The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1925-03-26
THE INCONSISTENCY OF THE
SENATE

Their is no evidence from any
thoughtful or unprecedented source
that President Coolidge made a mis-
take in selecting Mr.. Sargent, the
Vermont country lawyer, for Attor-
ney General. The unbiased testimon-
ials show that Mr.. Sargent is honest,
capable and judicious, and will make
a good Attorney General. But the
evidence is that not more than half
dozen Senators know anything about
him; and yet the Senate confirmed his
nomination instantly without an in
vestigation. And this on the day fol-
lowing all the fuss Senators made
over the Warren nomination and the
show Of pious pretense that the Sem
ate must see to it that a Cabinet off
Ger that the Senators know to be
right must be chosen. The circum-
stance inspired a very apt editorial in
the New York Times Thursday. The
Times says:
what poppy or mandragora put
the heroc virtue of the Senate to sleep
on Tuesday? Admirers of the Senate
looked to it confidently for prolong-
ed and puncriIious investigation of
the candidate for Attorney General
whom Mr.. Coolidge ventured TO nomi-
nate after the AugustuH had twice
baked his arrogant attempt to select
a member Of his own Cabinet Who
is this man Sargent, whom the Senate
confirmed without a dissenting vote,
without even examination Of his
antecedents? He turns out to be a
hide bound bunker. He opposed the
Sixteenth, the Seventh, the cardinal
and sacred Eighteenth, the Nine
teenth Amendments. Here is an arch
reactionary. The very disciples of
progress" betrayed it.
"Where was Wayne B. Wheeler,
the master Of the Senate, in that dark
hour when the Anti-Saloon League as
we'll as some Of the choicest pre-
negatives, dignities, fanaticisms and
moral-political obligations Of the Sen
ate so lamentably fell? He was not
in his place in the Senate. He hadn't
been forwarned. Senator Dale, whose
candidacy was approved by the
League, was the only Senator who
knew about Mr.. Sargent, his unfail-
ing opponent; and Mr.. Dale gave up
for Vermont what was meant for
mankind. Mr.. Sargent had tried to
"read" Mr.. Dale tout of the party"
had denounced the Bonus bill and its
supporters, thereby committing lese-
majestic. And worse, if worse can be,
remains behind. John Garibaldi Sar-
gent has been a Corporation lawyer"
Yet Senate which would have re-
jected the corporation lawyer Abra-
ham Lincoln welcomes Mr.. Sargent
without a protest and without a roll
call.
eff mere integrity, experience,
learning, competence, count in an At
torney General, Mr.. Sargent seems fit
for the post. He is a sound lawyer of
that quiet type which outland visitors
to Vermont Court House know and
admire. Lawyers of this sort know
law with a thoroughness uncommon
among the specialized business men
of the law in great cities. They "try
every case for all it is worth" They
are acute. They are learned. They
retain the formal courtesy that has
vanished to a great extent from the
modern bar. Mr.. Sargent has not
only had a successful civil practice,
but he has been county prosecuting
officer and States Attorney General,
and a sometime President of the
Vermont Bar Association needs no
other credentials among lawyers.
'He is a Yankee of the Yankees.
His extension into the air is between
IS and 76 inches. We cheerfully ac-
cept the legand that he protected
young Calvin Coolidge at the Black
River Academy. Mr. Coolidge, rough
ly hazed by the Senate, naturally re-
membered the earlier incident Mr..
Sargent seems qualified to run the
Department of Justice effectively. If
he does, perhaps that will satisfy the
country; but how can the Senate
ever be satisfied with its scorner ?
How can the Progressive
Pures, scrutinizers and sitters of APP
pointments, forgive this breaker of
all their taboos, this rocky old
Tory?"