Evening star., 1938-01-14
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY G. COULD LINCOLN.

washington 1S 'agog over the appoint
ment Of his successor. The President
may, II he desires, send to the Senate
Immediately the nomination of his choice
for the place on the bench. When JUS
tice Van Devanter retired last June,
the President waited until August before
he nominated the then Senator Hugo l..
Black Of Alabama to fill the vacancy.
The chances are, however, there will
be no long similar delay. Last summer
the President was In the midst of his
fight to put through the bill to permit
an increase in the membership OF the
Supreme Court-to q maximum of IS
members. He may have desired to get
that contest out Of the way before he
picked new justice. This winter, the
Supreme Court is at work-not ON recess
as 1t was during the summer months
There are coming before it for argu-
ment very shortly important cases. some
Of them involving the holding company
law. relating to public utilities. Justice
Black, who had part in the drafting OF
that law, may not take part in the de-
cision. Associate Justice Cardozo is ILL.,
Under such conditions a court OF six
might be called upon to consider these
cases, instead of nine.
y X
That the appointee will be "liberal'
is regarded as a foregone conclusion.
No inkling has come from the White
House which would designate the Presi-
dents choice, however. A long list of
names has been published in the news
papers of possibilities" ranging from
the solicitor general of the United States,
Stanley F. Reed Of Kentucky, and Cir
cult Court Judge Sam Bratton of New
Mexico to Senator La Toilette of Wis
consin who is not lawyer. There is
nothing IN the Constitution which says
that member Of the Supreme Court
must be member of the bar. However,
none but lawyers have been appointed
in the past. The name of Donald r.
Richberg. former head of the N. r. A.,
has been included in the list as well
as that of Judge Florence Allen of Ohio
A woman on the Supreme Court would
be an innovation.
On the same day that the Supreme
Court loses member, the Senate will
lose Senator Harry Moore of New Jersey.
He will be inaugurated Governor of his
State. Gov.-elect Moore will have the
appointment of successor to fill his
place in the Senate until the general
election next November. It is his pur-
pose. 1t is said, to appoint to the Senate
Democrat who will make the run for
the Senate in the coming election. For
mer Senator Barbour is likely to win
the Republican nomination and he may
be tough customer for any Democrat
to handle. Moore regarded as the
strongest vote-getter among the Demo-
Gratis of the State, was elected Governor
last November by only $4,000 votes
and State Senator Lester H. Clee, his
Republican opponent has charged that
the election was stolen from him by
frauds in Hudson County-Jersey City.
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Edison
and Mayor Frank Hague of Jersey City
have both been mentioned as possible
appointees to the Senate. but it is re-
ported that neither would wish to take
the appointment. Hague is the storm
center of row in Jersey City over the
c. I. o. He has turned thumbs down
on that organizations getting foothold
in the bailiwick Of which he is the politi-
cal dictator. The American Labor party,
which has been largely sponsored by
c. I. O. leaders. is already seeking to
build up party in Jersey.
The quality of senatorial courtesy Is
becoming more strained these days. First
the Senate by vote of As to Is on
Tuesday turned its back on the old un-
written rule that when a Senator de-
clares a nominee to Federal office in his
own State personally obnoxious the
nomination will be rejected. Then Sena-
tor Borah of Idaho offered a resolution
designed to throw that old rule perma-
nently into the discard. The Idaho Sem
ator insisted that nominee should be
rejected only on public grounds of un-
fitness for the job There is another
old and unwritten rule of the Senate,
having to do with senatorial courtesy.
That rule is that when Senator is ap-
pointed to public Office, his nomination
be confirmed Immediately and without
investigation. That is what happened in
the celebrated case Of Justice Black of
the Supreme Court. No one has yet
offered resolution tabooing such prac-
tice by the Senate. It is a good guess,
however, that any Senator who may be
appointed to the Supreme Court in the
future will have his qualifications and
past record examined more closely than
was that Of Justice Black.
When the Senate voted Tuesday, 46
to IS, to confirm the nomination of
F. Roy Yoke to be collector of internal
revenue in West Virginia, 1t ignored the
plea of Senator Holt of that State that
Yoke was personally obnoxious" to him.
It sided with Senator Nicely of West Vir-
ginia, the senior Senator, supporter of
Yoke. This was victory for Nicely,
ardent New Dealer and supporter of the
President, over Holt, who has been
bitter opponent on occasion of both the
President and of Senator Nicely. The
Yoke nomination came to the Senate
from the Finance Committee with an
adverse report, after Holt had stated the
reasons of his objections to the new coll
lector of internal revenue. Those OBJ
jections were grounded on a statement
made by Yoke. then superintendent Of
the Weston High School, that Holt's
father-who opposed entry Of the United
States into the World War-ought to be
shot. Holt was 12-year-old student at
the time.
Neely's victory In this contest over
Yoke was all the more remarkable since
the nomination had been turned down
by the Senate Finance Committee. The
administration Democrats, however, rail-
lied strongly to his support against Holt,
among them Leader Barkley Of Ken
lucky. Thirty-f1ve Senators failed to
vote on the roll call. Some of them were
paired" for or against Yoke. OF the
Is voting against confirmation were
Republicans and 10 Democrats. Sena-