[Speech of Francis M. Finch on assuming the chair of the President of
the New York State Bar Association, at their annual dinner, Albany,
N. Y., January 17, 1900. The ex-President, Walter J. Logan, introduced
him in the following words: "Before I introduce to you Judge Finch, I
want to say just one word for myself. The New York State Bar
Association has treated me with distinguished consideration, and I
shall ever regard every member of the Association as my personal
friend, and among the pleasantest experiences of my life, which I am
only just commencing, that the lawyers of the State of New York
thought me worthy of the position which I am now surrendering. Allow
me to introduce to you Judge Finch. [Applause.] I want to introduce to
you, Judge Finch, the most splendid body of men in the American
nation,--the New York State Bar Association. Judge Finch is now
President."]
GENTLEMEN:--I regard it as a very great honor to be called upon
to preside over the work of this Association for the coming year. I do
not know of any other temptation which would have drawn me away from the
quiet of my ordinary life into an arena so public and so open to
critical observation. It is entirely natural that one who has crossed
the line of threescore and ten should covet a life of rest, or at least
some restful work which makes no heavy demand upon brain and nerves, but
I have received from the Bar of the State of New York, in the years that
have gone by, and which seem to me now almost like a dream, I have
received at their hands so much kindness and courtesy, so much of that
encouragement and generous approval which makes the hardest work a
pleasure and happiness, that it seemed to me almost ungrateful and
ungracious to refuse the duty which was sought to be imposed upon me,
and so I have surrendered, with such grace as I may, and will endeavor,
to the best of my ability, to push forward the work of this Association.
[Applause.]
Indeed, gentlemen, I confess, as over our cups confessions are sometimes
excusable and in order--I confess that it is something of a comfort not
to be quite forgotten. [Applause.] It is the lot of the average judge--I
don't mean by that these old associates of mine, sitting by me, who are
a long way above the average [applause]--it is the lot of the average
judge to disappear from the public memory very soon after his work is
done. Occasionally there is one who makes his appearance in the flush of
some new and remarkable era, and fastens his name to its beginning.
Occasionally there are others who do some excellent work, not altogether
judicial, and in that manner keep their memories alive; but the most of
us, when our work is done, step down into the mist and the darkness of a
very swift and prompt oblivion. And if you, gentlemen of the Bar, have
chosen for me to draw back the curtains a little, to dissipate somewhat
the mist and the darkness, it is just like you; it is only another of
those kindly deeds which it is pleasant to remember, and for which I am
grateful, and glad to have the opportunity of saying so. [Applause.]
I wished to confine what I have to say to-night simply to these words of
acknowledgment, but the thought comes to me, and I think I must give it
expression, that there never was a year in the history of this nation
when the work of the intelligent, of the able and of the scholarly
lawyer was more imperatively demanded in the interest of the nation and
of the race, than this year which now opens before us. [Applause.] I
have long been of the conviction that the law never leads civilization,
but always follows in its wake; that its purpose and its object is to
regulate and control the relations of men with each other, and their
relations to the State; but those relations must first come, must first
be established before there is anything for the law to regulate.
Progress goes on; new inventions are made; new relations between men
occur, and it is the office and the purpose of the law to march behind
them, to regulate and order and systematize them, and produce, if need
be, justice out of injustice; and to-day beyond the questions of
taxation, which are an almost insoluble problem, we have already the
beginnings in the metropolis of the State of an underground railway,
likely to open and introduce questions as difficult and as remarkable
as those which attended the elevated railways. We have a mass of
colossal trusts, as they are called, combinations of capital, in an
extraordinary degree, with which some of you have already been
wrestling, and others of you will be called upon to confront or defend.
Beyond that the student of international law is about to be obliged to
look away from home and reconsider his foundations, to reflect anew upon
the conclusions to which he has come in the application of the questions
of what is contraband and what is not in the light of an extending
commerce. Beyond that, again, and what interested me, perhaps, more than
it may you, I saw the other day in one of our leading city journals, a
statement which I have been able to verify, that the German nation on
the first day of January in this year, set in operation a new Prussian
code, which substituted for the civil law and the Latin doctrine the
Teutonic law of Germany. I myself cannot read the German language; but,
if there are some among you, within the sound of my voice, who are
capable of doing that, I set you the task between now and one year from
to-day of studying and examining that new Prussian code, which must be a
marked departure, and giving us the benefit of your knowledge and your
judgment. And, beyond that still, the nation itself stands to-day at the
parting of the ways; stands to-day upon the verge of a new and most
unexpected and remarkable destiny, and, I repeat, that there never was,
I think, there never will be, gentlemen, another year in which the labor
and the study and the thought of the scholarly and intelligent and
learned lawyer could be more needed or more in demand. [Applause.]
Let me add one word, not quite so serious, and that, with reference to
my friend who has been your President during the past year, and who, for
his patient industry in your behalf, for the manner in which he has
conducted your affairs and looked after your interests, deserves the
thanks of this Association, which, in your name and behalf, I venture to
give him. [Applause.] What I want to say, however, outside of that, is a
little bit in the line of complaint. He has undertaken to take away from
me my surplus over and above ten millions of dollars [laughter], and
give it to the State of New York. He says in justification that he
thinks and believes that it would be for the best, but, with all
deference to his opinion, I venture to say that I would rather trust my
children to spend that surplus than the average legislature. [Laughter.]
More than that, and the suggestion will relieve my friend somewhat, I do
not intend to have any surplus over his ten millions, not if I know it.
When I reach that happy point, and find that my inventory is running
above it, I propose quietly to take that surplus and hand it over,
first, on one side, and then on the other, to my children, and that
beautiful inheritance law of his will have no application to me
whatever. [Laughter.] Nevertheless, while I disagree with him about
those things, and think I see my way out of the difficulty, I pardon all
of it, because he has promised me faithfully on his honor that until the
close of the festivities he would remain your President, and when in the
end he bade you good-night he would do it for me, as well as for
himself, and wish you each and all a happy journey to your homes and a
safe return to these same tables one year from to-day. [Applause.]