Evening star., 1949-09-25
Stays Close to Them
in Antitrust and
Labor Matters
By Robert K. Welsh


legal, justice that a favorite
phrase of the late President
Roosevelt should pop up now
against Sherman Minton. Presi-
dent Truman's fourth appointee
to the Supreme Court.
Eyes, but" was the way Presi-
dent Roosevelt often described the
attitude of critics who said they
sympathized with the administra-
tion's social and economc aims in
general but
Much of the public reaction to
the nomination of Judge Minton
to the high tribunal takes the
same tack, except that today the
former New Deal Senator Is on
the receiving end.
As . lawyer-so the argument
runs-he made an excellent scho-
lastic showing. obtained more
than ordinary legal schooling and
experience, and gained renown as
an expert on constitutional law.
But, in 1887, he led the Senate
fight for the Roosevelt drive to
pack" the Supreme Court.
Criticized for Liberalism
AS a Judge of the United States
Court of Appeals, he has had eight
years of judicial work in the i'm
portant district comprising Illi-
nois, Indiana and Wisconsin. But
the record shows that in the three
biggest cases during that period
he stayed close to his early New
Deal views on antitrust and labor
legislation.
AS a Senator for one term, from
1885 to 1941. he was so energetic
and effective that he became
Democratic whip" in 1899. But
he apparently relished such char
acterizations as rubber stamp
for Roosevelt" and "a 200 per
cent unshrinkable New Dealer"
AS an affable Indianan with a
powerful frame and booming voice,
he grew up in humble. conserva-
tive surroundings and was at
torney for several big corporations
before he went into politics.
But. according to luke-warm
indorsers, he swung so far to the
left in the Senate that in personal
vindictiveness as well as partisan
aggressiveness, he occasionally an
tagonized even some of his COL
leagues who supported the New
Deal.
AS an ardent advocate Of dem
ocratic institutions. he succeeded
Senator Black. now a Supreme
Court justice. as head of a COM
mittee to bring Capitol lobbyists
to light. He used his considerable
oratorical talents to demand free
speech and other constitutional
guarantees for all the people.
But he sponsored bill in 1898
that threatened imprisonment up
to two years and maximum fines
Of $4,000 for any one publishing
as a fact anything known to be
false" 1t also would have sus-
pended use of the mails by Con
victed" publications.
judiciary Main Goal
The bill did not get far or last
long. Public denunciation, not
confined wholly to newspaper pub
fishers, forced him to withdraw it.
He explained that his only pur-
pose in introducing such a meas
ure was to protect the-press." He
nevertheless made several speeches
accusing the American press of re-
fusing to print stories fair or ia
vorable to the administration.
Friends Of Judge Minton-and
he has many influential and devot-
ed ones besides the mindful Mis-
sourian who sat next to him in
the Senate-declare 1t would be
fairer to recast such yes-but SEN
tences.
Without detracting from his
prowess as a politician or apollo
gizing for his prominence in the
battle over the Supreme Court
years ago, they hold that it is a
matter of not loving politics less
but of loving the law more. Since
early youth he has taken an un-
usual interest in legal subjects.
He showed remarkable ability by
winning top honors at Indiana
University where he got his LII. B.
in 1915, and Yale University
where he received an LII. M. in
1916, and scholarship to study
in Paris. Even in high school he
won a national oratorical contest.
He has served in the executive,
legislative and judicial branches
of the Federal Government, and
in his home State he was coun-
selor to the Public Service Com
mission in utility rate cases. But
his goal always has been the ju-
dietary.
His appointment to the appel
late court in May, 1941, after he
had been an administrative as
sistant to President Roosevelt for
about five months, was widely re-
garded as a reward for his Senate