Evening star., 1925-03-11
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MARYLAND and Virginia.
All Other States.
Member Of the Associated Press.
Mr.. Warren Rejected.

Not since the stormy days oil An
drew Johnson has an appointment TO
the Presidents cabinet been rejected
by the Senate until the unfavorable
action taken by the Senate last eve
ming on the nomination OF Charles B.
Warren of Michigan. The right of the
President to select his own offlcial
family, as his cabinet has been de-
scribed, has been held sufficient to
check opponents. The right OF the
late President Harding to select Harry
Daugherty to be Attorney General
was not questioned, it will be recalled,
by the Senate. and Mr.. Daugherty's
nomination went through in per-
functory manner four years ago.
President Coolidge selected Mr..
Warren to be Attorney General. 1t Is
TO be presumed that he weighed the
arguments used against Mr.. Warren
in the Senate before he made the ap-
pointment and still found him the
proper man for the Office of Attorney
General. Mr.. Warren had previously
served the United States with distinc-
ton as Ambassador to Mexico and
Ambassador to Japan. In both in
stances his nomination as Ambassador
was submitted to and confirmed by
the Senate.
The President had ample warning
that Mr.. Warren's appointment would
be opposed by some of the Repu blican
ioar
Senator from the nominees own
State, Senator CouZens. But unde-
niably a feeling existed in admins
tration quarters that the rule which
members of his Cabinet without op-
position by the minority party or the
opposing political party in the Sen
ate would permit enough Democratic
votes to be cast for Mr. Warren, or
at least would prevent enough Demo
cratic votes being cast against him,
to permit his confirmation. A few
days ago the administration leaders
were confident the appointment would
be confirmed. But the open debate per-
mitted on the nomination and the
vote in the open changed the situa-
ton. The Democrats felt they could
not go on record as voting for Mr..
Warren. Finally, the lone Democrat
who had voted for confirmation, Sen
ator Overman of North Carolina,
changed his vote so that the nomina-
ton could not be rescued from the
pit into which it had fallen.
Vice President Dawes was absent
from the Senate when this important
vote was taken. Had he been present,
with the vote standing 40 to 40, he
might have cast the deciding vote
which would have confirmed the nom-
innti Notwithstanding the fact
that Mr.. Dawes had been informed by
leaders in the Senate earlier in the
afternoon that no vote would be taken
yesterday on the nomination, he will
undoubtedly be subject to criticism
for his absence. This is the second
time that he has been absent from the
Senate when his presence was needed,
the first when he failed to return to
call the new Senate to order after the
inaugural ceremonies. for which he
was criticized by the Senators. On the
first occasion as on the second, he
acted on the advice of Senators when
he ebsented himself Perhaps Mr.
Dawes hereafter will use his own
judgement instead of that of others
as to the need of his presence in the
Senate. Probably nothing could have
happened more pat to the taste of his
critics in the Senate than his failure
TO be present when the vote was
taken yesterday.
But had Mr.. Dawes been present,
would the final result on the Warren
nomination been any different?
Would not Senator Overman have
changed his vote a. little earlier when
1t became apparent that by his vote
clone could Mr.. Warren be confirmed?
In view of the change he finally made
when the Vice President did arrive in
the Senate chamber, it is reasonable to
suppose he would have taken the
same course had Mr.. Dawes been
there earlier.
Aside from the fact that the War
rem nomination has been rejected,
whether for cause or not, the blow
struck the President at the outset of
his new term of office may or may
not be significant Of stormy times
TO come. The President was elected
last November by the greatest
plurality ever given a candidate for
that Office. The victory was personal
rather than partisan. What will be
the reaction of the country to this
slap at the Chief Executive?