Earned Holiday

Last week the U. S. Supreme Court rose for the summer. Chief Justice Hughes prepared to sail for a vacation at Palermo. Justice Holmes returned to his home at Beverly Farms, Mass, to read and rest. Justice Brandeis hurried away to his sum mer cottage at Chatham near Cape Cod. The golf courses about Buena Vista Spring, Pa. drew Justice Butler. Justice Stone waited for warmer weather before going to fish on his own private island near Isle au Haut off the coast of Maine. Justice Sutherland will spend the summer quietly at Burlingame, Calif. Justice Roberts will farm strenuously at Phoenixville, Pa. Justice Van Devanter is planning a trip to Scotland for golf, going on later to Germany for the Wagner festival. Being a bachelor Justice McReynolds has not yet made up his mind what he will do this summer.

All the Justices could leave Washington with a clear conscience of work well done because the Supreme Court had disposed of a record number of cases since last October and its calendar was clear. When it adjourned a year ago, 172 cases on the docket were carried over into this last term during which 833 more were added. Out of a total of 1,005 cases, the court in eight months acted on 892, compared with 794 the term before. In none of the 113 cases which will go over to the next term has counsel filed briefs or made any argument. To Chief Justice Hughes goes chief credit for the court's dispatch. Following the methods of William Howard Taft, he has kept the court abreast of its docket by having all petitions for review, particularly those in criminal cases, acted upon in a week or so, winnowing out the real questions from the dilatory technicalities. Fortnight ago the Supreme Court refused to consider Albert Bacon Fall's bribery review after his petition had been on file just five days.

Traditionally the Supreme Court likes to present a solid front in its opinions. Nevertheless at the last term the Justices divided 5-to-4 in no less than seven important cases, due to recurrent liberal leanings by Chief Justice Hughes and Justice Roberts. Together they made the liberal wing of the court prevail four times whereas one or the other of them created a conservative majority in the other three instances. Revelation that the court was not infallibly conservative made this the most notable term in years.

Chief Justice Hughes is having the most enjoyable time of his career on the Supreme bench. When delivering an opinion, he throws back his black robe, lifts his white head, speaks out in a voice so loud and clear that John Marshall's bust trembles in its niche.

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