Yeshiva University High School For Boys - Elchanite Yearbook (New York, NY)

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John Marshall bv DANIEL CHILL No more fitting subject for an oratorical contest could be chosen in 1953 than lohn Marshall. For. in this day when the United States stands as the strongest bulwark against the forces that would destroy the rights and liberties of individuals. we pay homage to a man eminent in making his country the outstanding protector of the individuals rights. The principles we inherit as a result of Iohn Marshalls decisions are tributes to his sagacity. patriotism. wisdom. and far-sightedness. Imagine the depth of Marshalls foresight. when he established the fact that even elected officials must not be permitted to set aside the basic rights of the individual. Even in that remote day. Marshall instinctively felt that a government unchecked would invariably become oppressive of the individuals who put their faith in it. In the many and complex cases over which Marshall presided and about which he wrote decisions, the integrity of the individual was always upheld. Marshalls genius was such that one hundred and iifty years ago, he prepared us for our world of today-a world in which, as never before. we must guard our precious heritage against ruthless tendencies toward interference with the rights of the individual. His achievements support us in our battle today to resist the unscrupulous forces of Communism. ln his own time and in a prophetic way. Marshall reviled the venomous doctrines which subjugate the individuals to the mastery of the state. More than any other person in American history. Marshall deserves our grati- tude for arming the American people politically for their present battle with the ten- tacles of Communism. He was the patron saint of each individuals privilege to follow his own enterprise in the protective shadow of his constitutional rights. This eternal freedom was established in the case of Marbury vs. Madison. in which it was decided that the Supreme Court has the power of judicial review, which pro- vides a shelter from totalitarianism and scapegoatism. Tyranny cannot, with impugnity. be imposed in a state which recognizes the sovereignty of the individual. Totalitarianism cannot smother a country which is obliged to adhere to contracts. And. in lSl9. in his stirring decision in the case of the state of New Hampshire vs. Dartmouth College, Iohn Marshall ruled that the impairment of an existing contract by a state is forbidden by the Constitution. The spirit of lohn Marshall has guided our Supreme Court since his time. like the pillar of lire that led the Israelites to the Promised Land. The intense nation- alism which he sought to enliven-this inevitably is strengthened by the nurture of a sound individualism. He espoused the glory of our country, but never at the expense of the rights of the individuals who make it up. This is the heritage of Iohn Marshall. that he made our nation great in the salvation and welfare of its individual citizens. Editors Note-This orcztorical essay carried Alf. Chill into the semi-finals of the Iournal-American Tournament of Orators. 18

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Three by ARNoLD SILVERBERG The night was still. The clamor of the day had departed. On the seventh floor of the hospital all was quiet. The patients had gone to sleep. and only the night nurse remained awake. She sat reading a magazine. The elevator stopped on the seventh floor and a young intern stepped out. He waved his hand at the nurse in a gesture of salutation. but said nothing. He stepped into the corridor to make the final rounds. Room 701-he looked in-all asleep. Room 702-he looked in-all asleep. He started to hum a soft melody. Room 703-all asleep. Room 704-he looked ing there was one bed empty! The young man walked gingerly to the nurses booth. He whispered, VVhat's with 70-1? There's one bed empty. Mrs Harris checked out today. She answered in the same low tones. The intern nodded and went into the corridor to finish the rounds of the floor. Room 705-okay. He looked into room 706-all were asleep. The intern sighed as he stepped toward 707. the last on the Hoor. He looked in, A bed lamp was still on! The intern walked to the bed and saw that an old woman whom he did not recognize was still awake. 'AGran'ma, why're you still awake? he asked softly. Don't you know that you have to get some sleep? After all how else do you expect to get well? 'AOh! I was just thinking. I suppose that I forgot to shut the lamp, though. The thin. highfpitclied voice echoed softly in his ears. 'ANow you just get to sleep and forget everything, he said. He turned to leave, but she called after him. A'Please don't go just yet. Please sit here a little while. Room 707 was the last of the floor and the young man was in no particular hurry. He smiled and pulled a small chair up to the bed. The old woman lay there quietly, gazing through the window into the calm night. A few minutes passed and she said to him, I suppose you're tired too. You can leave now. He got up. 'AThank you very much, young man, for sitting here. He waved a kiss. turned, and walked out of the room to the elevator. uAny trouble with that old lady in room 707? She just moved in today. Mrs. Green is her name. She asked me to sit with her for a few minutes-couldn't fall asleep. She's all right now. He paused. Well, good night. 'iGoOd night. He stepped into the elevator and went up to finish the hospital rounds. The hospital was quiet. On the seventh Hoor all were asleep. The nurse sat absorbed in her magazine. Both hands of the hall clock pointed straight up. But in room 707 not all were asleep. The old woman tossed and turned in her bed-silently but uneasily. Sleep would not come. She sat up wearily in the bed and instinctively turned on the light. And she stared, attentively yet indifferently, out the window. at the dark blue, moonlit skies. And she thought and she reminisced. She remembered the childhood days spent in the city, and she recalled her early days of married life. 20