THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

Volume 8 Number 2

European Antitrust Policy Levy Mayer by DR. HANS B. THORELLI by FRANK D. MAYER, JD'23 In November 1958, Dr. Hans B., Thorelli, Research The paper which follows was delivered by Mr. Mayer Consultant to the General Electric Company, gave a atthe invitation of the Law School on February 17, series of three lectures at the Law School on the sub­ 1959. It is the latest in the School's series on dis­ ject of European Antitrust Pouci], The first of these lectures, dealing with the socia-economic and political tinguished Chicago lawyers. background against which recent European efforts. to People often forget that post-Civil War midwest­ should 'is control monopolistic phenomena be viewed, erners met and overcame in scarcely a lifetime three which was con­ presented below. The second lecture, great problems, which in Europe came to the fore a and cur­ cerned with comparative survey analysis of gradually over a number of centuries. The first was rent in Volume national policies, is published 62, to build part of a unified nation out of an almost virgin Number 2, of The University of Chicago Law Review. continent, the second was to endow their towns and The final lecture, which treats of European partici­ cities with modern machinery of production and com­ pation in international efforts to control restrictive munication and, third, midwesterners had to develop business practices and deals primarily with the Coal' and modify their systems of law and government to and Steel and European Economic Communities, ap­ meet the changing business and industrial conditions pears also in this issue of the Record, beginning on while they were tackling the first two problems. page 19. In that tumultuous and fast-moving era, lawyers like Silas Strawn, P. S. S. Horace I. THE CARTELIZATION OF EUROPE, 1914-1945 John Wilson, Gregory, 'Tenney, Levy Mayer and others helped to lift Chicago It would seem that in recent years government and from a frontier swamp town which was merely the business relations in general and public monopoly con­ center of an agricultural area to today's industrial trol policies in particular have been moving in in­ metropolis of the midwest and one of the great cities creasingly similar directions in the United States and of the world. In so doing they helped usher in what Indeed, individual in individual Eu­ Europe. policies has been called the new Industrial Era. ropean countries frequently have a striking affinity with corresponding policies here. But there are still Levy Mayer was born of revolution and fierce times. His Clara and had fled their basic differences on many points, and behind super­ parents, Henry Mayer, ficial similarity one will often find principal differences little village in Bavaria, Germany, in the aftermath of of economic and social philosophy, which are subject the 1848 upheavals. The Mayers settled in Richmond, only to secular change. Thus, if we want to avoid being Virginia, where Levy Mayer was born October 23, misled by apparent similarity in form, if we want to 1858, the sixth of 13 children. There the immigrant learn something by comparative study, if we are inter­ family was soon caught up in the ferment of the Civil ested in the possibilities of international cooperation War. Finding security in Richmond illusory, in 1863 in this field, and, indeed, if we want to study law as an Henry Mayer moved his family to Chicago, then a town of less than expression of public policy rather than as a mere body 300,000. (Had this somewhat danger­ of rules and cases, we are per force obliged to start out ous migration to Chicago not occurred, you might be with a review of economic organization and its social sleeping comfortably in your respective beds instead and political environment, at least during the period of drowsing here.) In Chicago he set up a small busi­ ness in tobacco and other on immediately preceding the present one. For reasons furnishings, merchandise continued on page 2 continued on page 3 Vol. 8, No.2 The University of Chicago Law School 3

Mayer-continued from page 1 "The favorable reception by the courts and legal pro­ fession of the original edition of this work encourages the was then the so-called Northwest Plank Road. Chicago author to lay before them a second edition, greatly en­ still in the "horse and buggy" age. Electric lights were larged, and so rearranged as to afford a more ready refer­ ence to the contents. All the cases cited, both old and new, unknown and telephones were not used until a number have been carefully verified. This has been done by L. of years later. Residences were generally lighted by Mayer, Esq., of the Chicago bar, to whom also its editing kerosene and a little later were lamps by gas. Buildings has been confided. His faithful and able discharge of those heated coal stoves. Public duties is . generally by transportation hereby acknowledged." was largely by horse or cable car, and private trans­ He also edited a book by the same author on so-called portation, of course, completely by horse-drawn ve­ "interstate law" which is presently termed "conflicts of hicles. There were livery stables in what is now down­ law." This was at a time when Mr. Mayer was only 20 town. Michigan Avenue and other downtown streets years of age. were still a part of the residential sections. At.this stage of his life, Mr. Mayer was described by the late Holdom, who had observed him The family was poor-really poor-as Mr. Henry Judge Jesse while he was Assistant Librarian at the Law Institute Mayer was never much of a success in business al­ as- though he was an educated and cultured man. Accord­ "a great student of the law who expended all of his ingly, all the children worked as soon as they were able. time not devoted to hh duties, in digging into the law books The oldest David went into business with boy, Mayer, at his hand. He was courteous and obliging and quite his under the brother-in-law, Leopold Schlesinger, helpful to lawyers as he knew the library thoroughly and name of Schlesinger & Mayer and eventually did busi­ had practically every book at his fingertips. At that early he had a ness as a department store in the building which is age remarkable knowledge of case law." It was while in the Law Institute that he now occupied by Carson Pirie Scott & Co. The women working became of the family also helped out either in housework, in acquainted with Adolf Kraus, of whom more will be said hereafter. the store, or in giving piano lessons. As soon as he became 21, Levy Mayer was admitted Levy Mayer attended the Jones Grammar School to the bar of Illinois. One of his first cases was the de­ and the Chicago High School on the west side. From continued on page 43 the very beginning he showed evidence of the tre­ mendous intellect which later brought about his great success. He was not only an excellent student but was a voracious reader, particularly of classical literature. When Levy Mayer finished high school in '74 he had already made up his mind to study law. By that time his older brother David had sufficient funds to see Levy Mayer through the then two year course at the Yale Law School, where the 18 year age requirement was waived for the 16 year old scholar. In 1876 he graduated from the Law School, standing second in his class. On the graduating platform with him was Gen­ eral William Tecumseh Sherman, then commanding general of the Army. Coming home to Chicago, Levy Mayer was too young to be admitted to the bar, but he procured a job as Assistant Librarian in the Chicago Law Institute, the law library on the top floor of the Court House, at a salary of $4.00 a week. There he gained valuable ex­ perience in legal research, and made numerous con­ tacts with members of the bar. To supplement the small salary he wrote for legal periodicals, prepared a catalog of the Library, edited several books and aided other lawyers in the preparation of cases. We still have in our firm library a book, which is also in the Law School library, some 500 pages long by David Rorer entitled A Treatise on the Law of Judicial and Execution Sales published in 1878, the preface of which states: Levy Mayer, 1858-1922 Vol. 8, No.2 The University of Chicago Law School 13

