Kansas City School of Law - Pandex Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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31uhgv Elulin E. liliillipa fi ,Q IIDGIC JOHN H. PHILLIPS, formerly United States District Judge, if and special lecturer in the Law School on t l'he Judiciary Clause of TL. -A the Federal Constitution and Pleading and Practice in the Federal Courts, has passed from our midst. No better testimonial of his life can be otfered than his own aphorisms, which he left with the students at the close of his last lecture: GenfIcmci1.' l leave you the following suggestion, in the form of aphorisms, which I beg you to frame in your memory: The profession you have chosen is among the most exalted that ever engaged the ambition of intelligent men. It belongs essentially to the cate- gory of thc noble sciences. It is a mighty instrument in the hands of a skilled expert, either for widespread mischief, or private and public good. If you sow and plant and cultivate in honor, you may reap and gather in honor. If you sow and plant and cultivate in dishonor, so will you reap and gather. Ceaseless vigilance, persistent and consistent industry are the inexorable conditions of success. ' Common lawyers can be picked up in heaps, for they lie thick about the level vvaysides, but the excellent ones are at the tops of the ragged steeps. Yours, more than any other, is the profession to which the present and posterity must look for the preservation of what is beneficient and cohesive in social organism, and for the security and perpetuation of what is rational in a limited democratic government. If you observe and enforce these things your profession will prove to be :L cornucopia, showering you with golden blessings, and you will make the world all the better for your living in it, ln deference to the expressed wishes of Judge John H. Phillips, his entire lznv library, which is very complete and carefully selected, will be turned over to the Law School by his daughter, Mrs. W. lXl. Fible, although no mention of it is made in the will. Also his otlice desk and chairs will be awarded to some worthy student upon entering into the practice of law. H

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meetings both before and after his law lecture. During the-se twenty-five years of the law school he has lectured upon the subjects of: B-lackstone's Commentaries. Contracts, Bailments, Domestic Relations, Wills, and Administration of Estates. His work on Wills is a standard authority on this subject, and is used as a text in many law schools, and he had in preparation several other legal publications. We know him best as a lecturer in the Law School, and in this connection 1 cannot use words that will praise him too highly. He was a splendid lec- turer, and as a teacher of the law he was surpassed by no member of the faculty in this or any other law school. He knew the law, and had the rare quality of being able to impart his knowledge to the student in an unsur- passed manner. His courage shone out in his entire political career. As Champ Clark said, he was always on the side of the people. He stood for high ideals and cleanness in American politics, and was on the clean side of every public question. He catered to no pernicious influences. He never sacrificed his manhood for public preferment. He stood four square to all the world, and dared to do what he thought was right, and dared to do what he conceived was his duty. I know that his wife was a great help and inspiration to him in all that he did. He was married in 1904 to Miss Ona Winants. They had no children, but they adopted a son, Hugh Ogle Borland, and took to live with them a little girl, Jessie Knowles. He was devoted to his family, and the goodness of his heart was manifest in every act of his life. He was an optimist, always looking on the bright side, and his life and character may well be emulated by all of us. As was said at the memorial meeting held in the House by the Chaplain: Faith is the rainbow's form Hung on the brow of heaven, The glory of the passing storm, The pledge of mercy given, It is a bright, triumphant arch, Through which the saints to glory march. E. D. ELLISON. ,233

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Gln the Alumni OW, having come to that period in our course when we feel most able to appreciate the lives, efforts and achievements of our pre- QIQIY 3 decessors, we give pause in the race toward the high goal of success to contemplate what they really mean to us. Searching old annuals, and scanning pictured faces again and again, We find among the former mem- bers of this school men and women of rank and position in the world today. We can point With pride to the highest seats of honor in the nation, We can point to long lists of legal lights, We can look about us and in our daily lives and intercommunications at school behold and benefit by those who have trod this path before us. In view of these things, and to express a spirit of true appreciation for the hands, seen and unseen, which have silently pointed out to us the way of progress and upbuilding, We tenderly and gratefully dedicate this page of Our Own Book-the 1919 Pandex.