Evening star., 1939-02-05

maneuverings underlying some
development Of govern
ment. It must be noted. however,
that Q careful search through all
the memoranda and letters and
made public for the first
time by Prof. Swisher fails to solve
the riddle Of the exact origin of
the Inflated "court-packing" plan.
If the original idea Of increasing
the size of the high court was Mr..
Cummings, the papers are selected
do not make 1t clear. They do make
plain, however, that as early as
May Z, 1885. the then Attorney Cen
eral was complaining to Mr.. Roose-
welt about the terrific handicap
of the existing court lineup on
New Deal policies. In letter to
the President under that date Mr..
Cummings pessimistically cited the
courts decision in the Railroad Re-
tirement Board case as indicating
such a marked cleavage in the
Supreme Court that it may be. and
probably is, a forecast of what we
may expect with reference to any
form of social legislation the Con-
gress may enact" The letter re-
ferred to matters we have pre-
discussed, including pro-
posed constitutional amendment
There is mention again of a con-
stitutional amendment in an Office
of December %, 1885
the chief suggestion being that the
Supreme Court alone be allowed tc
pass on constitutional questions and
that Congress be empowered to
override the court on such questions
under certain conditions. Just q
later. however. Mr.. Cum
mings wrote the President that
"the real difficulty is not with the
Constitution. but with the judges
who interpret It," and proposed
that serious thought" be given to
some means Of requiring retirement
of judges 10 or older. The de-
velopment of the court reorganiza-
ton plan from that time until
year later, when Mr.. Roosevelt sent
to Congress a special message pro-
posing enlargement Of the Supreme
Court, is not disclosed, although
there must have been some highly
interesting notes passed between
the Department Of Justice and the
White House during the storm o1
controversy that followed.
The book does give full credit tt
Mr.. Cummings for effecting proce.
dural reforms in the courts-one Of
his major achievements as Attorney
General.
The documents also outline the
development of AlcatraZ from ar
idea expressed by Mr.. Cummings ir
a memordandum to Joseph B. Kee-
nan on August /, 1888, to the famed
and respected island penal institu-
ton 1t is today. In the memorandum
Mr.. Cummings envisioned a special
prison for kidnapers and other des-
perate criminals lin a remote place
on an island, or in Alaska"
That all ofncial communications
are not too dignified and dry is
amply demonstrated in the exchange
of notes between Secretary 1ckes
and Mr.. Cummings over use Of the
term Hoover Dam" instead OF
Boulder Dam" in legal brief. Mr.
Ickes chided Mr.. Cummings for the
"inadvertence," explaining that he
had gone to great lengths to give
to Boulder Dam its original and
proper name, which my predecessor
in Office attempted feloniously to
take from it," In reply, the Attorney
General said he was not aware that
Mr.. Ickes had officially "rechristened
the dam" and added: 1T looks to me
very much like water over the
Hoover (Boulder) Dam. When
see you will extend my commisera-
ton in person"
Prof. Swisher explains that he ar
ranged the papers with a view te
throwing light on all the major
groups of problems with which At.
torney General Cummings had tt
deal from 1888 to 1882" The volume
thus will take a prominent place or
the shelf with others outlining his.
tory Of the New Deal-includine
President Roosevelt's own selected
papers," R. c.
A PECULIAR TREASURE. BY
Edna Ferber. Garden City
Doubleday, Doran g. Co.
This is Miss Ferber's own story
of her life In other words. she, nks
practically everybody else today, has
written her autobiography. 1t is {
lively tale and well Allied with tn.
names of the great. Miss Ferbel
has in the course of her life gotter
around quite some, as Damon
Runyan would say, and has KEEP
always a keen eye for material.
She has been prominent among
American writer's for a long time
and she seems to be a pretty gooe
sort personally, too. Consequently
she has met lots of famous people
and made many friends. Her bool
practically runs the gamut Of tn.
great names of postwar years
whether in the theater, in Hollywood
or in politics. AS its style is Mis-.
Ferber's customary sure-flre, i,
would seem to be a book that vii
please many readers.
The reviewer would be better
pleased with it herself, however, i
Miss Ferber had had less to say
about the literary art" Even hel
most enthusiastic readers hav.
lever called her an artist; she 1!
strictly commercial and the worle
knows 1t. But here, in her nf.
story. she seems to try to Great.
the impression that she has beer
burning with arts pure flame al
these royalty-getting years. It is {
little funny-remembering Emms
McChesney. But then-we all havl