Evening star., 1945-10-02
BY DORIS FLEESON.

Associate Justice Harold H. Bur-
ton, Ohio Republican, today joined
the secret deliberations of the most
divided, most personally-at-odds
Supreme Court In the Nations his
tory. The honorable justices not
only disagree to a confusing extent
on what constitutes the law, behind
closed doors they freely exercise
their constitutional right to dislike
one another heartily.
II history repeats itself Justice
Burton will have an active life in the
white marble palace across from the
Capitol. He may even need his
physical agility, acquired with
punching bag, steam baths, show
ers and sun lamps in the Sen
ate gymnasium, when Justice Fe-
lix Frankfurter, for example, fired
with Illustration, throws his law
books in the air. Or perhaps he
will need strict control of his
facial muscles when young Justice
Douglas counters emotionalism with
-stinging wit.
President Truman did his best
for his old friend by personally
casting him into the den of lions
with his own hands, thereby break
ing the 155-year-old precedent that
Presidents don't go to the Supreme
Court. Chief Justice Harlan Fiske
Stone, gentleman of the old
school, contributed to the era of
good feeling by receiving with Bur-
ton at large reception after
ward and, of course, all the court
attended.
Behind the Scenes Roars.
But behind-the-scenes check
showed the lions untamed and Ger
tain to continue the dissenting roars
which reached an all-time high in
the court year ended last June.
Justice Burton gets into the thick
of the fight Immediately. The courts
voting in the next two weeks deter
mines the vital point of who can
get before the court at all About
500 new cases and petitions for re-
hearing have been filed. Many deal
with the same issues of business
regulation and labor rights which
exploded in the courts decisions
last term. In the series of confer
ences starting today the court de-
cides which lucky litigants it will
hear.
Eight Justices only will be on
hand, Justice Jackson having tenn
porarily retired to prosecute the ma
jor European war criminals. AS II
takes exactly one-half of eight votes
to get before the court the possibili-
ties of deadlock and strain are Juicy
On the basis of past performances
this is the picture: Chief Justice
Stone, Justices Frankfurter, Jack
son and Roberts formed fairly CO.
cohesive right = of center group
Roberts resigned and Burton has his
place. Burton is touted as middle
roader, most apt to side with Stone
and Frankfurter-a net of three.
Left-of- Center Dug In.
Justices Black; Murphy and Doug.
las are firmly dug in left-of center
another trio. This would leave the
Observation-Disclosures Reed ane
Rutledge-with power to decide tn,
issue if they stick together, which
they don't always do.
The present Chief Justice-may
be discouraged, maybe sag,
Judge of the material he's workin,
with-has striven for absolute fair,
ness to every one participating il
the deliberations. He is very popu
lar. Unlike his predecessor, Charlie
Evans Hughes, Justice Stone doesn'
crack the whip and preach har
mony.
Sure of himself, confident of hi
great legal acumen, Hughes didn'
hesitate to declare himself strongly
! He asserted the law and said i
would be shocking for the court t,
decide otherwise. This worked ad
mirably with the nine old men VIII,
| incurred Franklin Roosevelt's ire
But the present much younger cour
men of action such as Justic,
Black who came up from obscurit,
in the difficult South, Justic
! Frankfurter, the acclaimed geniu
! of the superb Harvard Law School
Justice Murphy, who has been Gov
+ ernor of his State, of the Philip
pines and Attorney Generals no
easily subdued. The club atmos
phere is not readily created t
soften their disagreements.
II POker-Faced Hughes.
i incidentally. Justice Hughes, liy
t ing here in retirement, listen
3 lpoker-faced to accounts of tn
! storm over Capitol plaza. One visi
/ tor reports: "He doesn't give-bu
s he always has time to listen"