Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1937-05-27
THE NATIONAL
GOVERNMENT
BY PAUL JOHN KvALE, M. C.

The most important news of the
week was the resignation of Justice
Willis Van Devanter from the Su-
preme Court. 1t had been rumored
about Washington for some time that
the western jurist planned to retire
but the actual publication of his let
ter of resignation to President Roose-
welt created a mild sensation, to say
the least. Almost Immediately ru-
mors began to fly thick and fast in
legislative and newspaper circles to
the effect that Chief Justice Hughes
and his associate justices Sutherland,
Brandeis and Cardozo were also plan
ming to resign. In fact some OBJ
servers predicted that the entire bench
was preparing to retire when the
summer recess opens in June. The
Chief Justice quickly cleared up all
doubts by announcing that he has
no intention of retiring at this time.
Friends of the associate justices like
wise let it be known that they plan
to continue their services in the court
It was inevitable that this flood
of rumors would be followed by
speculation regarding the probable
successor to Justice Van Devanter
Those most frequently mentioned
included Senator Joseph T Robinson
of Arkansas, majority leader of the
upper house of Congress; his col
league, Robert S. Wagner of New
York; Professor Felix Frankfurter OF
Harvard university; Chairman James
Lands of the Securities and Ex-
change Commission; Donald Rich
berg, former director of the NRA;
General Hugh S. Johnson, who pre-
ceeded him in that post; and Robert
H. Jackson, assistant attorney gen.
eral, who made haste to assure ev-
eryone that he wouldn't accept the
seat if he was nominated. Also the
names of several circuit court judges
were mentioned.
The younger generation was rep
resented in the field by Benjamin
Cohen and Thomas Corcoran, both
proteges of DR.. Frankfurter, both
outstanding new dealers and both on
the sunny side of fifty.
The Robinson boom gained mo-
mentum with such speed that within
twenty-four hours of the announced
retirement of Justice Van Devanter,
the Senate cloak rooms and the press
galleries were ready to concede his
nomination. However, some of the
more canny of the new dealers smiled
cynically when they observed the
enthusiasm with which ultra con-
sentative old guard Republican
papers, led by the New York Herald
Tribune and the Washington Post
played up the Robinson candidacy,
assuring their readers under large
headlines on page one, that the Ar
kansas Senator was almost certain to
ascend the bench. The skeptical new
dealers, while admitting that Rob-
inson is qualified and has performed
admirably as majority leader during
the passage of important new deal
legislation, nevertheless were aware
that he had long been classed as a
conservative in the ranks of his party
and it was their notion that his con-
version to the liberal fold was tardy
to say the least.
These practical fellows predicted
openly that the same Republican
papers that are reporting with great
gusto that Senator Robinson is the
choice of the President would be the
first to cut loose on their editorial
pages if he were nominated, with
charges that he is rapidly approach
ing the age bracket which brings one
into the classification of an elder
statesman, and further that he falls
short Of being an out and out dyed
in-the wool liberal.
1t was inevitable that the matter
should crop up at the first White
House press conference, following the