Evening star., 1937-02-09

the Presidents
bill communi- zA
Gated in draft David Lawrence.
form to Congress
states that the number of judges
shall be permanently increased by
the number appointed thereto" under
the first section of the bill, the one
that specifically enlarges the Supreme
Court to Is.
The opportunity to appoint u JUS
tices comes about through the fact
that the proposal itself would permit
additional justices because 6 mem
bers of the present court are above 10
. years of age and have served more
than 10 years on the Federal bench.
If these 6 decided to retire before any
new justices are nominated, the court
would remain at 9, but only for a
little while. namely, until some new
Justices or the three younger ones now
on the bench had served 10 years.
G. o. p. Hesitant on Issue.
If, however, the present 6 justices
above 70 do not retire before the ad-
ditional justices are named. the court
will promptly become l5-judge court
as a permanent thing unless Congress
should subsequently repeal the statute.
The reaction to this sweeping pro-
posal to change the size Of the court
is as yet uncrystallized in the Ma
tional Capital Republicans are hesi-
tant to speak out because they do not
want to make partisan issue of the
measure. They feel that if the Su-
preme Court proposal is to be defeated
It must be by the activity of Demo-
Gratis. because the latter have two
thirds control of both houses of
Congress.
Many Democrats privately denounce
the proposal, but they do not feel they
can vote against it unless the folks
back home tell them to do so. In the
absence of any word as to how public
opinion feels about President Roose-
velt's policies other than the Novem-
Der election, they are going to assume
that the American people voted vir-
tually for a dictatorship by the Presi-
dent and that they must follow his
wishes.
Missed Turn to Right"
But did the many Democrats who
voted for Mr.. Roosevelt believing his
second term would see turn to the
right instead of the left, think they
would be approving a drastic change
in the Supreme Court and in the atti-
tude Of the Executive toward the
highest court in the land? Only those
Democrats who supported Mr. Roose-
welt for reelection are privileged to
speak out these days and have their
influence felt. for under our system of
government the 10000, 900 Republicans
are represented In Congress by a much
less number of representatives than
would speak for the 38 per cent of the
total vote they polled in any parlia-
mentarian system.
The expectation is that there will
be great debate on the matter in the
Senate as 1t seems a foregone conclu-
sion that the House will pass the bill
by substantial majority, even though
a large number say privately it is
wrong. So many of the members owe
their reelection, they feel, to Mr..
Roosevelt that they will not oppose
him without some clear word from
back home to the contrary.
From a practical standpoint, of
course, the Presidents proposal is un-
dergoing much criticism. Attention is
being called on Capitol Hill to the fact
that the Presidents statistics about
the work Of the Supreme Court being
congested were interpreted in the op-
posite manner by Solicitor General
Reed, whose report was recently trans
mitted to Congress by the Attorney
General himself. Undoubtedly this in
consistency will be mentioned a great
deal when the discussion starts in the
Senate and House.
Older Justices Testimony Improbable.
Whether members of the Supreme
Court will appear to testify before
either the House or Senate judiciary
Committees is not known, though it
Is doubtful if the six justices who are
above 10 years of age would accept
the invitation. 1t is more likely that
they will feel the matter is of a per-
sonal character in so far as it affects
them and that it is more incumbent
on the other members of the court
Justices Stone, Cardozo and Roberts
to offer such testimony as is sought
by Congress.
These three justices ought to know
whether their colleagues are mentally
lncapacitated and whether the work
OF the court is being slowed down be-
cause Of the advanced age Of the six
Justices. The three youngest men,
bers could tell whether the older six
Justices are agile and Intellectually
powerful. As matter of fact, every
bit Of evidence hereabouts supports
the fact that the six justices are men,
tally above the level of energy for men
OF their age and that they are doing
q better Job in keeping abreast Of the
cases filed than any preceding men,
bership Of the Supreme Court.
Many lawyers in the National Cap
ftal feel that Mr.. Roosevelt's message
was tragic attack on six men who
have given the best years OF their
lives to public service. They are being
held up before the country as in some
way mentally slow or incapable and
they are in no position to talk back
because Supreme Court justices can
not. with good taste. engage in a
debate in the public prints or else
where on the merits Of legislation
Affecting themselves.
Justices Views" Guarded.
Feeling runs high here since the
Presidents message was delivered.
What are the personal comments of
members of the court is not known,
but it is probably not mere speculation
to suggest that they consider Mr..