Digest of Public Opinion on Jewish Matters

[The purpose of the Digest is informative: Preference is given to papers not generally accessible to our readers. Quotation does not indicate approval.–Editor.]

The law profession in the United States today has attained the highest standards in the history of the country and its level is highest precisely in the East where the majority of the Jewish lawyers are to be found. This assertion is made in the “Forward” of yesterday by Hillel Rogoff who discusses the charges made against Jewish law students and lawyers by Herbert Fordham.

Referring especially to the charges that Jewish lawyers lack the “American background” and that they enter the profession “because it is now the easiest and cheapest profession,” Mr. Rogoff calls the attention of Mr. Fordham and others who have injected a Jewish issue into the question of higher requirements for admission to the bar to the facts of American history. He writes:

“The prominent lawyers who are sermonizing against their Jewish colleagues cannot be sincere. Certainly they, if any one, should know that the picture which they paint about American traditions, the background of the profession, is a false one. They surely know the history of America, and they should know that throughout the history of this country the law profession has been on a low level. They surely know, moreover, that the law profession in America was always no more than a means of making money and attaining political success. The lawyer was considered long ago as a greedy person and a danger to society. As far back as 150 years ago, when there were no Jewish lawyers here, the farmers and small merchants in the towns of New England demanded that the law profession be abolished altogether. The poor masses regarded the lawyer as the partner of the wealthy mortgage dealers, who in those days were taking away their farms and property.

“When the famous Daniel Webster, one of the greatest statesmen and lawyers in American history, was considering in his early days the study of law he wrote to a friend as follows: ‘I fear that the law profession will stifle in me the sense of mercy and dull my feelings. A lawyer earns his living from the poor people. The wealthy do not go to court’. Thus wrote Webster about 100 years ago, and he lived in the real Yankee atmosphere of New England, whence come all the old traditions, which the prominent lawyers are so proud of and which they speak of in their attacks against the immigrant lawyers.”

Mr. Rogoff further contends that if the law profession has attained a higher level, “this has taken place in recent years and precisely in the eastern states where most of the Jewish and immigrant lawyers are to be found. In the south and in other purely American parts of the country the profession is on a much lower level. In those parts the profession still continues to stand on the ##tional grounds’ and is therefore more a matter of business and politics than a social science and philosophy.”Pointing out that the proportion of good and bad lawyers among the Jews is the same as among non-Jews, the writer adds in conclusion: “On the other hand, there are just as many lawyers among the Jews as among the non-Jews who are a pride and honor to the profession. There are few lawyers in the country like Judge Brandeis and Judge Cardoza, who stand at the very peak of their profession, both as scholars and morally irreproachable personalities.”

In an article on the same subject appearing in the “Jewish Morning Journal” (March 10), Isaac Allen says in part: “The complaint that candidates for the bar are insufficiently prepared for the profession is justified. But it is less justified today than it was 20 or 30 years ago. In those days it was sufficient to have 24 Regents counts in order to be admitted to a law school, whereas today 72 counts are required. In those days two years at a law school and one year of clerkship was enough to become eligible to the bar, whereas today three years at a law school besides a year’s clerkship is necessary. In former times persons who spoke and wrote a bad English were admitted to the bar. Today such persons are no longer to be found, and those who study law speak English in a way that gives no cause for embarrassment on their account when listening to them in court.”

JULIUS ROSENWALD’S $500,000 OFFER FOR CHICAGO HALL

Julius Rosenwald’s offer of a $500,000 contribution toward the construction of a huge convention hall in Chicago is lauded by the press of that city. The “Daily News” observes:

“With characteristic public spirit and enthusiasm, Julius Rosenwald has offered to contribute $500,000 toward the construction of an adequate convention hall in Chicago. He recognizes Chicago’s great need of a centrally located auditorium and civic and industrial center and is ready to do his full share–and more–to assist in bringing about early realization of the project.”

The “Chicago Tribune” writes:

“Mr. Rosenwald’s unsolicited offer of $500,000 for the construction of a great convention hall in Chicago and Mr. Cermak’s well considered plan of financing and managing it emphasize the fact that Chicago is going to have the kind of hall it needs.”