Frank D. Mayer, JD'23, delivering his lecture on Levy Mayer to a full house in Breasted Hall. �,It���

The Honorable Charles E. Wyzanski, lr., delivering the bi­ ennial Ernst Freund Lecture in Mandel Hall. At left is Pro­ fessor Bernard Meltzer, who introduced the speaker. Three generations at the Mayer Lecture. Right to left, Isaac Mayer, grandfather of Frank D. Mayer, Jr., Class of 1959 (center), and on the left, Frank D. Mayer, JD'23, speaker for the evening. Vol. 8, No.2 The University of Chicago Law School 43

Mayer-continued from page 3

fense of his brother David in a lawsuit which contained pot a trace of his future practice or of the so-called new Industrial Era. David Mayer was negotiating to buy a horse, and in the course of the negotiations tried it out. He decided not to buy it, and the owner alleged that the horse was returned to him lame. The owner had retained Adolf Kraus, a lawyer who was then coming into prominence. Mr. Kraus was a Bohemian by birth, was self-educated and at that time was about 30 years old. Mr. Kraus' client (possibly because of Mr. Kraus' greater experience) procured a judgment in the trial court against David Mayer for $200. While the case was pending on appeal, Mr. Kraus, who had been im­ pressed by Levy Mayer both in his contact with him at the Law Institute and in the trial of the horse case, concluded to offer Mr. Mayer a partnership. In order to form the partnership, it was necessary to settle the horse case, so Mr. Kraus and Mr. Levy Mayer each contributed $100 towards satisfying the judgment. It is said that Mr. Mayer used up the rest of his savings to buy a desk and some books. According to Mr. Kraus, who published his remi­ niscences some years ago, young Mr. Mayer from the beginning was able to do more work in a day than the average lawyer could do in two days and to do it well besides. For the first year of his practice, Mr. Mayer did office work: drawing contracts, examining ab­ stracts, investigating legal authorities, preparing mem­ oranda and attending to office routine. Mr. Mayer, as is not unusual, was at first extremely nervous at the thought of trying a case in court. However, before the year was up Mr. Kraus told him to take charge of a case. Young Mayer tried it, won it and from that time on had no lack of self-confidence, and in fact acquired great courtroom presence. In its first year the partnership handled a variety of minor matters, both civil and criminal. There were Frank A. Harrington, JD'21, who passed away just prior to this printing. Mr. Harrington, a senior partner in Fuller, Harring­ small contract and real estate disputes, in addition to and was as a trial and business ton, Seney Henry prominent of and a minor to cards lawyer. He was a director and office1' of Great Lakes charges adultery, allowing play Terminal Warehouse Company, Maumee Valley Transporta­ in a saloon. Of course the firm also handled collections, tion Company, Short-Way Lines, Inc., Shurhit Products, Inc., leases, contracts and other matters for & and numerous other corporations. M1·. Harrington had served Schlesinger the store as president of Toledo Goodwill Industries. In addition to Mayer, growing department operated by practice he maintained an active interest in farming and in the Levy Mayer's brother and brother-in-law. In those breeding and racing of standardbred horses. early days, before the Bankruptcy Act of 1898, when a person or business got into financial difficulties he made an assignment to a trustee for the benefit of creditors. These assignments frequently became in­ volved in litigation in much of which the firm par­ ticipated. After the Bankruptcy Act, the firm was re­ quired from time to time to handle claims and other matters requiring knowledge of the bankruptcy law. Mr. Mayer went through a number of severe depres­ sions, those of 1893, 1907 and 1921 and so was familiar with legal and business problems arising from them 44 The Law School Record Vol. 8, No.2

and the laws pertaining to them, such as those just court battles he remained calm. Even after he attained mentioned. great prominence he was always readily approachable in all One of Mr. Mayer's early briefs, filed in the Appel­ by persons walks of life. late Court in 1887, shows his flair for satire as well as Mr. Mayer's assistant for many years, Mr. Matthews, clarity of expression. The case was that of Felsenthal relates the following story: and Kozminski, Plaintiffs, v. Ludwig Thieben, De­ "It was my custom to stay in the office until Levy Mayer fendant. The plaintiffs were bankers and the defend­ went home and sometimes he left quite late. The evening before ant was a in their bank. The bankers depositor private the bar examination he came out of his room at about 7 o'clock, sued to recover for obtained from the bank " moneys by hat and coat on, ready to go home. He had just heard that I the depositor by means of an alleged conspiracy be­ planned to take the examination and he asked whether I thought tween him and the bank's bookkeeper. It was con­ 1 had done enough studying to do so. 1 told him what 1 had read and he started to ask me questions which 1 answered tended that the arrangement was that Thieben was to readily. He finally asked me a difficult question involving the draw checks his account, receive moneys which upon applicability of the Rule of Shelley's case in a real estate transac­ he was to share with the and the latter bookkeeper, tion. I answered him and he said 1 was wrong. 1 said 1 thought was to not enter in destroy the checks and them the I was right and 1 cited a case to him which supported my bank's books. Mr. Mayer won a victory before the jury answer. He took off his hat and coat, walked into the library and the bankers appealed from the iudgment of the and started to pull down books. I found further decisions sup­ porting my answer and showed them to him and finally he said, trial court. Apparently the custom at that time was '1 believe you are right.' Then he put on his hat and coat and that the treat the to drinks at the " winning party jury as he walked out he said, '1 guess you will do.' nearest saloon after the verdict was rendered. -Plaintifls in their brief had of the of the complained quickness This demonstrates his interest not only in legal ques­ in their verdict and of this custom. Mr. jury reaching tions but also in the young men who worked for him; wrote in his brief: Mayer reply also his open-mindedness and readiness to admit error.

