534 FAMOUS LIVING AMERICANS In the words of a leading periodical ' in Bumming up Chief Justice White's attitude as manifested in the cases cited, he <<has shown himself to be a Nationalist and a Humanist and believes : that the union of states constitutes a Nation and pos- sesses all the prerogatives which belong to a Nation ; that the liberties of the individual must be exercised in subordination to the general welfare of the community; that both the law and the Constitution are to be construed in a large way as in- struments for the protection of human rights and the promo- tion of liberty and justice ; and that the powers conferred by the Constitution must not be so hedged about by narrow con- struction as to prevent their free exercise in securing the gen- eral ends for which in the preamble of the Constitution it is de- clared the Union was formed. ' * One of the striking characteristics of the Chief Justice is his wonderful power of concentration^ coupled with a marvelous memory that is almost uncanny in its achievements. He is said to dictate his opinions to his stenographer and to be able to repeat his decisions from memory after one dictation. An illustration of his marked ability in this connection is cited in his rendering of the minority opinion in the income tax case already alluded to. After rea^ng a few sentences or para- graphs he laid his manuscript aside and deUvered from mem- ory his famous opinion, including a bewildering array of ref- erences and quotations, threading his way step by step through a maze of legal intricacies with a precision that was all but astounding to bis auditors. This rare mental capacity, together with the fact that he is a prodigious worker, renders it possible for him to get a vast amount of work accomplished. And he steadfastly refuses to be drawn from the work which he considers his. Visited by a committee which came to so- licit from him a public address, he gave a firm refusal, point- ing, in justification, to a pile of work that had accumulated upon his table within the past twenty-four hours. This graphic picture of the Chief Justice presiding over the Court is given by an observer : • * * On the bench, clad in the
- Outloo1c 96:895.
s By Isaac F. Marcosson. Munsey 44:747.
