The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-08-17
BEHIND | THE SCEN1ESI \ lM WAStIINVCT ON k9V RODNEY puTCHER- -A
 Democrat Washington
 COrrespOndentD
Black, FDR's Challenge To
 Solid South's
 Party Control

0OAAQ 0OUIu .
 Party Control
 Washington, Aug. IT, Senator Hugo Blacks appointment to the Supreme Court is Roosevelt's latest and most conspicuous challenge to the south's economic political sys- tenn and to the southern blocs in Congress which have most persist. ently opposed his 1887 program,
 The appointment was practi-
 caIly decided upon late In the
 evening of Aug. II, but not finally
 until the next morning, when 1t
 was sent to the Senate. It was
 kept . secret because Roosevelt
 Confided almost exclusively
 throughout his deliberations with
 Attorney General Homer s. Cum-
 nings, who Is one of the best
 secret.keepers in town.
 Runners-up in the order named were Solicitor General Stanley Reeo, Donald Richberg and Judge Sam Bratton Of New Mexico. The appointment was shot into the Senate SO carry because southern Democratic members of the House rules committee had tied up the wage-hour bill and because south ern senators were starting @ file buster against the anti lynching bill which would endanger Roose. velts whole battered program.
 Political Maneuvering
 Stanley Reed, a Kentuckian, probably would have been see lected If there had not been a justice-McReyn nolds--sitting from the judicial circuit whence Reed comes. Blacks judicial district contains six southern states with a population of 1e,000000. The fact that the relatively mild and courtly Reeds appointment would have been more likely to help along the resignation of Justice Sutherland than appointment of the agresSively liberal Black was chreIully WelRneu,
 But in the end Roosevelt de. clded that 1t would most advance hls cause to appoint the one mill-
 tantly liberal southern senator, to
 encourage those In the south who
 want to reconstruct It's economic
 system which some s0utherners
 and most New Deal tend to re-
 gard in part as an "ecenomlc
 sweatshop for northern capital"
 He saw an opportunity also to encourage his liberal followers which would assure them that he was not compromising in his left- ward program and would make plain that he stood by his friends as he expected them to stand by him.
 Tn effect, Roosevelt played poli- ties with the appointment. But 1t should be remembered that every one in Washington, from the President down and perhaps even sometimes including Supreme Court justices, plays politics with anything he can get his hands on. - A Bogey Inferred
 Other considerations included the iinprobability of confirma- ton trouble, since the Senate could hardly turn down . senator or It's southern members turn against c fellow southerner, Chief points against Black are that he hes c strong liberal record in TO. cent years, that he was originally elected with Ku Klux Klan back ing. that he failed to disclose any- thing like the full findings of his lobby Investigation which flared so sensationaliy.
 Although some are now calling
 him wild and radical, and as .
 southerner chairman of the Senate
 labor committee he was incautious enough Co sponsor Q wagesh0ur
 mill on the theory that higher Nv.
 ing standards would revive the south, Roosevelt Is said to be i'm.
 pressed by his "sound," cautious approach" to problems.
 one also learns that Roosevelt sought to lay at rest the bogey raised by senatorial opponents who insisted they would never permit confirmation Of any sena- tor who had favored tho court plan.
 Black had been under terrific heat both here and at home. 1t
 Is most important to remember
 that Roosevelt Is willing to stir
 up masses of people in the south
 to Che point where they will un-
 seat some of their present cOn-
 servativc officials and elect those
 whom the President thinks would
 more truly represent them. Battle Waxes Hotter
 Heaven knows what the effects of his effort will be, although there would bc no such effort had southern members been more obe- dent to his desires. The fact that old-iine leaders can be upset has been proved by the late Huey Long and Bilbo Of Mississippi. Some Of them arc badly worried. RoseyeltS weekend trip with the LaFollottes, his virtually scornfui refusal to attend the Democratic senatorial Harmony" dinner and the appointment of Black oil point to the same thing -that Roosevelt considers himself the leader Of his party and vii fight to purge it Of those lesser leaders who feel he b trying to lead them into dangerous paths and whom he thinks have no right in the party unless they follow his leadership. The battle waxes hot- ter every day. AnssDers To
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