The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-03-13

first senator from Arizona, chief
puncturer of senatorial stuffed
shirts, chairman of the judiciary
committee, and a man whose PHI
losophy Of public office he has ex-
pressed like this:
''In the senate you are on
roller skates. You 60 partly
where you like TO 20 and partly
where the skates take you"
The Ashurst skates are now
taking him out TO do battle for
the President on the field Of
judicial reform, and Henry Foun-
tain is fighting just as hard as
If he had initiated the battle
himself.
Old Warrior
This l.; not a new game 10 the
senator from Arizona. In an erll-.
Urgency he can always turn on
the fire and feeling. During the
floor fight on Boulder Dam
Ashurst was In the vanguard Of
the attack, waged O furious fill
buster against the bill. Privately.
he did not care snap of his
fingers about Boulder Dam. But
his state was against 1t. So he
got as latnered up as the spotted
pinto he used to ride over the
deserts of Arizona.
He even limited that dark and
mysterious violence might be
wrecked upon those who favored
Boulder Dam.
On another occasion, South
Cardinals eccentric Cole Blease
was denouncing woodrow Wilson.
Democratic senators writhed at
the attack, but none cared to
tangle with the vitriolic Cole. Sud-
denly Ashurst got the floor. re-
marked:
II want 10 oberve for the
benefit Of the senator from
South Carolina that when
Prometheus was bound to o
rock, IL was o buzzard that ate
his liver, not an eagle"
Desert Lawyer
Ashurst has served continuously
in the senate for Is years. Only
Senator Borah and Senator Got
ton Ed" Smith. Of South Caro-
lima, outrank him. @.g
Born III Nevada In 1874, he mi
grated with his parents by COW
cred wagon to Arizona, where they
Staked out on q small ranch near
the town of Williams. There
young Ashurst rode range, later
went to school in California and
the University Of Michigan.
Ashurst says that In those
pioneer days the only require
ment for admission TO the bar
was to be able TO stand up TO
II and drink 10 straight" SO
while still q youth and without :
formal legal training, he be-
came lawyer.
He soon got into politics, was
elected county attorney, and
initiated the innovation OF prose-
cutting cattle rustler instead of
allowing posses Of irate ranchers
to hang them, as the practice I'M
der Ashurst's predecessors.
When Arizona became q state
In 1919. Ashurst was a member
Of the territorial legislature. He
entered large field Of candidates
for the senate, got the second
largest number Of votes, came to
the capital as Junior senator.
Peerless Wit
While he is not q headline fig
ure, no one In Washington out
ranks Ashurst IN charm, wit and
candor.
He Is one Of the most lovable,
amusing and outspoken men In
public life. There Is no atom Of
the stuffed shirt about him
throughout his six-foot-two OF
muscular anatomy. He takes
nothing seriously - last and least
Of all himself.
mo senator can change his
mind quicker than l." he laughs.
He was elected as a Dry, but
voted for 80 per cent beer, posed
for newsphotographers quaffing
q big tankard of suds.
In his campaign of 1884 he
pumped for the Townsend plan,
yet has not lifted a finger for 1t
since. a
Perhaps his most bizarre per-
Torrance was on the bonus. He
electioneered as a bonus support
er, but Of the four votes he cast
on the question, two were for the
bonus and two against. sr.e
"At least" he remarks disarln.
ingIy, II was so per cent right"
Only a few weeks ago Ashurst
was busy denouncing suggestions
to pack the court. Instead he
urged constitutional amendment
giving Congress freedom to enact
economic and social welfare meas
ures. In 1885 he was against
any tampering with the courts or
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