Evening star., 1937-07-21

VIC Ca ileo 10 1"S s%% ,zE8sS ~
aside the subSti- nu;sI.
tute court bill and
arrange for the appointment of sub
committee of the Judiciary Committee
to begin study of a new bill, this to be
reported at the January session of
Congress.
Possible selection of Senator Harri-
son of Mississippi as majority leader
was considered to be an integral part
of the plan, for he could bring the
Democrats into some sort of agreement
on such a procedure. In other words,
it kills the packing scheme and be-
slows on Mr.. Roosevelt the satisfaction
of having his "objectives" still on the
calendar for consideration in the IN
definite future.
Shock Toned Down.
The political implications Of what
has happened are, however, not so
easily erased from the picture. The
White House has endeavored to spread
the impression that the Lehman letter
was neither a surprise nor bomhshell.
Mr.. Roosevelt himself adopted a casual
attitude toward it. Again he amazed
the correspondents on Tuesday after
noon by saying he had not read it all
and that he had seen just few eX-
cerpts which came over the news ticker
IN his office the preceding day. From
this one is to infer that Mr.. Roosevelt
wants the correspondents to believe
that he either does not have time to
read the newspapers or that he regards
q communication IS important as Gov.
Iehman's really as a mere incident N
the days routine.
Other spokesmen of the President,
however, gave the impression that
the Lehman letter was timed in such
way as to cause some uneaSlness.
AS a matter of fact, it could not have
come at a more opportune moment
from the standpoint of the opposition
to the Presidents plan. Another
friend Of the President professed to
see a. reason or motive for the Leh-
man letter in the last paragraph OF
the communication, which read as
follows:
This bill, however, I believe to be
contrary to their interests. Its enact
nent would Great greatly dangerous
precedent which could be availed Of by
future less we'll intentioned admins
trations for the purpose of oppression
or for the curtailment Of the conStitu-
ti0nal rights of our citizens
This particular member of the ad-
ninistration called attention to the
use of the word Oppression as if to
imply that it had some special sig
nificance in relation to Gov. Lehmans
possible motive for writing the letter.
The reference was not explained, but
It might be that an effort is being
made to explain away the Lehman let
ter on the ground that it was mott
waited by considerations for the mi
nority groups in America-Catholic
and Jews-Who have always been alert
to oppose any measures which might
seem to constitute any dangers, ac-
tual or potential, to the freedom of
religion. New York State has an un-
usually large number of Catholic and
Jewish voters and it would be natural,
of course, for a Governor to reflect
the wishes of substantial number of
his constituents.
1t remains a mystery why this in any
way lessons the value of the Lehman
letter unless it was intended to point
out that Mr.. Lehman was under pres
sure from his constituents.
There has been some comment here
ebouts that maybe the Lehman letter
was made public as means of SIM
plfying the reversal by Senator Wag-
ner of the position toward the court
bill which he is assumed to have
taken heretofore. If Senator Wag-
ner, responsive to the many aroused
citizens in the Empire State, wanted
to shift ground the Lehman letter
would be the most natural way to
help him do it. The Governor pointed
out that he did not write as the chief
executive Of a State, but only as an
individual citizen who has the right,
of course, to appeal to the Senators
on matters Of Federal legislation.
Takes Independent Stand.
Mr.. Lehman could have written to
Senator Copeland, too, which might,
on the other hand, have been con-
fused in some way with the New York
City political situation. The fact that
the Governor wrote to Senator Wag-
ner and made his letter public
promptly can mean only that the
Governor wanted to see the court bill
beaten and that he had taken his
stand with the other fine men in the
Democratic party who consider that
party loyalty ought to stop at the edge
of the precipice beyond which lies a
breakdown of constitutional govern
ment
1t is unfortunate that some thick
end-thin supporters of the President
here are so ready to criticize Gov.
Lehman. All government seems to
them a personal matter. This has
been one of the New Deal weaknesses
from the beginning-the feeling that
government was personal affair.
Gov. Lehman was big enough and
brave enough to regard the issues in
an impersonal way. It hurt him, no
doubt, to do what he did, but the
acts of statesman who is courageous
enough to subordinate all considera-
tions except love of country often carry
with them the penalty of criticism
by those who follow the politicians
creed of personal ambition and ex-
pected rewards from party loyalty
rather than adherence to fundamental
principles OF patriotism
Copyright, 1879