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The Party and the Nation

Government Counsel and Their Opportunity

Almost exactly six years ago I arrived in Washington to become a General Counsel for the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Promising myself and my clients that it was for a year only, a good deal bewildered at the size and complexity of the government machine, I joined the ranks of government counsel.

Our Government Is Prepared Against the Fifth Column

This nation is well equipped to combat sabotage, espionage, Fifth Column activities, and other matters related to law enforcement. Long before this country became alive to the dangers of the Fifth Column, the President, forewarned by his experience in the World War, saw emergence of national defense as the nation's first problem. As long ago as September 6, 1939, he directed that all federal agencies dealing with civil defense during peace time be coordinated under the Department of Justice.

Sesquicentennial of the Supreme Court of the United States

The Federal Judiciary Act which became a law on September 24, 1789, provided for a Supreme Court to consist of a Chief Justice and five associate justices, thirteen district courts, and three circuit courts composed of two Supreme Court justices and a district judge. The act further fixed the jurisdiction of the inferior federal courts and provided for appellate jurisdiction from the state courts in certain cases presenting federal questions.

Should The New Deal Policies Be Continued?

In establishing the Town Hall of Buffalo you are founding one of the basic institutions of democratic government, and I count it a privilege to help. The price of free government is that citizens must keep themselves informed and alert and critical of those in office. Our people need uncensored facts and undistorted information. But also they need the diversity of interpretation of events and the clash of opinion which helps to form individual judgments, the sum of which constitutes public opinion.

Francis Biddle Honorary Address

I think it is some indication of the really revolutionary character of the New Deal that the Jacksons welcome the Biddles to Washington and the Biddles welcome the Jacksons to Philadelphia. I was willing to go a long way toward effecting this reconciliation and came here asking only a fair and open field, and supposing that Francis would not take advantage of my small-town background and imagination.

FBI Police Academy Address

In extending congratulations to the graduates of the National Police Academy I will ask you to note and to take back to your respective communities three sets of facts which are very significant in view of the current generalities of praise and blame of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Federal Prosecutor

It would probably be within the range of that exaggeration permitted in Washington to say that assembled in this room is one of the most powerful peace-time forces known to our country. The prosecutor has more control over life, liberty, and reputation than any other person in America. His discretion is tremendous. He can have citizens investigated and, if he is that kind of person, he can have this done to the tune of public statements and veiled or unveiled intimations.

A Square Deal for the Court

The Constitution is a short document; together with its amendments it is only about 10 pages long. This is much shorter than most of the important statues. It is also, I fear, shorter than is my written address tonight. Since the Constitution is so short, and since the founders of our nation realized they should not attempt to deal too specifically with the problems of the distant future, its commands are cast in very general language.

Essential Differences Between the Republican and Democratic Parties

This argument was presented on Thursday evening, April 11, 1940, and was one of the regular Town Hall programs. The moderator of the program was George B. Denny, Jr. Glenn Frank at this time was chairman of the Republican Program Committee and had just sponsored the composition and publication of an extensive Republican Campaign Handbook. The Honorable Robert H. Jackson, not long before appointed Attorney-General of the United States, was widely referred to as President Roosevelt's choice for his successor. As the third term idea gained momentum in April, 1940, Mr. Jackson was frequently mentioned as a possibility for the vice-presidency (even though from Roosevelt's state of New York).