Evening star., 1937-04-16
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY G.. GOULD LINCOLN.

bill, when Senator McCarran OF Nevada
offered an amendment which would in
crease the membership of the Supreme
Court OF the United States by two in
| stead Of the maximum of six proposed
| by the President. McCarran has been
| regarded as one of those ION the fence"
| or uncommitted on the Presidents bill
| There are number Of these uncom-
| mitted Senators as we'll as a number Of
those who have agreed to go along with
the President, and also Of those who
are opposed to the Presidents plan, who
would prefer the McCarran amendment.
However, both sides, those for and
those against the Presidents plan to
| increase the Supreme Court, immedi-
| ately threw cold water on the McCarran
| amendment. The administration lead
ers joyously declared-as In the case Of
Senator Byrnes of South Carolina-that
there would be no mpromise-that
there was no reason to talk compromise
when the President had the votes safely
| in the bag to put through the bill as it
stands. Opponents Of the bill, on the
other hand, like Wheeler OF Montana,
Burke Of Nebraska, Vandenberg of
| Michigan all insisted that there should
be no increase at all in the membership
Of the court no packing at this
time. They insisted they were fighting
| for principle and that principle would
be violated by adding single justice
to the Supreme Court under the condi-
tions that have been stirred up by the
| President
There is a lot of bluffing going on in
| regard to this court bill. The admin
istration does not fail to announce that
the fight is won on every possible oc
casion. The leaders have watched
Chairman James A. Farleys technique
In campaigns of the last four or five
| years, the chairman Of the Democratic
National Committee. Counting noses in
the Senate, however, is a difficult job
when it comes to this court bill. There
have been several shifts one way or
another since the fight began, and some
Of them have been away from the ad-
! ministration side.
| Other forms of compromise besides
! that of McCarran are expected to be
| advanced before the bill reaches the
Senate. It looks now as though the ad
| ministration would have a very tough
| job getting the measure out OF commit
tee without its being materially amend
| ed. There are those who insist it will
| never come out of committee with the
| provision for six new justices Of the
| Supreme Court, no matter what the
| majority Of the Senate may do with 1t
| later. Betting against this administra-
| ton, however, has been a poor business
| for number of years. The influence
! of the President is still tremendously
| strong.
The Senate has now on its doorstep the
Federal anti-lynching bill. And there
1t is likely to remain for some time. The
House passed the bill yesterday by vote
Of 276 to ll9, with desperate fight waged
by a Southern bloc of Representatives
to defeat the measure. The effort to put
through an anti-lynching bill is not new.
The House passed such bill fifteen years
ago, but it never got to first base in the
Senate, and two years ago the Wagner
Costigan bill was reported favorably to
the Senate, but was killed by a f1lbuster
Of Southern Senators. Years ago IA
nous Senate fllibuster killed the old
force bill" With the rule of unlimited
debate still in force in the Senate, the
supporters Of this Federal legislation face
hard fight to get action on the measure
in the Upper House. The Southerners
maintain that the States have right
to deal with lynchers within their borders
and not the Federal Government. There
is constitutional question involved, and
grave doubt has been expressed the Su-
preme Court of the United States would
uphold such a law. Senator Borah of
Idaho has been strongly of the opinion
that the proposed act would be uncon-
stitutional.
More than a year ago the Idaho Sen
ator went on record as being opposed
to the anti-lynching bill because it was
| unconstitutional The issue was brought
up against Borah when he was can
didate for the Republican presidential
nomination, in those States where there
is considerable Negro voting population
like Illinois, Ohio and New York. Borah
stuck to his guns, and he is still stick
ing to them He has issued another
statement attacking the measure on con-
stitutional grounds. He will have other
support from other constitutional law
yers in the Senate. as we'll as from the
Senators from Southern States, when and
II the fight for the passage of the anti
lynching bill reaches the floor of the
Senate.
II the Presidents court bill and the
anti-lynching bill both are to be urged
In the Senate during the present ses-
sion of Congress, the duration of the
session is indeed indefinite. Unless the
| court bill is compromised materially, or
unless the opposition to the Presidents
| plan to increase the membership by six
| is confident of defeating that provision,
| there will be long f1libuster against that
measure. Should the anti-lynching bill
| be reported to the Senate while the court
| bill is up for consideration, or vice versa,
the combined opposition to these two
measures Is likely to make the passage
| of either OF them almost impossible.
| The Senate has a two-thirds cloture rule,
| but 1t would be impossible to impose this
| rule, because more than third of the
| Senate is strongly opposed to the Presi-
! dents court plan, and it is doubtful in
| the extreme that two-thirds vote could
| be mustered to clap cloture on the con-
| sideration Of the anti-lynching BILL
| The postponement by the President
| of his message to Congress on relief
| appropriations until next week is indica-
| tive of the seriousness with which the
| situation Is regarded Estimates of re-
| ceipts by the Government from taxes
have had to be revised considerably. This
| means that estimates of the deficit have
| to be revised upward-unless there is