Evening star., 1937-07-18
Barley Long Liberal Torchbearer
Robnsons Probable Successor Trained Hard Work Since
School Days.
BY H. r. BAUKHAGE.
NEVER was a candidate. But
always had one"

I always had one"
That answer, made by Sena-
tor Alben William Barkley,
when some one asked him about his
political activities back in college days,
assumes new significance.
He has been a candidate since, fire.
quently and successfully. Now he
stands on the threshold Of new job
and hard one. for in all likelihood
he will be chosen to fill the shoes Of
the late Senator Joe Robinson as
Senate majority leader
But right now that office" is no
sinecure. The way the land lies today,
man has to have candidate" if
he accepts it. has to be willing to put
aside his own personal wishes. has to
take a lot of the kick and miss, lot
of the glory.
Liberal Torchbearer.
If the New Deal is carrying the
torch of the new freedom, then it is
logical enough to choose the Ken
tuckian as one of its torchbearers. :.
Senator Barkley has consistently
fought for the typical liberal" meas
ures. the Adamson eight-hour act. the
transportation act, and, finally, after
long battling, the HoWell-Barkley ac.
which ended the disastrous railroad
strikes which had preceded its pas
sage.
In the struggle for this latter legis-
lation there is a parallel to the battle
over the court bill. The first time,
the bill was defeated by fllibuster. In
the following session of December
U925), it passed.
During the Summer, Senator Bark
ley and his colleagues had worked with
both sides effecting compromise The
bill was discharged from committee
by petltlon-the first time this parlia-
mentary step had been used
A similar situation may be faced In
the House with regard to the court
bill
There is nothing inconsistent in the
Senator's attitude toward an "inelas-
tic judiciary. The abuse OF stare
declsls," the lawyers anchor to prece-
dent, was a matter that he had often
pondered
He undoubtedly was Influenced in
his thought by a liberal professor in
the University of Virginia. where he
got his law degree. Later it was
brought sharply before him again IN
a remark made by Woodrow Wilson,
which he often quotes. A delegation
called on President Wilson to urge a
candidate for the supreme bench The
President asked them one question:
Does your candidate believe the
law is a thing that grows or some
thing that is fnished?"
II boys mind is as receptive as
they say it is, perhaps some of the
Senator's earliest experiences turned
him toward politics. He often heard
his father speak of Adlai Stevenson,
Vice President under Cleveland, who
was first cousin
Once the boy went to Cairo. IL. to
hear his illustrious relative speak.
That was in the campaign of 1892,
but he hasn't forgotten it.
He was Is then, a schoolboy in
Graves County, Ky.
At 20 he had graduated from Mar
win College at Clinton. That sounds
simple, but it wasn't. He worked his
way waiting on table and at any
other job that he could find.
WEAKNESS Paid for Books.
He borrowed books that he couldn't
afford to buy, and he can remem-
ber today the long tramps he took
returning them at night-he couldn't
take time of during the day, and
those lonely journeys were no fun.
But fun has never been the first con-
sideration with Alben William Bark
ley, though he loves a good joke, even
when it's on himself.
BY the time he had his diploma
from the academy he was ready for
anything, and off he went to Emory
College in Georgia, where he was
graduated
Then he turned to the mecca of
the future lawyers of his day-the
University of Virginia. Fortunately
for the poor but ambitious student
OF those days Thomas Jefferson hadn't
included central heating in the build
ing plans, and there were plenty
of fires to build. enough to pay the
board of a young man who wasn't
afraid to get up at dawn to work.
BY the beginning of the twentieth