"Plaintiffs in error conclude their brief by asking this Here, although it may not prove any particular point, court to reverse the judgment of the court below, because I would like to interpolate and tell one of my own the jury, they assert, (by a statement dehors the record), recollections of Mr. Mayer: The evening of my first arrived at a verdict in forty-five minutes, and subsequently day at this Law School, Mr. Mayer was at our home adjourned to a neighboring saloon after the close of the trial for dinner. I told him about the first case upon the invitation of the defendant, for the purpose of Naively, which we discussed in under the late having refreshment. Did the rules of law permit, we should personal property be inclined to assign as cross-error the fact that it took the Professor Bigelow, who subsequently became the Dean minutes to arrive at a further­ jury forty-five verdict, and, of the Law School. The case involved a question, more, to complain, in the language of the court below, that seemingly a simple one (although I have since learned 'a new trial ought to have been granted, because, in the better) as to whether the true owner, the finder or the satisfaction of the defendant with the verdict, he forgot to " owner of the to of a ask the presiding judge to partake of his treat.' property had the right possession ring which had been lost in a hen shed. To my amaze­ However, the Court reversed the Appellate judgment ment, Mr. Levy Mayer and his brother, my father, Mr. of the trial court and remanded the case back for an­ Isaac H. Mayer, became engaged in an argument other trial on the ground that the trial court had erred which lasted for hours. But these nestors of the bar in to admit certain evidence. The of refusing opinion never came to an agreement over the correct answer. the Court was written Appellate by Judge Moran, who I wondered to myself whether I should not immedi­ later became a member of the firm of Kraus & Mayer, ately drop out of Law School, rather than pursue a on the "if can't beat 'em." possibly theory you 'em, jine career concerned with questions to which apparently there are no answers. I continued am As he gained experienced, Levy Mayer became a But, and there­ fore here before truly great advocate. He not only had an excellent you. speaking voice but he was impressive both physically However, it was not merely as an advocate that and intellectually. He was nearly 6 feet tall and well Levy Mayer attained his claim to greatness, but soon proportioned, had a rather leonine head, handsome, he became widely known for his expertness in the though rather large, regular features and dark hair. intricate field of corporate, business and antitrust law, Intellectually he was quick, had an unusual power of and his keen perception of business itself. Chicago but was analysis, also exceedingly thorough as will be was growing with great rapidity. So were the busi­ demonstrated in later some nesses discussion of of his cases. located here. Mr. Mayer not only acquired an Mr. Mayer was always a good listener and could astonishing knowledge of a great diversity of businesses, and quickly accurately absorb facts related to him by such as grain, meat packing, banks, utilities and news­ clients or was associates. He aggressive, but not in an papers, but he also kept up with the legal and business overbearing or disagreeable way, yet in the heat of developments in the corporate and business field. He Vol. 8, No.2 The University of Chicago Law School 45 had among other assets great imagination and skill in on Mr. Mayer, with the able help of his brother Isaac working out new legal machinery adapted to the era H. Mayer and his brothers-in-law, the Messrs. Carl and of rapid business expansion. Abraham Meyer, became the legal adviser to these Professor James Willard Hurst, in his book on The banks and to their chief executive officers. In fact, one Growth of American Law, says with respect to the of the last matters Mr. Mayer was working on at the changing functions of lawyers as business became time of his death was the acquisition of the Fort Dear­ more complicated in the last and earlier in this century: born Banks by the Continental. As and its business the "After 1850 the handling of facts took on a new importance Chicago enterprises grew, business both in advocacy and in counseling. By the 1890's the complex of the firm grew rapidly in the 80's and 90's. facts of the economy in particular offered both the setting and This was fortunate because not only had Philip Stein, to take on a new role - as a the pressure for the lawyer special­ who later went on the bench, become a partner, but ist in accurate, fast of snarled or complicated incisive, appraisal also Mr. Mayer's brother, Isaac H. Mayer, who is be­ situations. Law was too close to affairs for the lawyer ever to his 75th year with the firm and who is have been wholly a man of books. Nonetheless, there now came ginning present at the of 94. His wife's two Carl a change in emphasis that amounted to a change in func­ tonight age brothers, tion. � � �" Meyer and Abraham Meyer had also joined the firm. All of these very competent lawyers were soon to be­ When Levy Mayer began his practice, the financial, come leaders of the bar, Mr. Isaac H. Mayer particu­ business and industrial centers and the great markets larly in the trial field and Messrs. Meyer in banking were still in Europe. Even as late as 1900 over a third and corporation law. Subsequently a number of neph­ of the American wheat crop was shipped abroad, and ews also entered the firm so in the earlier days it was in 1906 the export of beef reached a peak of 732,000,- more or less a family organization. Accordingly, had 000 the 80's and 90's cheap American pounds. During the firm not done well, the entire family might have grain and beef blanketed the English market, con­ died of starvation. Seriously, however, one of Mr. May­ tributing to a prolonged depression in that country er's great assets was his organizing ability. Under his and the landlords and causing great English capitalists leadership, both his and his wife's relatives worked to­ to shift their investments to American ranch­ farming, gether harmoniously. After it became impossible for railroads and ing, industry. him personally to attend to all of the matters in which Thus it was that Gordon McCrae, the editor Douglas he was retained, he had the ability to select able men of the London Financial Times, came to in Chicago and delegate to them the legal matters for which he 1889 to invest entrusted to him. His contact capital was accountable. Although he did delegate, he also with soon resulted in the Levy Mayer organization by had the faculty of remaining responsible for and keep­ the latter of the & Northwestern Granaries Chicago ing sufficient contact with the various problems so that a elevator con­ many grain were Company, merging great the clients felt, and properly so, that they receiv­ cerns in the Lake and Lake Michigan Superior regions. ing Mr. Mayer's own attention to their work. The contacts with Mr. McCrae lasted long and profit­ In addition to the persons previously mentioned, in ably for both parties and their principals. Incidentally, 1892 Judge Thomas A. Moran of the Illinois Appellate to digress for a moment, it may be of interest to note Court, who was one of the ablest that Mr. McCrae's became the wife of Lord city's lawyers, [oined daughter the firm. Webb-Johnson, the surgeon of the former King of Mr. became more and more diversi­ England and the head of one of the great English Mayer's practice fied as the hospitals. years passed. These English contacts also led to the organization Long before the days of the Wagner or the Taft­ by Mr. Mayer of a corporation under the Companies Hartley Act, and as early as 1905, Mr. Mayer was en­ Act of England to control a line of elevators along one gaged in bitter labor litigation. He represented an em­ of the large American railroads. English capital repre­ ployers' association which sought an injunction in a sented by him was also invested in Chicago breweries federal equity court to restrain picketing and violence and in certain packing companies, among them Hately on the part of the Teamsters Union, which then, as it Brothers, Chicago Packing & Provision Company and is now, was a powerful organization. History may be International Packing Company, all three of which repeating itself and apparently is, according to recent were later consolidated into one company. testimony before the Senate Committee, but I can re­ In 1889 Mr. Mayer organized American Trust and call when Mr. Mayer during the pendency of this liti­ Savings Bank, which through various consolidations, gation had to be accompanied by a bodyguard because changes of name and other transfers became the pre­ of threats of bodily injury made by the Union. In spite sent Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust of these threats he fought on, the injunction was Company of Chicago, which is among the large finan­ granted, and the violence terminated within a short cial institutions of the country today. From that time time. 46 The Law School Record Vol. 8, No.2

