Evening star., 1949-07-30
The Political Mil
Clark Naming as Justice
Generally WeII-Received
Appointment of Attorney General to
Supreme Court Becomes Practice
R,, Gould fncnI.a


By Gould Lincoln
President Trumans selection of Attorney
General Tom Clark to fill the Murphy va
cancy on the Supreme Court was the nat
urai thing. Almost it has become a prac-
tice to appoint the chief law officer OF the
land to the highest court if and when
vacancy occurs. OF the present court two
associate justices, on the assumption that
Mr.. Clark will soon become member, have
served as Attorney General. and the Asso-
ciate Justice Frank Murphy was Attorney
General when he was appointed to the bench.
In other words, three out of the eleven ap-
pointments to the Supreme Court since the
late President Franklin D. Roosevelt took
Office in 1888 have been from the Office of
Attorney General.
Further, it was well understood in WASH
ington that the President desired to appoint
Mr.. Clark to the Supreme Court. Mr.. Clark
has been Mr.. Truman's friend. He was the
Presidents choice for Attorney General
few months after Mr. Truman had become
President, filling vacancy caused by the
resignation of former Attorney General
Biddle.
Generally Well-Received
Mr. Clarks selection for the Supreme Court
has been generally Well-received. For the
last decade he has been an official of the
Justice Department, in one capacity or an
other. advancing by his own industry and
capacity to the top. In Republican quarters
he has at times been vigorously attacked
particularly in connection with his handling
of the Kansas City election fraud Cor lack
of handling) which took place at the time
former Representative Roger Slaughter,
Democrat, was "purged" because as mem
ber of the House Rules Committee he
had opposed some of Mr.. Trumans legis-
lative proposals. At the time Senator KEN
of Missouri, Republican. vigorously attacked
Mr. Clark in the Senate. If there Is to be
resistance to confirmation Of the Clark ap-
pointment, it has not yet manifested itself.
Republicans are critical because the Su-
preme Court appointment did not go to Re-
publican jurist. Their complaint was vigor-
ously expressed by Representative Halleck Of
Indiana in an address to the House the day
that the President announced his selection
of Attorney General Clark for the position.
Mr.. Halleck showed that of the 10 ap-
pointments made to the Supreme Court by
Presidents Roosevelt and Truman. nine had
gone to Democrats. The sole Republican
appointee was former Senator Burton of
Ohio, selected by President Truman. The
Indiana Representative also declared that of
made by the same two Democratic Presi-
dents, 1872 had been given Democrats and
only seven to Republicans. Mr.. HaHeck
charged that politics was entering the United
States Courts to degree never before suf-
fered. In the past, he said, both Democratic
and Republican Presidents had been care
full to see that the minority party, which,
ever it might be, received recognition in
appointments to the Federal bench. He
suggested that legal attainments-no poll
tical-had been taken into greater consid-
Grafton in making these appointments.
Hughes Case Recalled.
It has always been question how far
removed the courts should be, and were, re-
moved from the field of politics. The Re-
publicans took an associate justice of the
Supreme Court for their presidential nom
inee in 1916-the late Charles Evans Hughes
and were criticized at the time. Later
Mr.. Hughes was returned TO-, the Supreme
Court as Chief Justice In a contest made
against his confirmation, one of the rea-
sons advanced was that he left the bench
to enter the political field.
A charge has been made-by Republicans
that the court is now being used as a po-
litical stepping stone. This is in part due
to the fact that Associate Justice Douglas,
Democrat has been frequently mentioned as
a possible contender for Democratic presi-
dental nomination, and because some of the
Truman Democrats did their best to get
Justice Douglas to accept . vice presidential
nomination, to run with the President in
1948. Justice Douglas declined to run. How
ever, the belief is often expressed that when
1852 rolls around, Justice Douglass friends
will do all In their power to have him nomi-
mated for President.