The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1937-09-23
THE GREAT
GAME OF
POLITICS..
Copyright by the Baltimore Sun and
reprinted in The Republican by
special permission.
Mr.. Black May Balk
By FRANK R. KENT

| UlAs OAebNh NAOy OnAh
In politics, as in everything else,
it is the pit you dig for other people
that hurts you most when you fall into
it yourself. That is exactly what seems
to have happened to President Roose-
welt, as result of the recent disclo-
sures concerning his appointee to the
Supreme Bench-Mr. Hugo Black.
%**
The fear of the Presidents init
mates is that, before they can be
blurred the facts will sink into the
public consciousness that the widely
! cherished idea of him so skillfully
fostered for five years will undergo
considerable change. 1t is not surpris-
ing they are perturbed. Certainly it
will take ingenuity and agility to get
out of the hole without damage. Even
if he compels Mr.. Black to resign, it
hardly will allay popular resentment
over the fact that but for the enter
prise of an anti-New Deal newspaper
member of sinister and secret or
gan;zation, founded on racial and re-
ligious prejudice, was named to sit for
life on the highest court in the land.
If this is averted, clearly it will not be
Mr.. Roosevelt's fault. 1t is not through
him that the SNUG security of this
"great liberal statesman" has now
been disturbed and the Klan can tied
to his tail. Only the completely undis-
corning are likely to miss that basic
point.
Left no alternative by the public
clamor, it is plain that Mr.. Roosevelt
intends to ask Mr.. Black to resign
and establish as his own alibi that he
did not know he belonged to the Ku
Klux Khan. There are two reasons for
thinking that program may not work
out. One is that Mr.. Black may re-
fuse to carry out the part to which he
is assigned. To bow to the Presidential
request is equivalent to being thrown
off the bench in disgrace, sent back to
private life a ruined man, who has
lost not only the great judicial position
to which he was so suddenly elevated
but also the Senate seat he had before
the President picked him up.
1t is easily conceivable that, cor
nered, Mr.. Black may balk at getting
off. He has a pretty mean disposition
and is an extremely insensitive man.
He is hardly the kind voluntarily to
Sacrifice" himself. Already it is being
indicated the position he is apt to
take-namely, that the whole bust
ness is aimed at the President in re-
venge for putting "liberal" on the
bench. That's exactly the sort of posi-
ton it would be typical of Mr.. Black
to take. Suppose Mr.. Black comes
back and, despite the documentary ev-
idence, denies he is Klansman. Or
suppose he admits it and declines to
retire. What can be done about it? He
can't be removed and not many think
he can be impeached. Of course, Mr..
Roosevelt may charm him into getting
out but those who know Mr.. Black do
not think so.
| Another reason the Roosevelt plan
may not work is because the Presi-
dents alibi that he did not know Mr..
Black was a Klansman is greatly
weakened by the fact that he did
know, as did everyone else, that he
had been charged with being Klans-
man, and that in 1926 he had been
elected with Klan support. Further, in
the four days that ensued between the
sending of his name to the Senate and
his confirmation, speculations about
his Klan connections were printed in
hundreds Of newspapers, broadcast
over the RADIO. discussed in the Senate
committee and on the floor. No one
will contend that Mr.. Roosevelt was
not aware of this. He had four days,
on one of which Mr.. Black lunched
with him at the White House, in
which to ask the question he now in
tends to ask on his return. But he
never touched on the subject.
One has to believe the President
that this is so, but it is something of a
strain. At any rate, there seems no ex-
cuse for not having asked him, and in
ability to find an excuse deeply pains
the Administration strategists. Gone
is the complacency of the White
House circle. Gone, too, is the belliger-
ency toward the Democratic Senators
who voted against the court-packing
bill and the Black confirmation. And
the pretty plan to purge the party"
of these Senators has distinctly sag
ged. 1t is the President, not his oppo-
nents, who are now on the defensive.
The appointment which so delighted
Mr.. Roosevelt because it put the Sen.
ate in hole, and at the same time
Ie..- Il L L r