As be antitrust liti­ might expected, complicated (decided in 1895) did not rely upon any statute but out of the consolidation gation grew of the large grain merely upon the common law policy that contracts and and cattle concerns. For a decade the Distillers and combinations in restraint of trade are illegal and void. Cattle Feeders Trust, known as the popularly Whiskey The Company after buying Mr. Bishop's business Trust, was under attack, and Mr. Mayer defended it as had made him a manager and given him possession of well as the Corn Products which Refining Company, as the assets its agent. The action was one in replevin had been organized by him. by the Company against Bishop to recover possesion But he was not on the side of business or always big from him of its property which it had bought from the so-called In 1895 as counsel for certain monopolies. him. The Supreme Court of Illinois held (157 Ill. 289) he a court decree independent companies, procured that because of its illegality the contract would not be upsetting the exclusive franchise of Gas enforced. Peoples Light When, however, suit was brought upon the & Coke Company. replevin bond in the Federal Court (which case is re­ He the Illinois Manufacturers Association organized ported as Gilbert v. American Surety Co., 121 F. 499 in and as counsel for the 1893, Association he succeeded ( decided in 1902) the Court of Appeals of this circuit in to the Com­ litigation compel Chicago Telephone held that under the doctrine of Swift v. Tyson (it to submit its rates to the Council for pany City ap­ being long before the days of Erie Railroad v. Tomp­ and the from proval, enjoining phone company put­ kins, the Federal Court was not bound to follow the into effect increased rates which had not ting been sub­ decision of the state court. The court further held that mitted to the Council. regardless of the possible illegality of the contract, the There are three printed volumes of opinions which agreement having been executed and Bishop having Mr. Mayer rendered to the Illinois Manufacturers As­ received the consideration for the sale and holding the sociation from 18'99 to 1907. They cover almost every assets merely as the Company's agent or as trustee, conceivable question of business law. For example, that he was estopped from attacking the title of his they answer questions as to the liability of railroads for principal. Accordingly American Preservers Company damages or loss of goods under a variety of circum­ was the ultimate winner. The Court of Appeals quoted whether the stances, foreign corporations under the par­ observation of Lord MacNaghten in Nordenfelt v. ticular facts set forth were doing business within a Ammunition Co., English App. Cas. 535: state, and whether they were subject to its taxes, vari­ "There is a ous questions of liability under sales contracts, whether homely proverb in my part .of the country which says you may not 'sell the cow and sup the milk'. It seems al­ under the laws of Iowa and North Dakota a manu­ most absurd to talk of public policy in such a case. It is a public facturer was to his formula on obliged print packages scandal when the law is forced to uphold a dishonest act." of birdseed, and whether there is any method for the owner of real estate of guarding against claims from In 1901 Mr. Mayer participated in the Union Stock­ more than one broker in a real estate transaction. and Transit single yards Company suit. In that case he repre­ In the last opinion mentioned, Mr. Mayer disclosed sented independent packers and was attacking large New not only his knowledge of law but his common sense. York financial interests, which were defended by His opinion concluded: William D. Guthrie of the Cravath firm. Mr. Guthrie apparently developed considerable bitterness toward "There is no absolute way by which real estate owners can his antagonist but the court ordered the Transit Com­ always avoid being made defendants in suits for unjust demands. pany to treat the independent The most efficacious course is to employ only one firm of brok­ packers, represented by Mr. with the same consideration that it was ers and to refuse to have any correspondence or negotiations of Mayer, the any kind with any others. This may at times be a somewhat according large packers. harsh and brusque course, but it comes nearest to the being Other transit affairs with which was safest a Levy Mayer way in community, where a mere look, a word or a nod concerned involved the traction Charles T. is sometimes made the basis of a claim for commissions." magnate, who Yerkes, gained posthumous although rather un­ fame in One of the so-called trusts which Mr. Mayer had savory Theodore Dreiser's novels, "The Finan­ cier" and "The Titan." The helped to create was the American Preservers Trust. electrification of the street He cars, which had been horse cars represented it in early litigation against one An­ originally and were later cable drew Bishop, who contended that the contract under cars, involved large concentrations of capi­ which the tal, and then as now it was company had purchased his business was apparently exceedingly difficult to the void on the ground that it was an illegal contract in operate transit lines profitably. restraint of trade under the common law. in the Although Early century receivership proceedings were the Sherman Act had been adopted at the time the suit instituted against the Yerkes controlled traction lines was the Court of Illinois in the case and filed, Supreme of Judge Grosscup in the Federal Court issued an in­ Bishop v. American Preservers Company, 157 Ill. 284 junction restraining certain state court proceedings in Vol. 8, No.2 The University of Chicago Law School 47 which Mr. Mayer was involved. Judge Moran and Mr. seldom that circumstances arise that would make a situation in a great cosmopolitan city where a man would not get a fair and Mayer were of the opinion that Judge Crosscup's in­ impartial trial." junction was invalid, and advised their clients that they might safely ignore it. This led to consderable ill feel­ ing at the time between the Judge and the attorneys. He then commented on the fact that the defense had presented over 12,000 affidavits as to and the One of Chicago's leading reforms was the establish­ prejudice State like 4,000 counter-affidavits. He also ment of the merit or civil service system for a large something remarked on the fact that such men as number of civic jobs. In 1897 Adolf Kraus resigned as Judge John Barton Dr. Emil G. Hirsch of the a partner to become head of the Civil Service Com­ Payne, (grandfather Dean of the Law Dr. Frank mission, newly created by Mayor Carter Harrison. A present School), Billings and hundreds of other eminent citizens had been storm immediately was instigated by certain politi­ those who had furnished the affidavits. The cians, who had lost their patronage, and Mr. Kraus and among fact that Mr. had such a number the other Commissioners were indicted and imprisoned Mayer procured large of affidavits is not a demonstration of his allegedly for hiring a policeman who was 5 foot 7�4 only great but is evidence of the w.t'i inches instead of the required 5 foot 8 inches, actually industry, thoroughness which he prepared cases and the with which for political reasons. Mr. Mayer and his partner, Judge foresight he anticipated arguments of his opponents. Moran, obtained a writ of habeas corpus, and Mr. Kraus and the other defendants were disharged in ac­ After the cases were transferred to the Circuit Court cordance with a colorful opinion by Judge Waterman. of Vermilion County at Danville, Mr. Mayer, who had briefed the law fact his trial brief was Several years later, in 1904 Mr. Mayer was retained thoroughly (in 231 that the ordinances in one of the major criminal cases of his career. It took pages long), argued safety were invalid because the of the courage and showed a willingness on the part of Mr. pleaded beyond power under the Illinois constitution and the statutes Mayer to take on an exceedingly unpopular cause City thereunder. He when he assumed the defense of Will J. Davis in the further pressed the point that the City has such as is to it the Iroquois fire case. On December 30, 1903 Eddie Foy, only power delegated by legis­ lature, and that no such had been to the father of the present Eddie Foy, was playing in powers delegated the Council. Furthemore he that "Mr. Bluebeard" to an overflow crowd of more than City urged there had been an unlawful of to the Board of 1600 in Chicago's Iroquois Theatre. This was located delegation power Underwriters. he the common on Randolph Street at the site of the present Oriental Accordingly, argued law count of rest as moving picture theatre. A flash of flames suddenly negligence could not it did on the failure of the defendants to the spurted from an electrical circuit and set fire to a flimsy supply equipment pro­ vided for in the that a reasonable man i, drapery at the side of the stage. It is said a stagehand ordinances; not to take all tried to lower the asbestos curtain, which snagged required possible precautions but mere­ when partially closed; the tunnel formed between the ly those which would be taken by an ordinary prudent man under the circumstances. At the conclusion of the curtain and the front of the stage acted like a tremen­ the Court ruled that the ordinances were dous suction tube which swept a jetlike blast of fire out arguments invalid and inadmissable. The State asked into the audience. In the ensuing panic 597 persons, thereupon leave to nolle the indictment. Mr. mainly women and children, lost their lives. prosse Mayer alertly insisted that this not be done but that a be The community, at first numbed by the horror of the jury brought in and because the State had insufficient proof without holocaust, soon gave vent to its rage and the numerous the ordinances, directed the to lawsuits which followed made nationwide news. As a Judge Kimbrough jury return a verdict for the defendants. Had later indict­ result of the outcry, manslaughter indictments were ments been returned the defense of double returned against Will J. Davis, who was the President, jeopardy would have been sustained. manager, and a director of Iroquois Theatre Company, and against others who were connected with the opera­ Over 100 civil actions were similarly resolved and tion and management of the theatre. The indictments none ever got as far as a jury. This total victory was charged that Chicago city ordinances providing safety the result of the great legal ability displayed by Mr. measures for theatres had not been complied with. The Mayer and resulted in his later retention by important feeling was so great that defendants sought a change of theatrical people, such as Klaw & Erlanger, the Shu­ venue. The motion was the State. beds, and Florenz the of the opposed by Judge Ziegfeld, producer CCZieg-'- Smith in the Circuit Court in granting the motion said feId Follies." Ill. Circ. Ct. 215-16): (1 Rep. He also represented Charles Frohman in an interest­ ing copyright case, which had been decided "It would seem that there are very few occasions that in a adversely to Mr. Frohman's the Court of court suit like this a man would be e�titled to a change of venue. position by Appellate Illinois before he retained Mr. So far as we can look forward and anticipate cases it is very Mayer. Under the Jaw, 48 The Law School Record Vol. 8, No.2

