The Washington times., 1929-02-09
FR LEAVES TODAY ON JOURNEY TO HONOR THOMAS EDISON
DOPESTERS PUT
STONE BACK IN
CABINET
Continued from First Page,

Continued from First Page|
the Department of Justice, as a
matter of public service, He served
as Attorney General for nine
months before his elevation to the
bench. The brief experience is said
to have whetted his appetite for the
task.
The resignation Of Justice Stone
would create a vacancy, OF course,
and for this vacancy the volunteer
Cabinet.makers have selected Curtis
D. Wilbur, now Secretary OF the
Navy. Such a disposal of Wilbur
would relieve Mr.. Hoover of a
problem, for it is already well &C.
cepted that DR.. Ray Lyman Wilbur,
his brother. is going to be in the
Hoover Cabinet, and nobody can
envision both Wilburs in the Cabi.
net.
The story continues that Justice
Stone would remain as Attorney
General until the Department of
Justice was running smoothly and
then he would retire to head his own
law firm in New York. He has two
lawyer sons. Ultimately, It is said,
he would like to return to the bench,
but not until he has had a fling at
remunerative private practice. Law
yers who have been twice Attorney
General and once a justice of the
| Supreme Bench are comparatively
rare in legal circles, and no one
doubts that Justice Stone could find
a lucrative practice. Charles Evans
Hughes is credited with having
made large fortune since his retire
ment from the Cabinet.
Taft May Retire
This story is linked up with an
other bit of Washington gossip that
affects Chief Justice William How.
ard Taft. 1t is to the general effect
that Justice Taft wishes to retire
after he has served 10 years as Chief
Justice. That 10 years will be up
in July of 1891, midway in the
Hoover term.
He will then be "A years old, and
he is credited with a desire to retire
and devote the remainder of his life
to writing. He hasn't been able to
do much Of it while on the bench.
His duties are arduous, and he is
probably the hardest working mem.
ber OF the court.
To round it out, the story goes
that upon Justice Taft's retirement
Mr.. Hoover would offer the Chief
Justiceship to Mr.. Stone.
1t Is a good story, anyway. 1t
was told in Justice stones presence
at luncheon given by Senator Ar
thur Capper (R.) of Kansas several
days ago. Among the guests were
several gentlemen who have Cabinet
aspirations of their own. They are
reported to have watched the JUS
tees face closely while it was be
ing told, but Stone only smiled and
said exactly nothing. Several of
those present Immediately jumped
to the conclusion there was some
thing to it all. Otherwise, they
argued, the Justice would have said
"bosh" or ''piffle' or something like
that.
What About Donovan?
Putting Justice Stone in the De
partment of Justice presupposes an.
other job for William j. Donovan,
now Assistant Attorney General.
who has been generally considered
a good bet for the place.
1t is definitely known that Mr..
Hoover has asked Donovan TO stay
in his Administration. But so far
as is known he did not specify in
what capacity he wished him to re-
| main. The SecretaTyship of War
might do, or the Solicitor General.
ship, with the Attorney Generalship
to come along later in the Admin
! istration.
As matters now stand, Washing
| ton considers that four Cabinet
posts are more or less definitely de-
! cided-Andrew w. Mellon as Secre.
tary of the Treasury, Henry T..
! Stimson as Secretary of State, Will
liam M. Jardine as Secretary of
Agriculture, and DIR. Ray Lyman
| Wilbur as Secretary of the Interior.
That leaves six.
All this may be news to Mr..
! Hoover, but it isn't to Washington.