Evening star., 1949-08-14
Will Be in Pivotal
Spot to Swing
Decisions
By Edword A. Horris


ingfui to the public than his econ
omic philosophy. The caliber of
his thinking on crucial issues in
volving individual rights as op-
posed to property rights will be OF
far more interest than the flashy
bow ties and Texas sombreros with
which he has adorned himself in
the past. For this expansive
"Mammy's boy" as he likes to
call himself. will be in pivotal
position to swing the high court,
in tight decisions, to the left or
right on significant questions af-
fecting the course of the Nation
Experience has shown it is less
chancey to predict the outcome OF
a horse race or the next days
weather than to try to foretell
the theological conduct Of a new
appointee to the Supreme Court
Once selected and confirmed, they
have reached the very top, are in
trenched for life in a position OF
towering prestige, are no longer
beholden to any one and. in some
instances, act for the first time
as their real conscience dictates
Whatever the cause, predictions
have proven dangerous. Justice
Felix Frankfurter, one of the most
fervent authors of the New Deal, is
now considered the sturdy under
pinning OF the courts right wing
Former Attorney General Robert
H. Jackson. the darling of flaming
liberals before his elevation to the
high bench, usually sides with
Frankfurter in voting against in
creased control Of big business
and for greater control over
unions. More often than not
they can count on the support OF
former Senator Harold H. Burton
the courts lone Republican. and
not infrequently of Chief Justice
Vinson.
Left Side Needs Him
Resentment over the appoint
ment of Justice Hugo L. Black was
widespread when it was revealed
that he had once been member
of the Ku Klux Klan; yet he has
proven a diligent, careful jurist
with a passion for defending the
rights Of those opposed by the
Klan.
Together with Justices Wiley B
Rutledge and William O. Doug
las, he completes the left wing
These three liberals ordinarily
could count on the support OF
Justice Murphy, and thus needed
only Justice Stanley F. Reed tC
comprise a majority. Justice Reed
votes at times with one side, al
times with the other. With Justice
Murphy gone, the left needs
Clark. and needs him badly. to
avoid relegation to a minority role
on significant socio-economic
issues.
With which bloc will Tom Clark
side? Or will be avoid either
and, like Chief Justice Vinson and
Justice Reed, tend to be a middle
roader who determines each case
strictly on close legal grounds? Nc
one can say for sure. but based or
clues from his career and the
men with whom he consorts most
easily, it would not be surprising
III Mr.. Clark gives greater COM
fort to the conservatives than tt
the left, approximating the Chief
Justice, more than any one else
in his theological bent.
1t should be noted. Of course
that wing designations on the
high court are necessarily rela-
tive. Probably every one Of the
present justices would be consid-
cred liberals from the -Roose-
velt point of view. With the ad-
vent of the New Deal revolution
the par for liberal moved con-
siderably to the left in economic
and social philosophy. Now the
New Deal has been tempered SUBJ
stantially by the so-called Fair
Deal of President Truman, which
seems to swing like a pendulum
from slightly left of center to a
notch@or two on the other side,
depending on ones own convic-
tions. Yet Mr.. Clark today would
be considered far to the left of
such arch-conservative justices OF
other days as McReynolds. Van
deventer, Sutherland and Butler.
Conservative Thinker
Nominally Clark is Fair
Dealer, but he appears to be even
more conservative in. his think
ing than his friend, Harry Tru-
man. who once told an acquant-
ance at dinner that he did not
trust liberals, apparently mean
ing the impassioned intellectuals
of Franklin D. Roosevelt days.
Mr.. Clark has "buddied" most
easily with men like Speaker
Rayburn, former Representative
Hatton Summers and Senator
Connally, organization Demo-
Gratis who support the administra-
ton like all good regulars, but
whose instincts are on the side
of caution, and who funda-
mentally have little use for eco
nomic experiments and increased
Government control.
It Is true that Mr.. Clark has dis
agreed with some of these cronies
on important issues. Speaker Ray
burn, for example, Is an implacable
advocatesof State ownership of the
tidelands, but Mr.. Clark resolutely
proceeded to prosecute the tide
lands case against California,
which ultimately was won in the
Supreme Court, and to file similar
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