The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-01-14
THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 1ss
Will It Be Coolidge?


 that Calvin Coolidge will be named as sue eessor to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes on the bench of the United States Supreme Court. There is the preecndent Of the late William Howard Taft who served in the White House and also as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Taft, though has been the only man to be distinguished by acting as the head of two departments of our gov. s ernment, the executive and judicial. here are those who maintain that automatically the retiring president. if he be member of the legal profession, should become justice of the Supreme Court.
 However, discarding all such. it might be wise move for President Hoover to noml- nate ex-President Coolidge. It certainly would meet with popular approval. We'll wager that Mir Coolidge has even acquired more prestige since leaving the White House than he had while an incumbent As events transpire people are beginning to believe that after all the regime of the cautious Cal was much better than that we are getting under his successor, despite the advance informal ton to the contrary. Certainly MT Cool idge's nomination to the Supreme Court would creumvent any intentions to enter him in the fray against Mir Hoover early this summer
 The retiring Justice Holmes is from Massachusetts. so is Mir Coolidge. We think that Mir Coolidge would prove as
 liberal as Justice Holmes. although we may be 1aboring under the wrong impression here But we are merely wandering Tn telds of surmse There are many practical things 10 be considered paramount in which IS the attitude of the U. S. Senate towards the presidents nominee. Opposition to the last two appointees to the Supreme Court bench split the Senate in fragments. When 1t came to approving Chief Justice Hughes and Justice Roberts there was wide difference of opinion which we expect will be carried over to the latest judicial appointment, de- spite growing democratic power in both 1. Houses of Congress.
 That growing democratic power. most of it from the South. might lead to de- . mand for more geographical distribution in Supreme Court appointments. Any such demand might relegate Mir Coolidge 10 the background. as there will still be one Massa- chusetts jurist on the bench -- Louis D. Brandeis. And many may declare that one Supreme Court judge from New England IS enough. let alone two from Massachusetts However. where qualifications must take rank over geographical distribution MT Coolidge would win. Certainly if demo- crats pushed the cause of John w. Davis or Newton D. Baker they might have an argu- ment on their side.
 Aid Mir Hoover would have political argument in naming either. especially the latter It would remove. as in the case of MT Coolidge. presidential candidate. ths time on the democratic side. If democrats are slowly edging towards Newton D. Baker then Mir Hoover might need show concern over next November eIeelon' Hence he certainly would be wise 10 remove any obstacle in the path of his reelection Mir Baker is from Ohio from which state there are no Supreme Court judges. Mir Davis is native of West Virginia, but prac tices law in New York. If the Solid South desires representation it might name Mir Davis for the honor. although Justice McReynolds does come from Tennessee.
 , The far west has Justices Van Devanter of Wyoming and Sutherland of Utah. The East has Brandes of Massachusetts, Hughes and Stone of New York. and Roberts of ,Pennsylvania The middle west has Pierce Butler of Minnesota, That puts the issue squarely up to the president. It looks like South or Middle West. which automatically eliminates Calvin Coolidge. but not Messrs Davis and Baker. On d strictly partisan basis they must make way for jurIst of republican faith. And that means that the list of eligibles is swelled considerably, At any rate the successor to Justice Holmes will find his work cut out for him. if he lives up to the reputation that this venerable man Of 90 established in his fifty years on the bench.