Evening star., 1938-07-15

and consent" of the Senate must come
first. A temporary appointment dur
ing q recess of Congress is sometimes
made, but more and more the Nation
frowns on the idea Of using the recess
appointment method, especially when
there is no particular urgency in
volved. Mr.. Roosevelt has been very
slow about making appointments, even
when vacancies exist, so it is difficult
to understand why he should make
recess appointments now for Federal
Judges.
The plain purpose of the action, Of
course, was to impress the politicians
In the party organizations. Strictly
speaking, there would be no difference
between handing out Federal judge
ship commission and publicly handing
out millions of dollars of Public Works
Administration contracts to contract
ors who had contributed to the Demo-
cratic campaign fund. Gov. Alfred
has done yeoman service for Mr..
Roosevelt in q party sense. He is
widely known as a politician AS a
member of the bar there are many in
= Texas who would rank much higher.
Resentment Aroused in Texas.
The appointment has aroused deep
resentment in Texas because it is
direct violation Of the spirit which
ditional judgeships. Thus, when the
matter first came up more than year
ago, the House of Representatives
formally went on record against the
selection Of any one to fill the va
cancy who was not resident of the
judicial district where the judgeship
was to be created. The vote was 2 to l
In favor of the amendment to the
bill, but it was dropped as superhuous
In the Senate, where Senators took
the position that as a matter of course
the President would not go outside
the district to select q new Judge.
When Mr.. Roosevelt,s plan to create
= flying squadron Of itinerant judges"
was before the Senate in connection
with the scheme to pack the Supreme
Court and the local judicial districts
With yes men" from the administra-
ton, the Senate Judiciary Committee
In its report said:
Certainly, 1t would be q violation
Of the salutary American custom that
Ill public officials should be citizens
Of the Jurisdiction in which they
serve or represent"
Texas Senators Not Consulted.
Gov Alfred does not reside In the
district in Texas where the new judge
ship has been created. Both Senators
Connally and Sheppard have had
other candidates for the post and did
not know till Mr.. Roosevelt announced
1t from the platform that Gov. Alfred
was going to be named. The usual
courtesy in asking Senators from a
State whether the appointment would
be Objectionable to them was omitted.
In brief, Mr.. Roosevelt, following
Government, ignored the Senate and
boldly announced from a political
platform that he was appointing the
Texas Governor, making no mention
Of the constitutional fact that the ap-
pointment was subject to advice and
consent" of the Senate.
If Mr.. Roosevelt can hand out judge
ships, he can select political occasions
to hand out other political favors.
Up to now. while members Of Congress
have urged their friends for appoint
ment, they usually have sought to
recommend members of the bar who
are well known for their records in
Federal practice or familiarity with
Federal procedure. In other words,
out Of list of men qualified to be
good Federal judges, the custom has
been for Senators to make recon-
mendations to their own. The taint
Of politics never has been more brazen-
" smeared over the Federal judiciary
than in the way 1t is today.
When Mr. Roosevelt on the stllnn