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THE GREEN BAG
congratulation telling him how glad I was to see him back where he belonged and should always have remained. I feared in my heart that he was disappointed,- but my letter was sincere and brought a generous response, though I knew later that he had spent his great strength in the labors and anxieties of the task which had taken him away from his profession. But for these we should still delight in looking up to him as one of the great living leaders of the American Bar. We miss him, too, as a fearless and ready advocate of right thinking and right methods in public affairs. We might not all agree with his views on every subject. This is too much to exact of any man in times which bristle with new and difficult ques tions. But on all subjects which involve fairness, justice, right, and wrong, his in stincts were unerring and his convictions were sped to the mark by all the force of the intellect and character behind them. As he never sought position or personal advantage, his advocacy in public matters carried the greater weight with the people, though all who knew him well will agree with me that he was one of the few men with whom direct personal interest would have made no difference. He was always willing to advocate what he believed to be right at the risk of present defeat. He once said in a public address: "There is more of a disposition to placate the vote than to reason with it. There is •a more ready spirit to cater to its wishes than risk the power of its displeasure by removing the scales from its eyes." One of the characteristic things he did while receiver was to appear before the Interstate Commerce Commission, without process or proceeding, when he discovered that rebates were being allowed on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, admit it and give assurance that it should cease. The railroad world rubbed its eyes and asked : What manner of man is this? This assembly of lawyers would justly
regard my address as incomplete, if it did not deal with Mr. Cowen's professional characteristics. He was a great lawyer. What made him one? The first thing was his proper conception of the law as a practical science. Some lawyers seem to regard the law as a sort of game, in which victory is the reward of the closest knowledge of the rules and the greatest dexterity in taking advantage of them. Right and justice are mere incidents. To such the days of special pleading must appear as the golden age of the law. To Mr. Cowen the law was a means of establishing rights and redressing wrongs. Not always moral rights and wrongs, be cause legal standards are necessarily some times arbitrary, though it can justly be said that the system of substantive law which the generations of our race have worked out is founded on good morals in all matters which have moral bearings. The first duty of the lawyer was, therefore, in his view, to determine for himself the question of legal right. Some can bring all their learning, ability, and skill to the sup port of any cause. Lawyers of Mr. Cowen's class can never put forth their best powers unless they have first convinced themselves that their cause is just. This is not always easy to determine. The facts may be disputed, the questions new or unsettled, the principles to be ap plied or the analogies to be drawn doubt ful. But from his point of view he had to see the right on his side, or, if it were doubt ful, to feel that his view might prevail without impairing any sound principle of the system which, though dealing always with particular cases, is intended for the guidance and protection of all men living and yet unborn. He had a legal conscience. Then Mr. Cowen was a master in the practice of the law. This is sometimes called an art, but I dislike the word in that connection, and it does not fit his case. He was not an agile and dexterous con testant. He did not make much display on
