Evening star., 1937-07-05
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The Court Compromise.

rive months ago today President
Roosevelt sent to Congress his bill to
reorganlze and increase the member
ship of the Supreme Court. Tomorrow
the administration leader, Senator Rob-
1nson of Arkansas, intends to call the
Dill up IN the Senate. 1t is not his pur-
pose, however, to press for consideration
OF the Presidents original bill which
was reported adversely to the Senate by
the Judiciary Committee Rather is it
his plan to ask for favorable action on
the substitute which he and Senator
Logan OF Kentucky and others have
worked out. So much for the past his
tory of this unpalatable legislation,
which is clear attempt on the part of
the Executive to dominate and coerce
the judicial branch of the Government.
Tomorrow begins a debate in the
Senate which will indicate whether that
body is willing 20 compromise vital
principle. That principle is the inde-
pendence Of the courts. 1t is true that
the compromise advanced by Senator
Robinson, Senator Logan and others is
a sugarcoated pill, designed to make
the swallowing easier. But the un-
American dose is still there. 1t pro-
poses to give the President authority to
appoint additional justices of the Su-
preme Court for each member who has
reached the age of seventy-five years
and has failed to retire. The President
Is limited in making such appointments,
to one in each calendar year.
The original bill. which the President
and his supporters have 50 strongly
urged in the past, gave the President
authority to appoint one additional JUS
tice for each member of the Supreme
Court who had reached the age of
seventy and one-half years and failed
to retire, with limit of fifteen members
Of the court. AS the court was then
made up, six new justices could have
been added Immediately had the bill
passed. Since that time, one of the
justices, Associate Justice Van Devanter,
seventy years of age and four over
seventy-fve.
If the compromise bill passes, the
President within few months will be
able to add two additional justices to
the Supreme Court, one for 1887 and
one for 1888 after the new year has
begun, unless all four of the justices
seventy-iv years of age or more retire.
In that event he will have the appoint
ment of four new justices, including
Chief Justice. If two should retire and
two remain on the bench, the President
would have the appointment of four
new justices, two to replace the retiring
justices and two to add to the court,
making court of eleven members. The
President already has the appointment
of one new Justice to make-which he
has not made-to fill the vacancy
caused by the retirement more than a
month ago of Mr.. Justice Van Devanter.
Clearly the compromise is a court-pack-
Ing proposal. 1t is designed to give the
President power at this particular juno
ture to place men on the bench who
will give him the kind of opinions he
desires.
Time and again it has been admitted
and clearly shown that the real purpose
back of the court bill has been to obtain
certain interpretations of the Constitu-
tion which will fit in with the legislation
demanded by the President. Once that
kind of judicial functioning has been
IN operation there is no limit to the dis
tance it may go.
The public now looks upon the
compromise bill either as a face-savinp
device to protect the President or as the
Presidents bill merely in another form,
with the packing power intact. The
administration will insist that the new
measure is no face-saving proposition,
merely. Obviously it regards the COM
promise as calculated to achieve the
very end for which the original bill was
intended. Senators who have opposed
the original bill as a matter of principle
cannot support the compromise without
compromising with principle.