Evening star., 1925-01-11
CiDics.

Joseph McKenna of the United States
Supreme Court was announced from
the bench Monday, last, by Chief
Justice Taft. Justice McKenna has
served for 80 years on the Supreme
Court, receiving his appointment
from President Mckinley.
Immediately following announce
ment of his resignation, President
Coolidge nominated Attorney General
Harlan F.. Stone for the vacancy. The
Senate has yet to confirm the nomina-
tion.
This leaves the President. for the
second time in his administration
with the job of naming new At
torney General.
By one vote, and that one the vote
of a Democrat, the Senate last week
upheld the Presidents veto of the
postal pay bill. The House had
previously repassed the bill over the
veto of the President A new bill,
allowing increases for postal en-
ployes and raising postal rates to
supply the necessary revenue, has
been drawn by administration forces.
The bill is not expected to be passed
at the present session of Congress.
Col. Hiram Bingham, former Yale
Connecticut on Tuesday. Wednesday
he was inaugurated Governor of Con-
necticut. Thursday he resigned and
on Friday he came to Washington
and was sworn in as United States
Senator from Connecticut, which
probably constitutes a record for Of
t1ce holding in few days.
The Senate has taken one step for
ward in its effort to get rid of the
question of how to dispose of Muscle
Shoals. After debating the question
ever since Congress convened, the
Senate voted Thursday for the Under
wood plan, which has the backing of
President Coolidge, and which pro-
vides for private operation of Muscle
Shoals. The plan was strenuously
and heatedly opposed by Senator Nor
ris of Nebraska, who had urged that
the Government operate the power
plant. The Senate has yet to pass a
bill disposing of Muscle Shoals, how
ever, and then reconcile it with a
measure passed by the House, offering
the plant to Henry Ford for operation.
The much discussed question of
whether the United States should
modernize its battleships to make
them of the standard set by the arms
conference occupied large and gen
erous slices of the front pages last
week. First, the Senate asked the
President to inform Congress which
nations had protested against eleva-
tion of the guns on American battle
ships. This elevation, by the way,
means increasing the range of the big
guns. The following day Secretary
Hughes replied that Great Britain had
entered a protest against proposed
elevation of guns, but that Japan did
not regard such proposals as violating
the arms conference agreement, and
neither did the American State De-
partment. But Secretary of the Navy
Wilbur Immediately came forward
with the statement that the Budget
Bureau, rejecting the President S
wishes in the matter, had considered
the "moderniZation program" not in
accord with the economy program
therefore there was no appropriation
available.
Meanwhile, the House naval affairs
committee has reached a conclusion
similar to that already reached by
the Senate committee-that the Navy
is in very good condition and that,
despite rumors and speculation to the
contrary, there is no use getting ex-
cited about it.
Another vacancy may occur within
short time on the United States Su-
preme Court. 1t will be caused by the
retirement of Associate Justice oliver
Wendell Holmes, who will be S4 years
old March 8. He was appointed by
President Roosevelt in 1902.