“Finally, gentlemen, it is in no perfunctory spirit that I here publicly render thanks to the members of our official staff, without whose zealous coöperation our year could not have been brought to the happy and glorious conclusion in which we rejoice tonight. Since the death of our beloved Secretary-General six months ago Judge Thomas Z. Lee of Rhode Island has fulfilled in large measure the colossal duties of that office, and to whom the Society owes more than mere words of thanks. With him I associate in my heartfelt gratitude our esteemed and respected Treasurer-General, Mr. Michael F. Dooley, whose devotion to our work and our interests has been, I may say without exaggeration, heroic. And, gentlemen, I must not conclude without expressing in both my own behalf and that of the Society as a whole those thanks which are fairly due to the various committees who have so successfully carried out the work of organizing this meeting. I hold that the manner in which that labor of love has been performed has been in itself a very positive demonstration of the faculty of concerted action which belongs to our race, at least on this side of the Atlantic, if not everywhere and always. And now I conclude with my personal thanks to all who are here tonight, especially the ladies, who have given a fine atmosphere to this occasion and without whose hearty and sympathetic countenances our gathering could not have been, as I am confident it will be, a memorable one in the history of the American Irish Historical Society.”
Hon. Patrick J. McCarthy: “Rhode Island proposes three cheers for the ladies.”
This suggestion met with a hearty response, and was quickly followed by similar proposals from representatives of Boston and New York.
President-General Quinlan: The first toast on the program is “The President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.”
This was drunk standing and was followed by three ringing cheers. The orchestra then played “The Star Spangled Banner,” which was sung by the assemblage.
President-General Quinlan: We will now turn to the serious aspect of this page in our history. This evening we are especially honored, ladies and gentlemen, by having at this table one of the most distinguished men, not only in the United States, but in the world. Without further ado, without further expression, because it is like carrying coals to Newcastle, I will go on and introduce to you Hon. Edward D. White, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America.
Mr. Justice White was greeted with hearty applause and cheering as he arose, and, after order was restored, he spoke as follows:
“Mr. President-General, Gentlemen of the American Irish Historical Society, Ladies and Gentlemen: When the privilege was extended to me of coming here tonight there was also a request which was by me declined, to respond to one of the set toasts. This was done because it has been my wont since taking up judicial duty in Washington to eschew as far as I could public speech-making, because the thought has always been mine that if public speech-making were indulged in, even occasionally, the habit might grow and thus I might become what it seems to me is an abomination—a too loquacious and indiscreet speech-making judge. Strange as it may seem to any of you who have had to go over ponderous judicial opinions, the result of judicial work is to cause one to hesitate about words. They come to the one who does such work to be things which may be productive of great wrong if misused or misapplied. True as this is as to judicial work generally, it is more so when the character of that work in our own country is considered. Under our system judicial duty is not confined to the settlement of controversies between men. It is more extensive, since it controls man in his relations to government and the relations of government to the individual. It involves the power to limit government itself, since upon it is cast the ultimate duty to maintain the Constitution and apply its limitations. It, therefore, in a sense not only restrains both the national and State governments, but regulates their relations one to the other. From this all-embracing extent of the judicial authority it must be apparent that in our own country much more than in any other the discharge of judicial duty involves the dealing with subjects of the most acute public concern, where passion and political agitation are flagrant. When these things are considered it is certain that the performance of the judicial function in our country—to paraphrase the words of the Romans—involves the science of all things human and divine, the knowledge of all things good and evil.
“With these thoughts in my mind I stand up upon the generous solicitation of your President and look into your kindly faces and form the purpose to say a few words concerning your and my duty to preserve the institutions of government with which we are blest, and with the thought comes the admonition that I must be circumspect and say nothing which ought not to be said. Indeed, as I speak, there comes unbidden to my mind that beautiful prayer of the Catholic Liturgy where the Priest, as he approaches the Gospel, invokes the aid of Almighty God to cleanse his mouth as with a living coal in order that his lips may be worthy to syllable the inspired subject which he is about to approach.
“Before I say anything further, however, let me briefly establish my right to be among you tonight upon a more intimate basis than that of a mere guest. This can hardly be done because of my being an Irish American, for I am only of Irish blood on my father’s side in the fourth generation. But my right to be one of you from another point of view is quite apparent. In the state in which I was born there lived an Irish American bearing the name of White. At a public dinner—I do not believe it was an Irish American affair—he sat near one whose name was O’Rourke. Leaning over to him he said: ‘Mr. O’Rourke, what countryman are you?’ ‘What countryman?’ said O’Rourke. ‘I am an Irishman. Why do you ask me?’ ‘Because I thought from your name you might be a Frenchman,’ was the reply. Quick came the retort: ‘That is more than I can think of you, for I can kick a White out of every sod in Ireland.’