The guardian., 1953-10-10
BOSTON
BAKED
BY MABE KoUNTZE

"The administration of JUS
tice is the firmest pillar of
Government"
George Washington
SOME PEOPLE think they
own the Government" a pale
face World War II veteran told
me seriously last week. Your
humble Boston Baker agreed
quietly. Certainly in the North,
some Yankees once thought
they owned the land. And every
body knows the South, inluding
the Klan, Huey Long, Bilbo,
Byrnes, and Talmadge, has con-
trolled American domeSti much
affairs too long. And now even
Mccarthy is stalking his claim.
Who's next?
THE SUPREME COURT is
established to guard our Con-.
Stitution, people, & Government
from being taken over by any
individual or group and to in
terpret and state the Consti-
tutional laws as much as pos
Sible to bring equal justice to
all of the citizens. 1t is natural
the Court, Like the Congress,
has made some mistakes. But
it is always striving for the best.
And this depends largely on the
character of the men in the
Court.
DRIED SCOTT tested the cali
bre of Chief Justice Roger B.
Taney in 1857 and Mr.. Taney
and his Court were found want
ing. In the Courts most in
famous decision, six of the nine
justices upheld slavery, although
it was even then violation of
the very Preamble of the Con-
stitution. The Court judged that
colored men were not citizens
although crispus Attucks, Peter
Salem, and other Patriots had
Loyalty served America over 100
years previous.
JUSTICE TANEY and his
Court indirectly aided the Civil
War. Rather than boldly inter
pret slavery as a violation of
the U. S. Constitutional form of
government, the Court decided
the question was entirely up to
the states. AS members of the
federal Union this was not true.
A Union member must observe
Union laws. Statement of this
fact was left to Abraham Lin
coin four years later. 1t should
have been stated by the Court.
THE CONGRESS of the Re
construction tried to do what
the previous Supreme Court
Judge either hesitated or feared
to do. In 1875 the Congress en-
acted Americas first Civil
Rights Act" which was intend
ed to abolish race segregation
in hotels, on railroads, schools,
and in all phases of our society.
But a few years later, the Su-
preme Court ruled such equal
rights as unconstitutional. That
is where, we stand to-day.
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT was
one of the first presidents cour-
ageously to state that the cali
bre of some judges of the Su-
preme Court was not sufficiently
democratic to the best interests
of all the people. And certainly
Judge Taney was one historic
example. But the appointment of
more liberal justices and the
coming of more liberal decisions
have shown that FDR was a
man of foresight in spite of his
critics.
HARRY TRUMAN inherited
the more nberalized Supreme
Court which was influenced by
Roosevelt. Under Truman's ad-
ministration the U. S. Supreme
court boldly attacked racial dis
elimination as it had never been
attacked in all our U. S. Supreme
Court history. 1t drew up the
present challenge" which now
comes under the Republican re-
gime.
GOV. WARREN Of California,
himself a stated liberal In ma
tional affairs, will have chance
to prove or disprove the best
beliefs regarding his character
when as new Chief Justice, he
presides over the Supreme Court
which will soon reoDen the sub
ject of American Jim Crow. If
race segregation is upheld by
our Constitution the peoples Of
India. China and much of the
world would like to know it now.
In 1851 the TB death rate IN
Puerto Rico was s times that OF
the continental United States.