Evening star., 1932-01-24

of New Jersey came up for election as
Governor of that State, New Jersey saw
a strange thing, meetings in Negro
churches to support a Democrat, the
opponent of Baird.
The growth of this sort of thing, the
increasing tendency of the Senate tc
act on judicial appointments under po-
litical pressure, is explained in large
! part by a recent development. Until q
| few years ago the votes in the Senate
on judicial appointments were in ex-
ecutive sessions-that is, with the doors
closed and no record given out. Under
that condition Senators used to have
as much pride in confirming, as much
freedom from political considerations
or factlonal pressure as Presidents in
appointing. A few years ago, however
the Senate made these sessions open
and open doors allowed the political
pressure to come in. There need not
be much doubt that had the vote on
Judge Parker taken place behind closed
doors he would have been confirmed
How Presidents Select Justices.
have happened to be familiar with
the circumstances of the appointment
Of every justice now on the court ex-
cept one. President Roosevelt told me
what had influenced him in appointing
oliver Wendell Holmes, who retired last
week. Roosevelt wanted what we now
call liberal" to balance some older
members of the court who, so Roose-
welt said, with his usual rather shock
ing candor, had in their decisions been
guilty OF "reactionary folly" Roosevelt,
after my conversation with him, was
moved to write me letter, long one
OF seven pages, never yet published, In
which he told at length what had in
1uenced him in appointing not only
supreme Court but Circuit and District
Court justices. He had appointed in
all % judges, and in this letter to me
ne gave the names of all and the rea-
sons for his naming of each some
sentences from this letter, never before
published, read
There is no body of appointments
over which I exercise greater care: not
only l, but my Attorney General, all
scrutinized with painstaking fidelity
every individual appointment. My first
consideration has in every case been
to get a man of the high character.
the good sense, the trained legal ability
and the necessary broad-mindedneSs of
spirit, all of which are essential to a
good judge. Political considera-
tions have been in every instance not
merely subordinated, but completely
and entirely subordinated to the con-
siderations given above, and in large
number Of cases they have been COM
pletely eliminated. I have rejected
great numbers of those who had the
strongest political backing"
When Republican President, Will
liam H. Taft, had to appoint chief
justice he named Edward Douglas
White oF
Democrat, a Catholic and an ex-Con-
federate soldier. There was already on
the court an old Roman of a Judge,
fine, big Kentuckian, John Marshall
Harlan, Republican, who before the
Civil War had been a Whig and had
run for Congress in 1859. Harlan could
stand White being Democrat and gave
no thought to his being a Catholic. but
the appointment of an ex-Confederate
soldier to be Chief Justice of the Su-
preme Court irked him. 1t fell to Har-
lan's lot to perform the ceremony of
swearing in the new chief When the
time came Harlan pinned on his coat
label the button that was the insignia
Of his membership in the Grand Army
OF the Republic, the silent comment of
Kentuckian, who in that bloody bor-
derland of the Civil War had been the
colonel of Union regiment.
Calls for Sacrifice.
Regard for the Supreme Court Of the
United States shows itself in many
ways and sometimes calls for sacrifice
Taft, when he ceased to be President,
had spent substantially all his mature
life in the public service and had
therefore, accumulated no private
means. 1t was open to him and he
was solicited to unite with some of the
greatest law firms in New York. Taft
declined. He said that as President it
had happened to fall to him to appoint
about so per cent of all the district,
circuit and Supreme Court justices on
the United States bench. He could not,
he said, appear before his own ap-
pointees as an advocate in private liti-
cation. And he accepted the small
remuneration OF teacher at Yale Uni
versity.
Every President gives some, but not
dominating attention, to geography.
Recently the court is heavily weighted
on the East. II line be drawn from
Philadelphia to New York and then to
Boston, more than half of the court
five-came from that narrow strip of
Atlantic seaboard. With Justice Holmes
retired, there are four-one from Phila-
delphia, two from New York, one from
Boston. From this seaboard line it is
necessary to go half way across the
continent to find the home of another
justice, Butler, of st. Paul, MINI.
Farther West are two from mountain
States-Justice Van Devanter of Wyo-
ming and Justice Sutherland of Utah.
The one remaining justice, McReynolds,
comes from Tennessee.
This lack Of geographic balance is less
than it seems. Litigation comes up to
the court in proportion to density of
population and quantity Of commercial
operations.