The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-11-21
Mr. Moody
Z. BeC onh'r5.lTillsd
REPORTED OPP POSITION IN SEN
ATE is NOT EXPECTED 10
NATERlALlzE.

WASHINGTON, Nov. q. Senators
who have reached Washington for ths
coming short session express the be
lief that the expected opposition to the
Iconfrmation Of Attorney General
MOODY to be an associate Justice Of
1.-The Supreme Court win not material
!. lie. Some Of those who are known
| not to be in sympathy with some Of the
policies of the President. and which
Mr.. Moody. as member of the court.
will be expected to uphold. are most
sanguine of Mr.. Moody's early con
Ifrmation.
There were evidences when the
President first began to sound sena-
tors relative TO the appointment OF
the Attorney General, of resentment at
what some Senator'S designed as the
effort of the President to t'pack" the
court, but just now there comes from
this same class Of Senators a sig1if-
cant chuckling as they predict the
prompt confirmation of Mr.. Moody.
Assuming that It was the desire Of the
President to appoint a man whom he
knew to be Sound" one Senator, dis
cussing the matter recently, said
we'll known Senator always in accord
with the President had expressed the
opinion that in the selection Of At
torney General Moody the President
had weakened rather than strength
ened the Supreme Court.
This Senator. pointed out that It was
an unwritten custom of this court,
more binding than any statute, that no
member could sit in judgment on
case with which he was connected be-
fore his elevation to the bench. This
would debar Mr. Moody from sitting
In any Of the big cases in which tho
government has been a party, and
compel the final determination Of all
the trust-busting cases by a court Of
eight members, which might be even
ly divided resulting in failure for the
government.
AS Attorney General, Mr.. Moody has
had hand in all these cases, and is
the official who brought the suit
against the Standard Oil Company,
the one trust of all others the Prest-
dent is most anxious to convict OF yo-
laton of the antitrust law. 1t also
has been pointed out that Mr.. Moody
would be debarred even from sitting
in case growing out of the Hepburn
rairoad-rate law for the reason that
in legal opinion he has claimed that
law to be constitutional.
Those Senators who disagree with
the President, 1t is said. have reached
the conclusion that inasmuch as the
President will not appoint any one to-
the Supreme Court who is not friend
ly to his policies, It would be better
from the viewpoint of those who dis
approve of the Presidents aims, to con.
firm Mr.. Moody than to permit some
one else to be appointed who would
not be ineligible to sit in these trust
cases. In other words. instead of an
tagonizing Mr.. Moody because he IA
vors what the President favors, the
plan now is to confirm him for that
very reason, and put him where he
will have no vote in the final deter
mnation of these great constitution
al questions.
other Grounds Of Opposition.
OF course, there may be some mem
bers of the Senate who will oppose
confirmation on the general ground
that no Attorney General should be
promoted to the bench because Of the
very fact that his position as the chief
legal adviser of the government should
prevent him from sitting as a judge
over his own previous acts. On two
occasions the Senate has refused to
confirm Attorneys General nominated
to the Supreme Bench on these
grounds.
other Senators argue that the selec-
tlon and confirmation of Mr.. Moody
may cause the court itself to resent
the lntimatlon that his appointment
determines how the court will stand
on the great cases that ultimately will
reach 1t. 1t seems to be an open ques,
tion whether the President strength.
ems or weakens the Supreme Court
through the appointment of his At.
tomey General to the vacancy caused
by the retirement of Justice Brown
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