Evening star., 1937-03-22

at the Federal ReSettlement Admins
tration village contended fire fighting
was not for woman. that WOman'S
place was in the home. But petite
Mrs. Chasin fought back and a
recent drill handled a hose alongside
group Of stalwart men. That she
impressed her opponents was lndi-
Gated by yesterdays unanimous vote.
his court plan views inconsistent with
those formerly held by him
Let me call your attention to some
of the views Of the President of the
United States-not expressed in the
horse and buggy days and not after
We found ourselves in the midst OF the
great depression Wheeler said He
then quoted the following from Mr.
RooSeVeIt's second inaugural address
as Governor of New York in 1881:
The rights Of the States are all
those not surrendered to the Fedora
Government. Such rights were sur
rendered in the case Of the eighteenth
amendment, but there has been no
such surrender in other matters like
the regulation Of public utilities. agrl-
culture education, social welfare,
banks and insurance companies In
such as these the Government at
Washington must not be encouraged
to interfere The greatest possible
liberty of f-governmcnt must be
given to each State, and any attempt
by the National Government to make
all possible laws must inevitably re-
suit in dissolution Of the Union
Assume that Mr. Roosevelt had
been placed on the Supreme Court at
that tlme-When he held those deep
convictions. How do you suppose he
would have decided the n. R A. the
A. A A and some Of the other New
Deal cases? Could he have done other
wise than decide with a Butler or a
Sutherland"
The opening OF opposition testl-
monv aroused tremendous interest
and the big hearing room was crowded
to capacity with visitors Long lines
stood in the corridors, unable 70 obtain
admission
Senator Wheeler pretaced his state
mCnt 70 the committee by saying
4 want il understood thai this
statement Is Que tn no unfrlcndneS>
toward the President. am more
friendly toward him. perhaps than
some members of this committee I
have always had the very highest re-
gard for the President and have at
this time I regret ! must disagree
with HIM on this fundamental ques
ton
Cites 1892 Action
Wheeler said he was the first men,
Der Of the Senate to come out openly
for the nomination Of President Roose-
yelt in 1892
The MOntanan SAID he though the
Presidents message and the letter of
the Attorney General relating to the
court bill reflected on the Supreme
Court when Il said the court was be-
hind IN its work and on the integrity
/ Of the court when 1t said the court
would not hear appeals of lltlgants
/ I had my Office force examine the
statements from the office Of the So
hcltor general and found that the
court was up with its docket l also
went to book written by Felix Prank
furter widely recognized as a friend
OF the administration, and by James
NJ. Lands, chairman Of the Securities
ana Exchange Commission. In this
book the authors held that an increase
IN the number of the Supreme Court
justices would make it less efficient
Then l went TO the one source which
knows the facts better than any one
else l have here now a letter from
The Chief Justice of the United States
Senator Wheeler then read to the
committee the Chief Justices letter.
The Senator himself did not have
prepared statement
In his testimony Wheeler said he
( had believed for 20 years that working
/ conditions must be improved, child
/ labor and SWeatshopS eliminated anc
provision made for unemployment IN
/ suranCe, collective bargaining anc
equalzing the economic status Of the
farmer
Cites Party Platform.
In the last election" he said, III
was shown that the people wanted
these things done but done in G
sane. sensible manner. l submit that
the last Democratic platform provided
the way-by constitutional amend
ment. If some of the things We nov
contend for had been in the Consti
tuition originally, it would never hav'
been adopted. Every member of thi
committee knows that is true.
I'm no college professor, but l an
able to see, nevertheless, that tht
trainers of the Constitution provided
for its change by amendment ant
that is the method I favor. I an
opposed 10 packing the court. l don
believe the end ever justifieS tht
means. If it is morally wrong for ;
private litigant to pack a court t
get what he wants, then it is just a,
wrong for the Government as ltl'
CANT to do the same thing"
Wheeler then remarked that Sen.
ator DieteriCh, Democrat Of Illinois
who is supporting the court bill, hac
opposed the legislation regulating pub
lie utilities because he thought It wa!
unconstitutional.
Did you ever hear me say thought
that law was unconstitutional" Die
terich demanded IF your memory
now is no better than on that point
vollr testimony is not worth much
We'll" responded Wheeler, IF you
didn't oppose the bill on constitutional
grounds, you must have opposed it be-
cause you didn't want any regulation
of utilities
Sees Speedy Amendment.
Wheeler repeated the statement ht
read in the Senate laSt week from
President Roosevelt'S book Looking
FordWard"-that adding new member!