Emerson who said that institutions are but the lengthened shadows of individuals. It is my purpose to speak of Mr. Justice Brandeis, the man under whose lengthen shadow we gather tonight.

Society and the Graduate

Commencement season is traditionally a time for casting up accounts between society and the graduate. This year some unusual items throw the account out of its normal balance. For many years American youth at this high moment of life took its place in a society that was regarded as collectively secure under national institutions that were sage from external attack.

The America We’re Fighting For

How can American determine what its domestic goals after the war shall be? And why should we bother about it now? It is already plain that the Government will be pressed in favor of many plans by various planners. Important choices must be made. Intelligent decisions take time and preparation.

Swedish Contributions to Our Law

Three centuries make only a short pan in the long national life of Sweden, but they twice measure the entire national existence of the United States. our annals are concentrated in so few years that our interest in particular events sometimes appears extravagant to older peoples with longer histories.