Central High School - Red and Black Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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Alcxa d jk onoradfe CHARLES NAGEL It is difhcult to set down in words any spiritual image of a distinguished man that will seem just and adequate to the many with whom he has come in contact. Perhaps the best that can be done is to rely, in the first place, upon his history and accomplishments, with the inferences deducible therefrom, and for the inner and more intimate things, to set forth, as a sort of witness, the impressions etched upon one's own experience by personal contact and observation, aided by the contacts and observations of others. Charles Nagel was born in Colorado County, Texas, on the ninth day of August, 1849. His father, Dr. Hermann Nagel, was a native of Prussia, a graduate in medicine of the Uni- versity of Berlin: his mother descended from a long line of Lutheran clergymen. They left Germany in search of greater spiritual and political liberty. They went to the recently admitted Lone Star State, where Dr, Nagel undertook the practice of his profession, and where his son was born. In 1863, Dr. Nagel found it prudent or necessary to leave Texas, and came with his family to St. Louis. Charles Nagel became a student at Central High School, completing his course in 1868. After spending two years in a course of general reading, he took up the study of law, obtaining his degree from the St. Louis Law School fnow the School of Law of Wash- ington Universityl in 1872. The next year he spent at the University of Berlin, where he took courses in Roman Law, Constitutional History, Political Economy, and other subjects. At Berlin the influence of Rudolph Gneist deepened and confirmed in him that profound regard for the English system of government and that admiration for the great English states- men and publicists which had been inculcated by his reading. Returning to St. Louis he began the active practice of law, which he has pursued ever since, without interruption save for the four years spent in the National Capital as a member of the Cabinet. In the field of civil law his work has covered a wide range, and has had to do with many large questions, both of public and private import. He has an innate sense of moral values and an unusual ability to envisage an entire situation and foresee its probable result. His P

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'Ir 'lr 'lr DEDICATICJN f E dedicate this Eighty-fifth Anniversary number of our yearbook to two esteemed graduates who, exactly seventy years ago, joined the ranks of Central's illustrious Alumni, Mrs Washington E. Fischel of the Class of 1868 Wife, Mother, Citizen and The Honorable Charles Nagel of the Class of 1868 Diplomatist, Iurist, Statesman INCE something of the lives of those honored is found on other pages, we, who have known and admired them so long, can pay them no greater tribute here than to pause a moment and express the fervent hope that their mantles of love, loyalty, and devotion may eventually pass on to a host of successors who will uphold the high standards of these honored ones. 'A' 'lr 'A' :eev-:4v-lvvsreersw-ov-4-0-r::NAvw::awvN::NvvvNv-:xNNv:r

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ideal of the lawyer demands complete freedom and independence in choosing when and what he shall represent. In every case, however, the lawyer's choice must be guided by moral con- siderations. He is at one with Savigny in the conviction that law is born of a nation and for a nation. He believes in written constitutions as sheet anchors of principle. Even as such, in times of stress, popular demand for the general survival of the nation has always triumphed over any particular interpretation. Not the least of his service as a lawyer has been his constant and consistent effort to raise the standard of the bench. There was one condition precedent to his support of a judicial candi- date, I must never be tendered any appointment at your hands. His long career at the bar has been crowned with recognized professional success and a financial reward that would have been infinitely greater but for his incorrigible generosity. He was a member of the lower house of the Missouri Legislature from 1881 to 1883: President of the Council of St. Louis from 1893 to 1897: Secretary of Commerce and Labor in President Taft's Cabinet from 1909-1913. He was head of that Department prior to its separaf tion into the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor. He succeeded in bringing the Department of Commerce and Labor into a prominence and respectful recognition of its capacity for public service. His conception and his initiative brought about the formation of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. He began cooperation and consultation between his Department and the Department of Iustice as to the terms and conditions of judicial decrees providing for the dissolution of unlawful combination in restraint of trade, he successfully opposed the attempt to transfer to the State Department our foreign commercial agencies and personnel. The World War was a crisis in his life. He preached the gospel of necessary national solidarity. The writer, as a special representative of the United States, was in a position, if any one was, to know and weigh the attitude of the man in that distressing time. He was loyal to the core, and performed a very great service for his country, by reason of his unique position and influence. He is a staunch opponent of foreign entanglements and fears consequences to us. and others, of a League of Nations. In these, as in all matters where convictions were involved, he has voiced his opinions openly and clearly and supported them by impressive ratiocination. If it were necessary to compress the man into a single brief description, he ought to be called a Practical Idealist, who with much wisdom and disillusionment incident to long experi- ence, still looks with piercing and confident eye toward the fulfillment of many benevolent dreams. In the years that have passed since this pen portrait was sketched Mr. Nagel has con- tinued to give freely of his time and energy to the advancement of community interests. Two years ago Mr. Nagel was the recipient of the fifth in the series of ten annual awards devised by an anonymous donor for distinguished public services. The decision of the committee in charge was unanimous and by ballot without previous suggestion or debate. The citation read, For lifelong, varied, and outstanding services to the city, state, and nation: for elevating influence in civic affairs this certificate is awarded to Charles Nagel. C The life of Charles Nagel here presented consists of excerpts taken with per- mission from an introduction to a collection of his speeches and writings, published in a two-volume edition by a representative group of appreciative public-spirited citizens who desired to make them accessible to the thoughtful public.