The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1922-11-17
COMBINING LA5oRs OF COURT RE.
oUIRE YOUNG VIGOROUS MEN.


Retirement of Justice Day from the su-
preme court bench, and the likelihood that
| Justice Pitney will never be able to re-
sumo his duties there, has resulted in a
! general editorial discussion of the nee
essity of having youthful and extremely
vigorous men sitting in the highest court.
| 1t is recalled that the labor of the court
constantly is increasing, and that today
| the work is not alone extremely combining
| but most eXacting. There can be no re-
| lief from this condition it is acknowl-
edged. There also is discussion of the
| suggestion that President Harding will!
name at least one Democrat to the va
cancy existing or those to exist In this
connection there are many editors who
quietly point out that politics has nc
place in court and that therefore, whether
a nominee is Republican of a Democrat
does not matter so much as do his quail
fications for the work
Youth must be served" in this ap-
pointment at least insists the Boston
Globe. in referring to the great work for
Harvard Of DR.. Charles w. Eliot, named
president of that institution at the age
Of IS. His long career proves the wisdom
there displayed and this leads the Globe
to say that the President of the United
States who would make the best imagin-
must do what Harvard did when it select
ed Dr.. Eliot. The perfect judicial ma
terial is decidedly on the sunny side Of
fifty" Because when Justice Clarke,
Democrat, resigned his successor was
Republican, Justice Sutherland" the Buff
falo Times suggests, 'it would be both a
just and graceful action on the part of
President Harding to appoint a Democrat
in Justice Days place" This, naturally
directs attention to the campaign being
made on behalf of the naming of Senator
Shields and the Louisville Post holds
that cit will be travesty to name Sem
ator Shields as a Democrat. True, he
claims to belong to that party, but his
record is one of consistent opposition tc
a Democratic president and Democratic
administration" while the Hobolen Hud-
son Observer holds that if Shields is to
be elevated to make room" for another
Republican in the Senate it must not
happen because there is no politics in
the supreme court and it is unpleasant tc
think that political considerations are
given undue weight in appointment. The
place fairly belongs to a Democrat, but
surely one can be found to whose ap-
pointment no suspicion would attach"
The importance of selecting for Fedora!
Court appointments young and vigorous
individuals in emphasized by the Phila-
delphia Public Ledger and number of
other newspapers which cite statistics tic
show how the work is increasing.
Accepting that Democrat is to be
named, the Springfield Republican feels
that President Harding's selection OF a
Democrat for the supreme court will
surely be a conservative one. The court
will become under this administration
moro of bulwar1 of property interests
and the existing order than 1t has been |
before in a generation whether the !
appointment of conservatives is a wise
policy, whether it is not better to let
the body Of law be reinterpreted and re- |
fashioned in accordance with the eco |
nomic needs of this critical period can |
not be determined now the Baltimore
Sun argues. Liberalism on the bench |
has been urgently demanded from many |
quarters of influential opinion in the |
United States, and recent decisions OF |
the court have emphasized the fact that |
the liberal school of legal thought Is less
adequately represented in the supreme
court today than il has been in the
past
The San Antonio Express considers that
John w Davis, of West Virginia. Is an
ideal Democratic suggestion for the
place in succession to Justice Day be-
cause there is q striking parallel in this
OF jurist and diplomat An
other suggestion, that of Senator Oscar
II Democrat is to be named
at this time, leads the Washington Star
to reply to the criticism that he has had
small time for his profession since en-
tering Congress from Alabama" by re-
calling that similar criticism was uttered
when President Cleveland was consider
ing naming then Secretary of the In
terror Lamar for the bench. and that this
n arta aeI I.x-T n I
self. But he yielded to his preference"