The Board Editors of of the University of Chicago Law Review, left to right, back row: Eric S. Rosenfeld, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, A.B., Harvard University; Richard H. Allen, Wilmington, Delaware, AB., Bowdoin College; George V. Bobrinskoy, [r., Chicago, AB., Amherst College; George Saunders, Managing Editor, Birmingham, Alabama, University of Alabama; Robert L. Doan, Day­ ton, Ohio, S.B., Indiana University, S.M., University of Illinois; Merlin O. Baker, Provo, Utah, S.B., Brigham Young University; Middle row: Ronald C. Finch, Anna, Illinois, AB., Southern Illinois University; Frank D. Mayer, [r., Chicago, AB., Amherst Col­ lege; Richard J. Scupi, Chicago, A.B., University of Chicago; fohn Voortman, Grand Rapids, Michigan, AB., Michigan State Uni­ versity; Alan V. Washburn, Editor-in-Chief, Rapid City, South Dakota, A.B., Shimer College; Front Row: John V. Gilhooly, Provi­ dence, Rhode Island, AB., St. [ohn'« Seminary; Henna C. Hill, Dallas, Texas, A.B., Southern Methodist University; Amy L. Scupi, New York City, AB., Queens College; Kenneth Howell, Managing Editor, Birmingham, Alabama, A.B., University of Alabama; Ken­ neth S. Haberman, Chicago, A.B., University of Pennsylvania.

if a is the owner loses his play published exclusive right A number of injunction suits were :filed by him to produce it. The play is question, "The Fatal Card") against the Actors Equity Association and the members had been in Both the produced England. Supreme thereof to prevent them from striking. These cases in­ Courts of Illinois and of the United States ruled in volved the negative covenant in the actors' contracts favor of Mr. contention that a Mayer's production of and the uniqueness of their services. In one of the the in play England was not a publication within the suits, to prove uniqueness, Mr. Mayer placed Willie of the law so that Mr. meaning Frohman had not lost Howard, a noted comedian of his day, on the stand his exclusive in the United States. The rights opinion and asked him whether anyone else was competent to of the Court of the United was ren­ Supreme States play his part. He replied, "No one, except possibly dered by Mr. Justice Hughes and is reported at 223 David Warfield," the leading actor of that day, who U.S. 424. The case has been relied upon and cited with was unavailable. In a number of these suits Clarence approval by a Federal Court as recently as 1957. Darrow represented defendants. A deal of other great theatrical legal business came Probably as a result of the reputation acquired in the to Mr. as a result of his Mayer successful defense of fire litigation, Mr. Mayer was retained to represent cer­ Mr. Davis in the Iroquois fire case. tain directors of the Mattoon City Railway Company, 49 Vol. 8, No.2 The University of Chicago Law School

