Evening star., 1937-06-30

DdNlu La"Ie ehNV'
same spirit OF
good fellowship which was so charac-
teristic of the early days of his first
administration and which lately has
given way to an atmosphere OF bitter
ness
Mr.. Roosevelt had been told by the
press and so many persons individually
that he is possessed of magic charm
in personal conference that, when the
opportunity came to employ 1t IN an
Emergency within the party, ne nat
urally did not hesitate.
But what does all the conversation
and conference with the members OF
the Democratic party in Congress add
up to-? What effect will it have on the
court bill?
Cleavage Recognized.
Basically. the most significant thing
about the jefferson Island outing, IN
the words of prominent Democratic
Senator who attended, was the fact
that it had to be held at all Ger
tainly the Presidents belated recognl-
ton of the cleavage his policies are
making in the Democratic ranks is
better than no recognition at all.
But fundamentally Mr.. Roosevelt
rould have to abandon such things
as the Corcoran wage and hour Dill
and his alliance with John Lewis and
the c. I. o. really to win back the
confidence he once had among mem
NnnNnrrotlH
group. He would also have to lay
aside his proposal to 'pack" the Su-
preme Court. None of these things
apparently does Mr.. Roosevelt intend
to do.
On the contrary, the President has
! scheme which is giving the anti
court Senators a good deal OF worry,
Briefly, it is that the Senate pass any
court bill it wishes, as for instance,
the compromise proposed by Senator
Hatch This bill would provide for
| the appointment of additional JUS
tees only to match those who are
over IS years of age and do not re-
tire and the appointments would be
spread out over a period of years.
House Substitute May Be Trump
To some Of the middle-of-the-ro
Senators this seems like plausible
proposition and it would not be sur
prsing if 1t did pass. Then the Pres
idents trump card is to put his origi-
nal bill to enlarge the Supreme Court
through the House of Representatives.
1t is conceded that. unless public
opinion is definitely aroused and men,
bers of the House hear from home
as emphatically as did the Senators.
The measure might get through the
House with comfortable margin for
the President.
Then the Senate bill and the House
bill would have to be ironed out in
conference committee between the two
houses Mr. Roosevelt naturally
would have some advantages in such
an arrangement because it is usually
easier to control a conference COM
n1ittee than it is to control both houses
Of Congress. If the conference COM
mittee wrote a compromise, it might
be one that leaned more closely to-
ward the original plan of the Presi-
dent than toward the bill that passed
the Senate. This would be victory
for Mr.. Roosevelt
Senators opposed to the packing"
Of the court are aware of the strategy
ana their first move undoubtedly will
be to prevent any compromise" meas
ure from coming to vote. This can be
done by 'fllibuster' but on the skill
by which fllibuster is conducted will
depend whether public opinion is alien
ated by refusal to allow the Hatch
compromise to come to a vote.
Filibuster Could Void Conference.
On the whole, the Supreme Court
controversy is far from over with and
Mr.. Roosevelt carried on his charm
school at jefferson Island only as
preliminary course of education with
few Senators who. he hopes. will at
least help him get vote in the Senate
on some kind Of bill. The President,
however, may have underestimated the
strength of the opposition in the Sem
ate to the court measure Certainly
fllibuster has an even chance of killing
all action on his bill at this session and
to undo whatever good his harmony
conferences at Jefferson Island may
have accomplished for him.
> What Mr.. Roosevelt may not per-
ceive is that it is his alliance with the
forces of John Lewis which is causing
dismay on Capitol Hill and that the
road to harmony inside the Democratic
party really lies in satisfying the South
that its industries are not going to be
controlled by board in Washington
and that the c. I. o. domination will
no longer be countenanced by the Pres
ident.
(Copyright. 1879