Evening star., 1937-05-02

ABOUT what Will happen IN the Senate
there are several speculations Will
the debate be prolonged? Will it be
Just normally long debate, or will
1t be prolonged into a filibuster?
A filbuster on the court proposal
Is quite possible. Sometimes it is
said that filibustering ended with
the change in the length of sessions
Of Congress that came in 1888. In
the old days, every second session of
Congress was a short one it began
the first Monday in December. and
ended, automatically on the 4th of
March succeeding. In such a ses-
sion. lasting approximately three
months, filibusters were easily prac-
ticable The session had much to
do; controversial questions natural
ly were put off until toward the end
and any time after the middle of
February 1t was comparatively easy
to filibuster the days remaining until
March a.
Since 1888 all sessions of Congress
last potentially a full year. They
begin January 3, and they go on
until Cangress is ready to quit-there
is no statutory ending until the full
year is up. In this new condition, it
is said. filibusters will be difficult or
mpossible-unless, of course, on ques-
tions that do not come up until near
the end of a session. But presum-
ably the Democratic leaders of the
Senate who favor the Presidents S
court proposal, will see that it comes
up fairly early in the session. Never
theless, filibusters are still possible
and the court proposal may provide
the first serious attempt at a fill
buster since the length of congress
sional sessions was changed.
Reason for FilibuSter.
II there Is a filibuSter on the court
proposal the more favorable morale
should be on the side of the flllbus-
terers. Those who oppose the court
proposal do so with terrible earn
estness-the kind of zeal that will
take pleasure and enjoy the oppro-
brium directed against it by those
who don't like it.
On the other hand, those who sup
port the Presidents proposal have
no such earneStness. Most of them
are supporting the proposal under a
kind of duress-because it came from
the President and is imposed on them
by party discipline. If there is
filibuster against the court proposal,
and if it is carried on with real
earnestness, the Senators favoring the
court proposal would not be long in
coming to the end of their endurance.
They have not the stomach to stand
up to a long fight on something they
really don't much believe in. If so
or 20 Senators opposing the Presl-
dents proposal make it clear that
they are going to talk continuously.
in relays, the Presidents friends will
be disposed to give up and let the
session end.
II there is a filibuster against the
court proposal, something depends
on what reason is given for it. Those
fllibustering-that is, those against
the court proposal-might say they
are filibustering merely to prevent the
proposal from coming to a vote and
let it 60 at that. But they could find
better justification.
Campaign Silence Recalled.
They could say that the President
never laid his court proposal before
the voters in campaign; that, on
the contrary, he rather concealed. in
his campaign last Summer and Fall,
whatever intention he may have had
to change the Supreme Court; that
nI
on it; that this Congress, which is
asked to enact the court proposal
was elected when the court proposal
was not an issue; that it is wrong
for this Congress to enact something
which the people did not anticipate
when this Congress was elected; and
that therefore the court proposal
should wait and be thrown into next
years congressional elections, where
1T undoubtedly would be the princi-
pal issue and where the public would
have a chance to pass on it.
A filibuSter put on that ground. to
postpone a vote on the court pro-
posal until after next years con-
gressional elections, would command
moral respect.
With the Presidents court pro-
posal ending its first phase, the public
hearings before the Senate Judiciary
Committee, let us review its fortunes
30 far. Some developments are plain.
The reason the President gave for
his proposal at the time he made it
the age of the justices and the allega-
ton that they were behind with their
work-has been completely exploded.
Hardly any one refers to it any more.
The true reason has been brought
into the open. The Presidents own
friends admit, and everybody now un-
derstands, that the true reason is a
wish on the Presidents part to put on
the court six men who will support
the Presidents wishes. This is one
plain and illuminating outcome of
developments so far.
Vote Leanings Still in Doubt.
Has the prospect of enactment of
the court proposal been increased or
diminished during the two months of
hearings before the Senate commit
tee? On this point partisans on both
know, and nobody has at any time
known positively, how many Senators
are likely to vote in favor of the Presi-
dents proposal, how many against it.
Nobody knows surely whether the
number Of Senators for and against
his proposal has varied since the be-
ginning. But two developments have
worked, in an indirect way, to help
the Presidents measure. They have
worked to undermine the opposition.
Leadership of the opposition was,
from the beginning, mainly in the
hands of Democratic Senators.
Within "a hours after the President
made his proposal Republican Sem
ators realized, first, that they were
too few in number to make an effective
opposition; and, second, that large
number of Democrats might oppose