a all the Beef Kings go to jail or be fined. One has been grocer who were indicted on a of criminal negligence charge are there his life in a tiny hamlet of fifty people; three farmers; when a collision occurred in which 16 people were is a carpenter, an insurance solicitor, a grocer's clerk, a mill­ killed. One of the directors indicted was Peter Judge wright, a drug salesman, a telephone inspector, and a baker. defend him in Grosscup, who retained Mr. Mayer to The most prominent is president of a merchant tailoring com­ spite of the hard feeling which the Yerkes injunction pany. were filed case had promoted between them. Motions "The joint wealth of the panel is estimated at perhaps $100,- to quash the indictments, which were argued in the 000. J. Ogden Armour alone is credited with a fortune of outcome of the each of the little town of Charleston in Coles County, Illinois. $100,000,000. Whatever the trial, jurymen will have a subject of conversation for the rest of his The State's made a appeal to the court Attorney fiery life. not to permit citizens of Chicago to come downstate "The fat bailiff stands in his brass buttons, and everybody and kill the citizens of Coles County. Mr. Mayer's up in the court room rises with him. however, and the indictments argument prevailed, " 'Hear yel Hear ye!' he intones. Out from his chambers onto were quashed. the broad platform behind the bench walks Judge Carpenter, a In 1904 Mr. was retained the State of New Mayer by tall, well-built man in his early forties, with a smooth-shaven, out the as to Jersey in litigation testing question rather stern face, his eyes looking out through gold-rimmed whether the franchise fee, levied by New Jersey upon spectacles. He bows the bar, the defendants, and the spectators seats leans forward to the bench capital stocks of corporations incorporated there, was to their chairs, then himself, and rests his chin on his hand, his fingers partly concealing his a tax entitled to prior payment in bankruptcy pro­ mouth.... ceedings. At that time many of the large corporations "As seats himself the settle back as are in Judge Carpenter jurymen were incorporated in New Jersey just they patiently into their chairs. Then, just as Levy Mayer rises to ad­ Delaware so that the was a rather im­ today, question dress the court, the swinging doors open and a small man, carry­ one. There were decisions in vari­ portant conflicting ing his black overcoat over his arm, comes in and slips quietly ous states. The lower courts ruled that a franchise across the room. There is nothing about him to attract attention but but as he nears 'Packers' Row' three or four men rise to offer fee was not such a tax as to be entitled to priority, him a chair. Plainly this is a personage of importance who de­ the decision was reversed by the Supreme Court in serves a closer inspection. He is a short, rather slender man, favor of the State of New Jersey, which was granted nearing fifty years in age. His brown hair begins to grow thin, priority. his shoulders are a bit stooped. He whispers behind his hand to and a number of smaller meat In 1905 the major a man who leans forward eagerly to listen. It is J. Ogden Ar­ packers in Chicago were indicted for violation of the mour, president of Armour & Company, president of the Fort Worth Stock Yards director of the Armour Car Sherman Antitrust Law. This was the beginning of Company, Lines, Armour Grain Company, Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail­ criminal in long drawn out litigation in proceedings road Company, Continental National Bank, National Packing which Mr. as counsel for Mayer appeared J. Ogden Company, Northwestern National Insurance Company, Illinois These Armour, the President of Armour & Company. Central Railroad Company, National City Bank of New York, indictments were eventually quashed but new ones Kansas City Railway & Light Company. in 1910. After motions to and were returned quash "Gossip says that originally the custody of the great packing other motions had been overruled and habeas corpus business was intended for his brother Philip, and that J. Ogden's proceedings had been dismissed, the trial of the pack­ primal tastes were more artistic and literary. But when Philip before and his father both died J. Ogden took the place of power. He ers commenced in November of 1911 Judge has greatly increased the widespread business interests left by in the U.S. District Court at The Carpenter Chicago. his father. Government introduced its evidence for a period com­ "The corporation of Armour & Company alone has total assets December 6 until March of the following mencing which are estimated at $125,000,000." that a rather and year. The Times of day gave graphic dramatic description of the trial and I shall quote in At the conclusion of the Government's case there part from it: was considerable difference of opinion among counsel various as to "But while we have been following Mr. Veeder [counsel for for the defendants whether defendants Swift & Company] through the details of the old beef pool, the should introduce evidence. Mr. Mayer's view, which courtroom has been In the end seat at the prosecutor's filling. at that time was thought to be a rather risky one, was table sits United States Senator Kenyon of Iowa, consulting that defendants should introduce no evidence but counsel for the Government. � � � He already has behind him Government should first to the court and, if to the a distinguished career as lawyer and judge and argue necessary, that the defendants were not His view counsel. The dapper young man with whom he is talking is jury guilty. States District Wilkerson. And now, unnoticed, were made to the court to in­ . United Attorney prevailed. Arguments its seats at the side of the room. The the jury has filed into jury­ struct the jury that they should return a verdict of not the men are evidently impressed with the importance and dig­ guilty. Judge Carpenter overruled these motions, argu­ nity of the duty imposed on them. They are all dressed up. At ments on which lasted for four the start they sit in more or less constrained and awkward at­ days. Thereupon argu­ ments made before the from March 18 to titudes. On these twelve rests the decision as to whether or no jury March 50 The Law School Record Vol. 8, No.2

