The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1945-06-29
. BEHIND THE SCENES
IN WASHINGTON .

kles up the brow and slowly
closes the eyes to give an inn
preston of deep meditation. But
that doesn't last long. Pretty
soon, bang go their heads for
ward on their chests and they
lik, to break their darn necks.
The jerk wakes them up, and
they look around slyly to see il
anyone was watching. II you
catch their eye, they smile back
coyly to hide their guilt and
then scowl all the harder in
mock concentration.
LINE FORMS TO RIGHT
The Supreme Court chamber
seats around 500, but people
flock in by the thousand, par
tic 'larly on Mondays, when de-
cisions are handed down. An
hour before the noon opening,
there's line forming to get in,
ani it winds through those spot
less white marble corridors dur
ing almost the entire session.
Sight-seers can take only so
much of this, and then leave.
That makes room for others, but
sometimes people stand in line
all afternoon for just a peek.
Lawyers, though, and lobbyists
sit through whole sessions and
seem to lap it up.
1t is pretty inspiring and i'm
pressive at that, even if you
don't understand all that goes
on. You're struck by the big
high-ceilinged court chamber;
the thick red carpet with its
subversive pattern of fascist
emblems; the "a massive marble
columns behind which hang the
thick, plum colored Grapes that
just miss being purple; the
heavy bronze grilles; the high
bas-relief sculpturing of nearly
a hundred bigger than life-size
figures Of bigwinged angels
and big-chested men and naked
little boys. It's all as simple and
as intricate as the law itself.
Then up front in the high-pol-
ished bench which isn't a bench
because there are chairs behind
ia crazy pattern of incon-
gruous chairbacks padded to fit
tie bottoms of the individual
justices-and it isn't bar,
either, because it's too high for
anybody's elbow.
JUSTICE GOES DOGGY
But all eyes are on the hon.
orable, the Chief Justice and his
eight associates - the n n e
watchdogs of justice. Stone like
a St Bernard; Roberts like a
mastiff; Black like a retriever;
Reed like a French poodle;
Frankfurter like a fox terrier;
Douglas like an Irish setter;
Murphy like an airedale; jack
son like setter: Rutledge like
a shepherd. They're up there to
guard your liberties and your
rights if you get pushed around.
The strange thing is that they
fight among themselves as to
what is right and what is wrong.
They seldom hand down a unan-
imous decision. From one to
four usually dissent. Yet the
majority rules and the minority
accepts the verdict, whether it
is on freight rates in North Car
DINA, labor union representation
in Florida, water rights in Wy,
oming and Colorado, insurance
taxes in Oklahoma, the right of
a conscientious objector to prac-
tise law in Illinois, or acquittal
for "a German Bundists accused
of advising their followers how
to evade the draft laws.
And, after all, what is justice
but the peaceful acceptance of
majority rule? The people of
this nation and many other ma
tons have learned that on
small scale. But nations them
selves the governments Of
which are only the representa-
tives of large number of peo-
ple-have not yet accepted this
fundamental principle of de-
mocracy in their dealings with
each other. That's why they've
been having such a hard time
at San Francisco.