Evening star., 1937-02-22
ROSENMAN CALLED
NEW DEAL ENIGMA
Court Revision Plan Author
ship Attributed to Presi-
dents Friend.
BY MARGARET DENTON.

NEW YORK, February % N.A.
NA).-A man who walks along po-
litical highways as inconspicuously
as a shadow is one of President
Roosevelt's closest advisers. In
trenched In 0bScurity, he Is the par
ent of the much-publicized brain
trust, and reputedly the author of
the newly launched plan for the re-
vision of the Supreme Court.
For is years Samuel l. Rosenman
has nimbly lodged the spotlight. Al
though a consistent officeholder and
the intimate associate Of men polit-
Ically important, newspaper accounts
of him are meagerz and uninsplred.
He froWns on interviews, guards his
unlisted telephone number jealousy
and iSolateS his private life as COM
pletely as if he lived on Mars.
If whisperings of the origin Of the
new Supreme Court program reach
the ears of the country's nine high
justices, they may well feel that New
York State Supreme Court Justice
Rosenman, a youngster of Al. should
20 supperless to bed for impertinence.
Gen. Hugh S. johnson has an entirely
different type of reward in mind. He
has publicly named Judge Rosenman
as one of the men who should be ap-
pointed to the enlarged court.
Praised by Moley.
The trend Of Judge Rosenman's de-
cisions on the bench, rejecting an
unmistakable liberalism, suggest that
he logically might be impatient with
the snail's pace Of the United States
Supreme Court in furthering social
legislation. In the New York judi
ciary campaign Of 1888 his close
friend, Raymond Moley, commented:
He deserves the support Of every
voter who wants intelligence, expert
ence and a progressive point OF view
on the bench"
Judge Rosenman's significant
friendship with President Roosevelt
had its beginning In the gubernatorlal
campaign Of 1923. This bright young
man proved to be most helpful. and
Roosevelt promptly made Mr.. Rosen-
man his counsel.
II don't have time for many amuse-
ments. The only recreation I get IS
going to the theater. I'm a member
of the bar association, my local
Democratic clube-the Monogahela-
and I'm a Mason. I like to drive
car and I used to play golf.'
This unsmiling young judge is not
too absorbed in legal technicalitles to
be a humanitarian. In one Of his
decisions he gave his official approval
to trial separations. The husband OF
a woman who was platonically but
hopelessly enthralled by a younger
man was suing for separation. Judge
Rosenman granted separations for
a period of only three years In the
expectation that the infatuated wife
would return, cured and repentant.
Another case at which he presided
was far cry from the austere COM
plexities of state. President Roose-
velt's right arm had to decide be-
tween the relative merits of the
"Dy-Dee Baby" and the Wee Wee
Doll" creations of bitterly COMPETE
tive toy makers.
The brief facts Of Judge RoSen-
mans life are reported with the
terseness Of passport Information.
This triumph of taciturnity was born
in San Antonio, Tex. His family
moved to New York when he was 8.
He was graduated from Columbia
University and Columbia University
Law School, gaining admission to the
bar in 1920. The political star OF
this sandy haired, stocky young man
rose rapidly. He was elected to the
New York State Assembly in 1922
and served until 1929. Judge Rosen-
man Is married and the father Of
two sons, Jimmy and Bobbie.
Like Invisible Automaton.
Like an invisible automaton, Judge
Rosenn1an functions in the current
scene. He provides no colorful cpl
sodes, no lively quotations to pique
public curiosity. An infrequently
published sally echoes hollowly. After
a private session with President
Roosevelt, at the White House, the
Judge was asked If patronage was the
subject of their discussion. mo-" he
replied smilingly. 1--WE were discussing
ducks and brakes"
Perhaps Mrs Rosenman offers some
clue to Americas man Of mystery.
He even drives a car with judicial
temperament" she admitted. He'd
never get stopped for anything but
blocking traffic"
It is tribute to Judge Rosenman's
quiet faculty for making himself in
dispensable that, in 1882, Gov. Roose-
welt, with the greatest reluctance, ap-
pointed him to fill an unexpired term
on the Supreme Court bench. Gov.
Roosevelt voiced the following lament:
This act of mine today Is one Of
the most unseltish things in my life,
because I am cutting off my right
arm" Then, with family pro-
phetic note, His wide knowledge Of
J4, l. ,l,;, ~~x;%I