on which date the returned its 25, jury verdict of not 10,000 growers of oranges and lemons in California, in guilty. a rate controversy with the railroads. He filed a com­ At the time that these prosecutions commenced the plaint before the Interstate Commerce Commission. Government attempted to enforce the Sherman Act to His asistant, Mr. Matthews, spent a month in Cali­ fornia the the letter, whenever an effort was made to enforce it studying industry, including the costs of and the fruit in at all. Prosecutions were not conducted on the basis growing, gathering, packing shipping order to determine to what extent the were that an unreasonable restraint of trade, or restraint of operations and what the traffic could reason- trade leading to monopoly or to unfair competition was profitable charges bear. The Commission held that the in­ illegal, but the Government took the position that � ably proposed crease in rates on the of lemons was unreason­ every contract or conspiracy in restraint of trade was shipping able. From this case was of Inter­ illegal. At that time very few cases had been decided knowledge acquired state Commerce Commission matters which led to a construing the Act, and as has since been demon­ of the strated by the great con.usion of both courts and study forms of bills of lading used by the rail­ lawyers in the interpretation of the Sherman Act and roads, and Mr. Mayer helped to draft the form pres­ in use. He also was of considerable assistance in the other Antitrust Acts, there was and is great doubt ently the of the Federal as to the meaning of the antitrust laws. Mr. Mayer, drafting Bills of Lading Act of 1916, which is similar to the however, fortified by great experience both in business Uniform Act adopted by many and the law, insisted that the literal words of the states, and which is still in force. Sherman Act could not be the and the law, persuaded Mr. Mayer also represented various newspapers at court to instruct the jury accordingly. different times. Until 1914 he was counsel for the Some of the principles argued by Mr. Mayer in his Chicago Tribune. In that year he was a member of a which the construction of the Sherman Act were later embodied group organized Chicago Becord-Herald, a by Judge William Howard Taft in his book entitled morning newspaper, which became a competitor of "The Antitrust Act and the Supreme Court." In it the Tribune, and thereafter he was unable to represent Judge Taft wrote: the latter. He also represented at various times the Chicago Journal owned by John C. Eastman, and Her­ man "The object of the antitrust law was to suppress the abuses of Kohlsaat who was interested in several news­ business of the kind described. It was not to interfere with a papers, among them the Inter-Ocean, the Chicago volume of concentrated under one great capital which, organiza­ Times Herald and the Evening Post, later owned by tion, reduced the cost of production and made its profits thereby, Mr. John C. Schaffer. Mr. the As­ and took no advantage of its size by methods akin to duress to Mayer represented � � � sociated Press in its with the Hearst stifle competition with it. Mere bigness is not an evidence litigation papers, wherein secure an As­ of violating the Act. It is the purpose and not the necessary they unsuccessfully sought to effect of controlling prices and putting the industry under the sociated Press franchise. He later became quite friend­ domination of one that is management within the statute." ly with Hearst and a number of his executives and writers, such as Arthur Brisbane, the noted columnist, In the of more recent such as the Alcoa light decisions, and Emil Friend, the financial writer who wrote for the the above from Taft case, quotation Judge probably Hearst Papers under the name of "Bocrsianer." no longer states the law. Mr. Mayer in 1916 represented Great Lakes Transit it also be to note that Historically may interesting Corporation, which he had organized, in the acquisi­ the counsel in the included, in ad­ packers' prosecution tion of 36 railroad-owned steamships. Later Mr. Mayer dition to those Pierce later already mentioned, Butler, a consummated deal in behalf of the same corporation a of the Court of the United Judge Supreme States, for the purchase of docks and warehouses in Chicago John Barton Payne, who had been a Circuit and Judge covering 105,000 square feet on the railway and river later became a partner of the late Silas Strawn, and front east of the Kirk soap factory. James M. Sheehan, at that time one of Chicago's ablest Mr. was in other cases and trial lawyers. Mayer many interesting business transactions, including consolidations, merg­ the time this case had been Moran By tried, ers Judge and similar matters. Time permits me to mention had been in his for almost 10 In addition grave years. a only few of them. One is the case of Stafford v. Wal­ to the mentioned, Alfred S. Austrian persons previously lace, (reported at 258 U.S. 495) in which Mr. Mayer and Mr. Russell Platt, two of Henry Chicago's leading represented a number of dealers engaged in business had the firm. Mr. Platt's Mrs. lawyers, joined daughter, in the Union Stockyards at Chicago. In their behalf V. is here as is his son George Bobrinskoy tonight, he sought to enjoin the Secretary of Agriculture from Sherwood K. unless he has Platt, skipped out. enforcing orders made under the Packers and Stock­ In 1908 Mr. Mayer had been retained by the Cali­ yards Act of 1921 on the grounds that the Act could fornia Fruit Growers Exchange, composed of over not constitutionally regulate persons such as commis- Vol. 8, No.2 The University of Chicago Law School 51 sion merchants or dealers who, he contended, were During the First World War Mr. Mayer was very not engaged in interstate commerce. The court active on the State Council of Defense, to which he speaking through Mr. Chief Justice Taft overruled his had been appointed by Governor Lowden. This Coun- contention, upheld the validity of the Packers and ,cil had serious problems to meet, such as threatened Stockyards Act and in so doing stated that: labor and production troubles in the coal mines and other production stoppages. Mr. Mayer also made "they [referring to the commissionmen and dealers] create a many patriotic speeches and aided materially in the of title it is but do not stop the flow; legal change true, they they sale of Bonds. merely change the private interests in the subject of the current, Liberty resources and those of not interfering with but on the contrary, being indispensable to Levy Mayer needed all his 0< I't its continuity I't. The stockyards and the sales are the neces­ his firm for the battle against Prohibition. It was not factors in the middle of this current of commerce." sary just another case of Big Business against the Public. In the decades of the distillers and This case has been cited in de­ early present century, subsequent - frequently industrialists own civil war while the cisions with the in the constitution of fought their dealing meaning nation lined as Wets' and em­ the term "commerce." up Drys. Many ranking contributed to the Anti-Saloon League, In 1914 in the case of Scown v. Czarnecki ployers heavily (reported often less for moral reasons than because their drunken in 264 Ill. 305) Mr. Mayer attacked the validity of the workers were inefficient and a menace. Furthermore, state law granting women suffrage. Although the saloon and liquor dealers were predominantly Demo­ Supreme Court of Illinois overruled his contentions, crats. Thus during the First World War the need for there were sufficiently strong dissenting opinions so conserving grain for food served as a convenient ex­ that great doubt was cast upon the legality of granting cuse for pressure groups to urge suppression of of votes to women without a federal constitutional large the saloon. amendment. This probably led to the adoption of the On the national the first case to test the 19th Amendment, granting women suffrage on a na­ scene, big tional basis. constitutionality of the Wartime Prohibition Act was v. Distilleries. Before the Although apparently Mr. Mayer's practice did not Hamilton Kentucky Supreme Marshall Bul­ embrace international law, his interests and clients Court in 1919 Levy Mayer and William litt of Louisville, former Solicitor General of reached into many countries. He represented Messrs. Kentucky, Wexler and Dinkins, who controlled Pan-American the United States under Taft, argued that the Act took without and that the statute Commission Corporation, a company which handled property compensation had because war had ended. But the court held and marketed the sisal crop of Yucatan. Sisal is used lapsed that the distillers had had sufficient time to of for the manufacture of binder twine. It was contended dispose

their - the to future - that the Corporation tended to fix prices and create a property ignoring right profits and that demobilization had not ended monopoly in this crop. In arguments before the United yet completely. States Circuit Judge Hough, sitting near his summer In 1920 Mr. Mayer and William Marshall Bullitt home in the old court house at Windsor, Vermont, Mr. argued the case of Kentucky Distilleries and Ware­ Mayer's motion to dismiss the complaint was heard house Company v. Gregory, et al. before the Supreme and sustained, mainly on the ground that by that time Court of the United States. In that case the Distilleries the questions had become moot. Company had sought to enjoin the enforcement of the For many years Mr. Mayer represented large dis­ Prohibition Amendment and the Volstead Act which tilleries and other whiskey interests which had moved had been adopted by the Congress pursuant thereto, their headquarters to New York. There was so much on the ground, among others, that the power of amend­ legal business for these clients that Mr. Mayer for a ment contained in Article Five of the Constitution does time maintained aNew York office. In representing not authorize the invasion of the sovereign powers ex­ the liquor concerns in litigation, Mr. Mayer in a num­ pressly reserved to the states and the people by the ber of instances opposed Benjamin N. Cardozo, later Ninth and Tenth Amendments except with the consent famed as a justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. of all the states. He argued the unique theory, which In litigation involving a new process of yeast manu­ as far as I know had never been raised before and to facturing, pending before the Federal Trade Commis­ this day has never been satisfactorily answered by any sion, wherein it was contended that Mr. Mayer's client court, that if the amendments authorized under Article illegally acquired an important invention, he caused Five were unlimited the legislatures of three-fourths of depositions to be taken not only in numerous states but the states would have it in their power to amend the in England. In a tax case of Mr. Mayer's, involving the Constitution so as to establish a state religion and pro­ meaning of the term "whiskey", he had depositions hibit free exercise of other religious beliefs; to quarter taken throughout the United States, in England and in a standing army in the houses of citizens; to do away Russia to establish its origin and meaning. with trial by jury and republican form of government; 52 The Law School Record Vol. 8, No.2

