Evening star., 1925-03-21
MRS. W|LLEbRANDT
STAYS ON THE lob
Woman in Justice Depart.
ment Likely to Remain
There Until Bench Calls.
BIZ ROBERT IT. SMALL.

In all the shiftings, the comings
and the goings at the Department of
Justice. one figure remains tranquil,
unfarried, imperturbable. 1t is that
of Mrs. Mabel Walker Willebrandt.
one of the ablest lawyers her sex
has ever produced; a tireless, un-
swerving Government official - the
Assistant Attorney General in charge
of the enforcement of the prohibit
ton laws.
1t Is not Mrs. Willebrandts ambi-
tion to remain always in the Depart
ment of Justice, although there are
plenty of men in public life today
who regard her as timber of cabinet
rank
Mrs willebrandt would ike to be
the first woman Federal judge. 1t
seemed a short time ago thar she
would realize this ambition. Presi-
dent Coolidge was considering her
for a vacancy on the bencn in the
northern district of California. But
Mrs. Willebrafdt halls from southern
California, and If you have ever been
to the Golden State and know what
the people of the north think of the
people of the SOUTH, and vice versa,
you will understand why some thing
akin to an avalanche suddenly fell
upon the defenseless head of the an
wary occupant of the White House.
While political pressure from
northern California was being exerted
against Mrs. WiIlebrandt there was
plenty of other political pressure in
her favor. 1t came from some OF the
wet" Eastern States where Mrs.
Willebrandt has been cleaning out
some of the federal officials whom
she thought too lax in their attitude
toward the. life monument to Mr..
volstead.s Some Of the Eastern poll
ticiahs had bean dip against the
Willebrandt tuzz saw and they
yearned for hs to take her place on
the bench in California or. any other
distant cline. The Hawaiian or the
Philippine Islands would have suited
them better, or the supreme bench
Of Pago Pago best of all. If there is
d supreme bench at Pagp Pago.
There Is talk that Mrs. WIllebrandt
is again under consideration for the
Federal jad geship just made vacant
in the southern district of California.
Then the Los .Angelan Assistant At
torney General may come into her
own. When President Coolidge failed
to name her for the northern Judge
sal ip, it was reported he had reached
a decision against women for such
rfositions. This the President has
denied. He has had some thought
that perhaps the States ought to lead
in the naming of women to the high
err judgeships. Otherwise it might
come about that a woman Federal
Judge might be named to preside in
a State which did NOT hold women
eligible for its State. courts.
Seeks Sex Equality.
Mrs. willebrandt is not seeking a
iudreship because she is a woman,
but in spite of 1t. When she accepted
her present position in the Depart
ment of Justice she did SO on the
condition that she was not to be set
apart for so-called weman's work, but
was to be considered on par with
the man assistants. Perhaps this is
why Attorney General Daugherty gave
her the hardest job in the depart
m ment-prohibition. Maybe some of
the "higher-ups" didn't think she
could swing 1t. But she did. And
she has brooked no interference, lis
tened to no influence. When a GER
tain San Francisco bootlegger king
lost his case In the United States
Supreme Court and some friends were
attempting to hold up the commit
ment papers until after Christmas,
Mrs Willebrandt heard OF the
scheme, got the papers, dispatched
them by air mail, and had the salts
faction of getting the lawbreaker in
the trenches by the happy Yuletide.
Mrs. Willebrandt has one feminine
trait strongly developed. She is a
great believer in palmistry.
Let nae see your hand" she says
when in doubt. Government officials
who have tested her ability in this
line have learned much of truth
about themselves.
To be able to read character, to
temper justice with mercy, to be
stepped in the law-thess are the
attributes of the judge. Mabel WILLIE
brandt may yet be Mrs. Justice
Willebrandt." And why should the
sacred bench even of the Supreme
Court be denied to her?
Copyright, 1881