The Washington times., 1922-09-27


WILLIAM HARD. Wilkerson also
wants to wear it, the Senator from
Illinois is standing prepared to hand
II to them.
The Senator's speech is a first
class controversial political event.
for many reasons.
This speech makes a sort Of verbal
Swing around the circle" against
all our recent numerous audacious
violators of law, including murder
GUS mobs who commit massacres
and cowardly sheriffs and governors
who fail to act against the mobs,
but including also, and equally en-
phatically, the judges and the attor-
ney generals who violate the deepest
and oldest principles of English and
American constitutional liberty by
using the courts to accomplish pur'
poses not authorized either by the
Constitution or by legislation.
1t can be safely said that this gen
eral reputation of all lawlessness.
including the lawlessness of officers
Of the law, is an idea which is fast
gaining ground in Washington even
in quarters thoroughly committed to
loyalty to the White House.
Senator Mccormick is the second
United States Senator who has pub
licly expressed a high degree, Of
restiveness under the system Of
things which produced Attorney
General Daugherty's injunction in
Judge Wilkerson's court. The other
Senator who has done it is Senator
Pepper of Pennsylvania.
Neither Senator Mccormick nor
Senator Pepper has been engaged in
any revolt against the White House
| personally or against the Admins
| tration politically. Both of these
Senators are regulars. Both of them
are party men. But the political
fact is that the Daugherty injunc.
ton has no standing whatsoever as
a considered agreed Administration
| party measure. And the political
fact further Is that Judge Wilkerson
owes his appointment not to the
regular party processes but to proc
esses set going by Mr.. Daugherty
himself. And these two facts make
considerable tale and a consider.
able political situation.
1t can be stated with the utmost
authority that although Judge vii.
kerson has his court in Senator Nc
| Cormick's State, and although his
appointment was an Illinois appoint.
ment 1t was not initiated in any
way by Senator McCormick-or, for
that mater, by Senator Mckinley.
The promoting Of James Wilkerson
into Federal judgeship was done
| %
lawyers inspired by Mr.. Daugherty,
who suggested to one of them that
| they should indorse a candidate for
the Chicago Federal judgeship then
vacant.
These lawyers brought forward
Mr.. Wilkerson. They brought him
forward as the candidate of the
| local bar. The United States Sen.
ators from Illinois were in effect
thrust aside. BY custom, the in.
itiative in the matter should have
been with them. By Mr.. Daugherty's
Intervention the initiative went to
the lawyers in question.
They gave Mr.. Wilkerson the
solemn approval of leading legal
opinion in Chicago; and Mr..
Daugherty accepted that approval
and the President accepted 1t; and
the Senators from Illinois were In
a position in which politically their
/ only possible course was to &C.
quiesce in what had been done.
The man who did the thing
which started 1t toward getting
done was Mr.. Daugherty. He
went over the heads of the Illinois
Senators to do it and when Judge
Wilkerson was appointed 1t was an
appointment which from the stand.
point of the Illinois Senators, was
not a party appointment, but a
| Department of Justice appoint.
ment.
Then came the injunction.
This Injunction was a Department
of Justice measure which did not
seek and did not get any general
party approval or any general
Cabinet approval 1t was pressed
by Mr.. Daugherty as a measure
which he personally was determined
to put into operation. He argued
II out to the President. He made
almost a personal matter of 1t. II
never became genuinely a Cabinet
matter. Mr.. Daugherty worked il
up in his own way, in his own lit
tie corner of the party and of the
Administration and when he had
got it ready for judicial action he
took a train to the court room OF
Judge Wilkerson.
When out of that court room the
injunction which Mr.. Daugherty
had prepared was seen suddenly
bursting into full existence. The
official circles of Washington cen
tained just about as large a pro.
portion of amazed people as any
other circles anywhere in the
country.
Senator McCormick's remarks now
uttered at Rock Island regarding
judges and attorneys general who
exceed their constitutional powers
may be taken as being his perfectly
polite but perfectly public effort to
disassociated himself from all re
sponsibility for Judge Wilkerson and
from all approval Of Attorney Gen.
eral Daugherty's injunction policy