Evening star., 1937-04-20
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY G.. GOULD LINCOLN.

1he country was deluged last night
with addresses delivered in practically
every big city and industrial center
supporting the enactment OF President
Roosevelt's bill to increase the member
ship Of the Supreme Court. Meetings
had been arranged by labor's Nom
Partisan League in many places and in
others nationally known speakers were
put on the radio. The whole constituted
great broadside in support of the court
Dill, intended to convince the country
that labor Is solidly back of the Presi-
dent in this fight. 1t was an organized
assault upon the opposition, and as
such will be understood. The intention,
OF course, was to sway public opinion
on large scale in favor of giving the
President the power to appoint a maxi
mum OF six new justices to the Supreme
Court. Members of the cabinet, Demo-
cratic Senators and Representatives and
other high officials of the Government
were among the many speakers who took
part.
One of the speakers was Senator
Joseph F. Guffey of Pennsylvania, au-
thor OF the Guffey coal act which was
declared unconstitutional by the Su-
preme Court last year. The Pennsyl-
Vanla Senator pictured the President as
daring to do right-and even when some
OF his followers draw back in weakness
and trembling, he still presses forward
to attack the enemy at their strongest
point" Senator Guffey maintained also
that president Roosevelt is still the un-
disputed leader of his party We have
lost few Of the faint-hearted and the
tlmld, but we have the votes in the
Senate and House to write his judicial
reform program into law and we pro-
pose to do it. There is no doubt in the
world about the outcome" This desig-
nation OF the "faint-hearted and the
tlmid" Is apparently intended to apply
TO those Democrats in the Senate and
House who have come out against the
court blll-for example, the Senators
from Virginia. Garter Glass and Harry
Flood Byrd the Senator from Montana,
Burton K. Wheeler; the Senator from
Indiana, Frederick Van Nuys; the SEN
ator from Nebraska, Edward r. Burke;
the chairman of the Democratic Con-
gresslonal Committee, Representative
Patrick Henry Drewry, and many other
Democrats in both houses.
The burden of Senator Guffey's re-
marks was to the effect that the recent
decisions of the Supreme Court validat-
ing the Wagner labor relations act and
State minimum wage laws had not
changed the situation at all with regard
to the need of pressing to passage the
bill to increase the Supreme Court mem
berShlp. He said that even the Su-
preme Court is beginning to see the
light" But he added that it was no time
to leave the Interpretation of the Con-
stitutlon and the New Deal laws to a
court in which one single justice might
swing the decisions against the New
Dealers. He referred to Associate JUS
tlce Roberts as "our fellow PennSyl-
vanlan" and said I'VE are grateful that
he has at last seen the light" IF the
justice remains upon our side, we win
he continued IF he shifts again. we
lose. The thing to do is to put a
few more judges on the bench who can
look at the Constitution without preju-
dice"
Here is clear statement that the
purpose OF the court bill is to enable
the President to put men on the bench
who will look at the Constitution as he
does and who will write opinions that
the New Dealers desire. 1t is just this
proceeding which the opponents of the
bill have called packing the court" and
II once done, it can be done again.
The show of force last night by labor's
Non-Partisan League and the admin
istration has not put an end, by any
means, to the fight over the court bill
the opposition maintains Indeed. the
bitterness with which this contest has
been imbued with the passing days is by
no means lessened. What the outcome
will be remains to be seen. Administra-
tion supporters, like Senator Guffey and
others, maintain that the votes to put
the bill through the Senate are in the
bag. The other side expresses equal
confidence that the measure giving power
to the President to add six new members
| to the court cannot pass.
1t Will not be long now before the
Senate Judiciary Committee gets down
to work on the bill in executive sessions
| amendments of many kinds, as the
| measure relates to the Supreme Court
| Will be pressed. At one time the sug-
| geStlon was advanced that the bill be
| divided INTO separate measures with
| one relating only to the Supreme Court
| and the other taking up the remainder
OF the judiciary reform bill as presented
| AS the fight has developed, however
centering about the Supreme Court pro-
| poSal, there has been less interest in
such a division
On the last day of this month the
existing neutrality law expires. Senator
Nye of North Dakota and others in
| terested in the subject of neutrality are
exercised over the fact that the new
neutrality bill is still tied up in confer.
ence between the Senate and the House
| The House bill gives greater discretionar,
| powers to the President when it comes tf
imposing the cash and carry" provisions
OF the law. while the Senate measure
comes as close to making that provision
mandatory as Nye and others were able
to get 1t. If there is much further delay
in conference, and the conference report
should cause lengthy debate in the
Senate, the present law might expire
before the new measure could finally bt
enacted.
| Senator O'Mahoney of Wyoming
father of bill for the Federal incor.
poration of industries that are now in.
corporated under State laws. believe.
that a mistake is made when the Fed
| era1 Cyovernrnept cooLc ~ ro,,,,.t ::