Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-08-08
Appointment Of Clark
Avoids Pro-RadicaI
Choice for Court Post
Writer Says Unions Were
Set on Demanding q
Pro-Lubor Justice
Bv David Laurence

menC.
Most observers, however. really
do not know what a narrow es-
cape the country had from an ap-
pointment that would have been
entirely pro-labor and pro-radical.
Knowing this background, the
appointment Of Mr.. Clark may
well be the occasion for a sigh of
relief. 1t is no secret that union
labor organizations were getting
ready to put pressure on President
Truman to appoint someone who
would be as extreme in his views
on the bench as was the late JUS
tice Murphy insofar as labor prob
lens are concerned.
The fact that the President
acted within 10 days of the day
the vacancy occurred is an indica-
ton that he realized full we'll that
the longer he delayed appoint
ment the more difficult it would be
to name the Attorney General and
The more likely it would be that
the labor union organizations
would demand a justice chosen
from labor union environment.
Not a Qualification.
Much of the criticism of the ap-
pointment of Mr.. Clark is based
on the comment that he is not one
Of the outstanding lawyers of the
country. This has long ago ceased
to be . qualification for the Su-
preme Court. Ever since Presi-
dent Roosevelt began to pack"
the court, he put on that tribunal
his stamp of political thinking.
Mr.. Roosevelt's idea was that a
justice should be chosen whose
preconceived notions fitted in
with his own New Deal philosophy.
It is a truism that most of the
successful lawyers of the country
have represented large corpora
lions and have, through their long
experience in the courts, taken a
rather conservative viewpoint.
With the exception of Justices
jackson, Reed and Burton, who
were successful corporation law
lyers before they came to Wash
lngton, none of the justices now
on the court may be said to be
corporation lawyers in the &C
epted meaning of that term.
lChief Justice Vinson spent many
Vars in Congress before becom-
a Judge of the United States
Curt of Appeals for the District
oColumbia and later Secretary
othe Treasury.
tstices Rutledge, Frankfurter,
an Douglas were primarily pro-
feSrs of law in university law
schls. Justice Black was a men,
bert the Senate from Alabama
with limited experience practic-
ing w in Birmingham. much Of
it aSounsel for unions in labor
cases.
Juste Burton has spent a good
many ears of his career in public
life, N ably as Mayor of Cleve-
land aid later as Senator from
Ohio.
rem Executive Branch.
It IS significant that Messrs.
Vinsn, Reed. Jackson and Doug
las. Constituting almost half of
the Lpreme Court, came to the
courtdirectly from the executive
brann of the Government. This
mean that they are frequently
compiled to disqualfy themselves
becaGe cases arise in which they
had ONE part when the same
issueDr specific cases arose inside
the eecutive branch, particularly
in thu Justice Department. The
same 7ill apply to MIR. Clark.
The conservatives really are
gettin q break on the appoint
ment II Mr.. Clark. For. as At
torney General, he initiated more
than 100 important antitrust
suits nd will not be eligible to
sit on any one of those cases
when they reach the Supreme
Court. \ someone had been ap-
pointed rom the radical or labor
groups, 1t would have meant at
least, one strike against the cor
poratiors from the direction Of
that Justice. Such an appointee,
together with the other radicals
on the court, would have pre-
served the balance as it existed
when Justice Murphy was on the
bench.
Today, as a consequence of the
appointment of Mr.. Clark. there
is nc addition to the group of
Justices who are much more in
terested in the confiscation Of
private property than in the
preservation of fundamental rights
in companies built up with the
savings of labor. There will be
fewer radical votes cast in the
Supreme Court.
II Chief Justice Vinson, and
Justices Burton. Jackson, Frank
furter and Reed are to be con-
sidered as middle of -the-roaders
that is, men who will give a
fair deal to property rights-then
it may be said that the so-called
radical group will definitely be
in the minority in the all-impor-
tant decisions by the Supreme
Court in the months Immediately
ahead.
Reproduction Riehts Rsserved.)