The Committee for the Hinton Competition, the School's moot court program. Left to right, back row: George Saunders, lr., Birmingham, Alabama, University of Alabama; Frederic S. Lane, Chairman, Chicago, S.B., University of Pennsylvania; David W. Zundel, Astoria, Oregon, AB., Reed College; Middle row: Gerald Goodman, Chicago, AB., University of Chicago; Rufus Cook, -Fairfield, Alabama, A.B., Fisk University, A.B., Talladega College; Richard J. Schreiber, Hammond, Indiana, AB., Indiana Uni­ Toron­ versity; Front row: Lloyd A. Hale, Vancouver, British Columbia, AB., University of British Columbia, A.M., University of to; Michael Padnos, Chicago, AB., Wesleyan University; Terry E. Hatter, Chicago, A.B., Wesleyan University.

amend­ to repeal the provision for a president; and to abolish Houses shall deem it necessary" shall propose means that two­ the Supreme Court and with it the whole judicial pow­ ments to the states for ratification each house or both houses er vested by the Constitution. In other words, he thirds of all the members of and not two-thirds of argued, the power to amend was to amend within the must vote affirmatively merely the framework of the Constitution, that without unanimity a quorum. The question therefore was whether was with a vote on the part of all the states there was no right to take language of Article Five complied by two-thirds of a that two­ away the police power of states which it has always of only quorum voting; is, been held was reserved to the states by the Ninth and thirds of 51% which is only 34% of the full membership. that inasmuch as 19 states had Tenth Amendments any more than there was or is the Finally he argued and referendum into their consti­ right to take away by amendment the fundamental adopted the initiative rights above described and granted by the early tutions, it was necessary for an amendment to be the amendments constituting the so-called Bill of Rights. passed upon by the people in addition to legisla­ that not been done. The Another powerful argument made was that the pro­ tures in those states, and had vision of Article Five of the Constitution to the effect Covemment contended that the actions taken were that "the Congress whenever two-thirds of both sufficient and its contention on this point as well as on Vol. a, No.2 The University of Chicago Law School 53 the first point was accepted by the court, but in the Meyer of this city. He had a very happy home life opinions £led, which may be found in 253 U.S. at p. and was a devoted husband and father. Unfortunate­ 350, no reasons are given for the conclusion reached ly, Mrs. Mayer was seriously ill a great part of her two of whom married that the Amendment had been validly adopted, the J life. They had daughters, both opinions dealing mainly with the meaning of the and lived in New York, and both of whom have carried Amendment and the constitutionality of the National on through themselves and their families the intel­ Prohibition Act. lectual and other attainments of their father. Two

and one are now Mr. Mayer's wisdom and philosophy in fighting na­ grandsons grandson-in-Iaw practicing law in New York. In addition to his success as a tional prohibition has certainly been proven by subse­ and his interest in his Mr. had a quent events. The wave of lawlessness and disrespect lawyer home, Mayer of interests all the from for law in general which overcame the country as a great diversity running way the at summer home near result of prohibition cannot be denied. His philosophy growing of cranberries his to active in that law, particularly a sumptuary law such as this one, Plymouth, Massachusetts, participation affairs. He was most and must have the sanction of public opinion, was eventu­ public hospitable enjoyed ally recognized by the repeal of the Eighteenth entertaining and was himself very fond of good food Amendment in 1934. and wines. Mr. Mayer's virtues have been so extolled that the listener may have received the impression Mr. Mayer's only election to public office was his that he was not entirely human. That notion is in­ election as a delegate to the abortive State Constitu­ correct. He was human, and had and tional Convention of 1922. However, he was from his exceedingly showed tenderness and affection for the members early days interested in public affairs and did not hesi­ great of his family and his friends. tate to express himself on them. At the convention he Mr. Mayer's untimely death occurred in 1922 when attended many laborious sessions in 1922, bet did not he was 63 of At that time he was live to see the defeat of the constitution which the only years age. on a of steel which was Convention had brought forth. An example of his working merger companies, never consummated. Overwork was undoubtedly a interest in public affairs is a statement that he made contributing factor to the of his life. He early in the century after the Supreme Court had ren­ early ending left his imprint on the times and on the many clients dered a decision relating to the status of Puerto Rico. whom he had represented with such rare vigor and Mr. Mayer in a press interview regarding that decision He left to his successors a of said: ability. sterling example industry, integrity and tremendous intellectual power. His success was due not to his his un­ "In the Delima case the court holds that as soon as the ter­ only intellect, work his to to an ritory is annexed by treaty, purchase or conquest, it becomes a remitting and loyalty his clients, but part of our national sovereignty and subject to the constitution­ almost unequalled ability to express himself simply and in other that the constitution follows the The as­ words, flag. clearly, both orally and in his briefs. In this age of sertion of this doctrine I regard as a great victory, not for the we learn from his life that it was (Ie (Ie (Ie specialization, may administration of President McKinley but for all the people. and is possible, if one works hard and enthusiastically to be a in flelds. In an address which he delivered in 1914 he ad­ enough, specialist many vocated reforms in our criminal law and the codifica­ tion thereof, many of which suggestions have since been adopted. In another public speech which he made, he com­ pared the industry and commerce of the United States with those of foreign countries. He said, among other things:

"Comparison of the manner in which the German, English and French governments stimulates, help and foster trade, puts us to shame.

Just recently the Chairman of a Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee has announced that he will introduce in Congress a bill to give further tax exemptions to foreign trade so as to foster Ameri­ can exports. In this respect as well as in many others, Mr. Mayer was years ahead of his time. Mr. Mayer was married i� 1884 to Miss Rachel