Evening star., 1937-09-28

nate against
David Lawrence.
to do ones utmost to prevent any of
them from ever holding public office.
No other fraternal order in America,
secret or public, has ever, so far as
known, pledged its members to such
course or anything like it.
What are the courses open to Mr.
Black and what are the courses open
to those who think he never should be
permitted to remain on the Supreme
Court of the United States?
Resignation improbable.
I. Mr.. Black can resign voluntarily
Or at the private request of President
Roosevelt, made directly or through
an Intermediary. This is a highly
improbable development because Mr.
Roosevelt wouldn't make such a re-
quest and Mr. Black will never resign.
To do so is an admission on his part
that the Klan oath has warped his
judicial capacity, something he never
will concede.
2. Mr.. Black can make a statement
saying he has taken the oath as
associate justice of the Supreme Court
of the United States and that this
oath transcends any other pledge or
obligation of the past and that he is
willing to be judged on his record
that is, he stands ready to be i'm
peached in the regular Way-if his
course as justice is found in the
future to be in any way discriminatory
against people of any creed or race
or color. This is what Mr.. Black
probably will say in public statement.
even possibly avoiding any mention of
earlier Klan membership on the
ground that what he thinks today and
says in broad terms is more important
than what he thought or said a decade
or more ago.
Such a statement will satisfy the
New Dealers and the so-called "lib-
erals" who readily believe that the
end justif1es the means. They feel
that anybody who is for radical doc
trlne expiates any earlier offense, no
matter how illiberal it may be. All
the so-called liberal" periodicals are
taking that stand, but not so the
Negro press or the Catholic publica-
tlons. To them, liberalism means
tolerance and also the fundamental
attitude OF man at all times, and
not just when he needs political sup
port TO get elected, or sympathy when
he Is caught, as is Mr. Black, with a
Klan membership that he concealed
in Io
This question of concealment raises
an interesting query as to Mr.. Blacks
htneSs. The query as to whether Mr..
Black was member of the Khan was
raised while his confirmation was being
debated in the United States Senate.
Mr.. Black either led his colleagues to
believe he was not member, or else
remained silent. Was this conceal
ment" in legal sense? The Supreme
Court of the United States, in Crosby
VS.. Buchanan, said:
In court of conscience, deliberate
concealment is equivalent to deliberate
falsehood"
But Mr.. Black may have felt that
he had right to refuse to testify
against himself. Certainly all the New
Deal legislation on publicly foated
securities, for instance, contains the
important provision that concealment
or omission of material" fact rem
ders any iSsuer or seller of securities
to the public liable to punishment.
Mr.. Black was "sold," SO to speak. to
the country as liberal and that is
supposed to mean a man of breadth
and vision and not a man of religious
or racial prejudice or intolerance.
The material fact of his Klan men,
bership was omitted by himself when |
the question was raised
Foes Course Question.
Next comes the problem of what the |
opponents of former Senator Black can |
do legally to prevent him from becom-
ing an associate justice of the iSu-
preme Court
Technically, the President can do |
nothing more about it. Impeachment |
at present or next January, when Con- |
gress reconvenes, is not feasible !
because the process applies only to |
acts committed during ones time of |
actual service as a judge.
i
what is known as the District of |
Columbia Code and the United States |
Code. In both there is available the |
so-called extraordinary writ of quo
warranto." Briefly, this is common
law action which must be brought by
the Attorney General or prosecuting
attorney directed against any person
who occupies or attempts to occupy
Illegally any public Office.
The illegality in this case relates to |
the fact that the Constitution plainly |
prohibits any Senator or Representa-
tive from being appointed to any civil |
Office under the United States Govern
ment If the "emoluments" of that Office |
have been increased during the term |
served by said Senator or Repre-
sentative.
Increased in March, 1887.
The "emoluments" Of . Supreme |
court justive have been increased by
a law passed in March, 1887, when Mr.. |
Black was a member of the Senate. |
Application for filing a writ ques-
tioning Mr.. Blacks right to hold office |
must be presented first to the Attorney
General. Should the Attorney General |
refuse, he may subject himself to a
possible action of mandamus or to |
impeachment.
Any interested" party can institute
an action seeking the writ of quo |
warranto" or "by what right" inquiry.
Here is where the difficulty of the |
opposition arises. For the courts |
have held that a private citizen has
no standing in an action of this kind |
because he is not a sufficiently Gin
terested" party to justify the granting
Of writ.
There are. however, three groups Of |