Evening star., 1937-03-05
COURT PLAN FIGHT
OPENS NEXT WEEK
Both Sides Prepare for
Hearings Before Senate
Judiciary Committee.
H tie Associated Press.

The bitter fight over the admins
tration's Supreme Court bill. stimu-
lated by President Roosevelts speech
last night, will swing into fresh &C
tivity next week, with both sides
hoping to capture necessary Senate
votes from a small group Of uncom-
mitted Senators who appear now to
hold the fate of the measure.
Opponents are claiming at least AZ
Of the Senate's 96 votes and claim
they are confident of recruiting seven
more to give them a majority. r.,
Administration proponents said they
had commitments from some 38 Sem
ators and they, too, expressed confl-
dence of mastering a majority from
the small group of Senators. who have
yet TO make their decisions.
Prepare for Battle.
Meantime both sides girded for the
fray, beginning next week, before the
Senate Judiciary Committee. Chair
man Ashurst announced that Attor-
ney General Cummings will lead the
advocates of the measure in hearings
to begin Wednesday. He will be fol-
lowed by Assistant Attorney General
Robert Jackson. former Senator Smith
w. Brookhart Of Iowa and Judge Will
liam Denman of San Francisco.
The opposition will be given an
equivalent number of days beginning
the following Monday. Its witnesses
have not yet been disclosed, although
invitations have been sent to promi-
nent citizens, identified with labor,
farmers and the legal profession.
The very size of the opposition, even
# it proves less than majority. fore
cast months of argument before a
vote can be had Administration
leaders freely conceded the opposition
was sufficient to conduct fllibuster
Of indefinite duration.
No Chance for Cl0ture Rule.
The Senate's rules provide that any
member may speak as long as he
chooses. There is but one method Of
cutting off debate and bringing an
issue to vote, and that is by invoking
the little-used cloture rule. Two
thirds of the Senate must vote for its
use before it can be applied. Again.
administration leaders conceded they
could not get such vote.
OF compromises, two were men,
toned most frequently, although word
from the White House was that they
were not acceptable. These were the
Wheeler-Bone amendment, to give
Congress a veto power over Supreme
Court decisions nullifying an act of
Congress, and a proposal that the
maximum possible increase in the
membership of the court be limited to
two instead of six.
Senator Logan, Democrat, of Ken
lucky an advocate of the Roosevelt
bill, told the Senate yesterday that
utility companies were entering active
ly into the campaign against the pro-
gram. He read letter from "an out
standing Republican" in Kentucky
saying he had been approached by q
utility lawyer with an offer to pay for
kilograms to members Of Congress op-
posing the measure.
FuffiIis Promise.
President Roosevelt's speech last
night fulfilled q promise made weeks
ago to hesitant supporters in Con-
gress.
With his own party split into two
bitterly battling factions, and the first
outburst of public opinion expressing
itself in volume of letters that most
ly denounced the proposal, he told
them that at the proper time they
could count upon him to leap into the
fray.
One after another, he called them
to the White House, in groups of twos
and threes, for intimate personal con-
versations. Returning to the Capitol,
they told their friends of the Chief
Executives pledge.
He told them. they said, that he
would keep the administration side of
the great controversy before the people,
and expressed confidence that when
first reactions gave way to understand
ing the majorities which backed him
twice in presidential elections would
support his court proposal.
His effort to rally those majorities to
the court proposal began last night. It
will be renewed in less than a week,
with "fireside chat" on Tuesday.
Other speeches and messages are to
follow.