certain of some
attributes of truth. Do we know or can we know anything certain about
justice? Is it something above and apart from the will of men, or is
it simply a matter of convention among men? Is it immutable, or does
its nature change with changing times and conditions? If mutable, does
it change of itself or do men change it? Is it universal or local, the
same everywhere or is it different in different localities? Is it the
same for all men and races of men or does it differ according to
classes and races? Again, is it single or diverse in its nature? Is
there more than one kind of justice? We hear of natural justice,
social justice, industrial justice, political justice. What do they
who use those terms mean by them? Do nature, society, industry,
politics, each have a different criterion? Still again, and briefly,
is justice an inexorable law like the law of gravitation or can its
operation have exceptions? Is it simply a quality of action or
conduct, or, as stated by Ulpian, is it a disposition or state of
mind? Finally, is it a reality or, as Falstaff said of honor, is it
after all "a word," "a mere scutcheon?"

I am not so presumptuous as to venture an answer to any of these
questions except perhaps the last. As to that, I appeal to our
consciousness, to our innate conviction that there does exist
something, some virtue, some sentiment, however undefinable in terms,
holding men together in society despite their natural selfishness, and
without which they would fall apart. It is this virtue, this ligament
of society, that we call justice. We feel that the word is not a mere
word, but that it connotes a vital reality in human relationship. If
this reality be ignored, men cannot be held together in any society.

If justice be the greatest good, as so generally asserted, then its
negative, or injustice, must be the greatest evil. Hence error in
men's opinions of what is justice will work that greatest evil.
Society as a whole is liable to error in respect to justice; has often
been mistaken in the past and may be mistaken today. The individuals
composing society are seldom, if ever, wholly disinterested and
dispassionate in their judgments. Each individual is prone to believe
that what is apparently good for himself or his group or class, is in
accord with justice. Himself persuaded that he is battling for
justice, he does not see that he may be battling only for some
advantage over others, for some individual