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Show SEEN and HEARDv around the NATIONAL CAPITAlAA By Carter Field MfYJ FAMOUS WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT iV The highly Interested politicians read Into the Prejident i words much more of a threat than a promise. They regard it as almost an ultimatum the President gets what he wants In the way of Supreme Su-preme court enlargement, regulation regula-tion of wages and hours in industry, solvation for the farmers, etc., or elsel The "else," of course, means to their minds that he will go to the country again in 1940, demanding an endorsement of his policies and a mandate to carry on not because he wants to do that, but because that may be the only way in which he can be sure that his ideals for this country are made to come true. Washington. More pure hokum is being dispensed in the light on President Roosevelt's proposal to enlarge the Supreme court, and more . is expected as the debate grows hotter, than Is usual even In a senate debate. The principal cry against it Is that it is a long step toward a dictatorship; dic-tatorship; that Mr. Roosevelt is grasping for "more power than a good man should want, or a bad man should have." Some of the very men making this charge are supporting a constitutional con-stitutional amendment to permit per-mit congress to override Supreme court decisions by a two-thirds vote of both houses which would lend ; 4 r- ' , , . u Mnw. prAttirlv tn trip Many are pointing out that the public reception of Calvin Coolidge's intimation that he would not run again was far different Perhaps because be-cause of the peculiar New England phraseology the words "I do not choose." It is astonishing to look with hindsight on the reactions to that statement, made in the early summer of 1927 practically a year before the convention would meet which would nomii-ote his successor. Yet He Might Run Politicians and editors alike construed con-strued that phrase to mean that Mr. Coolidge did not want to run, but that if there were enoiieh clamor itself much more effectively to the use of a dictator. Advocates of the plan make much of the point that it is necessary to keep the high court in touch with the times that the "nine old men" are living in the past But those making this point do not mention that the "new blood" the? scream for would be only temporary; that the Roosevelt plan, if successful, might easily lead to a court of 15 Justices, at some future day, all of whom might be 85 years old and utterly out of sympathy with whatever what-ever administration might then be in power. Opponents of the President say that this action would destroy public pub-lic confidence in the Supreme court But it is rather interesting that the net effect of the proposal has been to bring forth a tremendous demonstration demon-stration of popular approval for the high nine certainlyamazing in view of the election results of last November. Novem-ber. Nor do they talk much, in making mak-ing this point about the many instants in-stants in the past where the number num-ber of Justices has been changed. Friends of the President insist that the step is absolutely necessary in carrying out the "mandate" of the people in the 46 to 2 victory of the President last year. But they do not mention that there was no reference to any tinkering with the court In the campaign that on the contrary both sides talked about clarifying amendments. that if there were enough clamor for it or enough demonstrated need for it, or something else which might appeal to his mind, he would make the sacrifice. The truth is that a great many people believe to this day that precisely pre-cisely that construction was in Mr. Coolidge's mind. Lots of leaders tell strange stories, and some of them have told them publicly, of Mr. Coolidge's Cool-idge's irritation at the "Boy Wonder" Won-der" after Herbert Hoover was nominated. The then head usher of the White House, Ike Hoover, told in his memoirs of the bad humor Coolidge was in up in Wisconsin, right after the move to stampede the Kansas city convention for drafting draft-ing hin. failed to materialize. But be that as it may, very few politically astute persons In Washington Wash-ington attach much importance to what Mr. Ronspvplt has said nhmit what Mr. Roosevelt has said about January, 1941. Baffling Question San Francisco's congressmen, and the Roosavelt administration as well are baffled as to what is to be done about the electric power situation in the Golden Gate city. In the recent municipal election, despite every possible effort by the national administration, ad-ministration, and despite the requirements re-quirements of law and various complications, com-plications, the voters again refused to approve a bond issue for the purpose pur-pose of the city taking over the local electric system. The trouble is that the law under which San Francisco obtains the power from the Hetch Hetchy project proj-ect requires that ft6 power mist never be sold to any private utility, but must be distributed solely by govornmentally owned agencies. San Francisco has ignored this law, passed back in the early days of the Wilson administration. It has never provided its own distribution system, and has repeatedly voted down every proposal made with a view to complying with the law. Just I efor! the election on March 9 the Pacific Gas and Electric company, com-pany, which now buys the Hetch Hetchy power and sells it to San Franciscans, reduced its rates to customers ten per cent One apparently shTmle Blames High Court The President In his victory dinner din-ner speech would have the people believe that the high court stands In the way of flood prevention and dust bowl remedying. Which surprised even government lawyers, who had been priding themselves on their "victory" in the T. V. A. decision, which permitted building dams for flood and navigation purposes, and even permitted sale of "incidentally produced" electricity. Friends of the plan talk of the difficultyalmost diffi-cultyalmost impossibility of getting get-ting through an amendment to the Constitution. Whereas the old document docu-ment has been amended beyond recognition in the lifetime of those speaking amendments permitting income taxes, direct election of senators, sen-ators, compelling woman suffrage, imposing prohibition and then repealing re-pealing it, all despite highly militant minorities in opposition. Much of the difficulty of the child labor amendment incidentally, on which Jriends of the proposal lay such stress, has been due to two things a religious angle, which seemed to some to open the door to federal interference with religious schools and a sectional unwillingness unwilling-ness to surrender what was regarded re-garded as an economic advantage. But senator after senator, who Is desperately opposed to the very mingB mat Mr. ttooseveit wants to open the door for by his court change, has suddenly become loud in his insistence that it is a constitutional con-stitutional amendment giving the federal government power to regulate regu-late wages and hours and working conditions, rather than a "packing" of the Supreme court which is desirable. All this is a natural and logical political sequence, of course, for these same senators, and those who agree with them, are much more confident of beating the President in a fight for a constitutional amendment amend-ment than by a majority vote in either house or senate. It has been a long time since any President has turned on so much heat in a fight Every ounce of pressure pres-sure Mr. Roosevelt can bring to bear is turned on. Causes Surprise There is much surprise In Wash-j Wash-j ington that the country should have so completely accepted, at full face value, President Roosevelt's decision deci-sion to retire from the White House in January. 1941. It was first printed the dilemma would be for congress to pass a bill repealing the restriction restric-tion in the original Hetch Hetchy bill. The San Francisco members of the house, however, feel that this Is impossible. Comes an Impasse So the situation becomes something some-thing of an irresistible force and an immovt ble body. The San Franci?Cc voters simply will not agree to spend their money or approve bonds which will saddle the cost on them for the future and the government will not agree to remove now a prohibition which San Francisco itself it-self asked for nearly a quarter of a century ago. It Is expected that Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes, under whose Jurisdiction the situation is, and who is himself a strongly pro! government ownership man as far as the electric field Is concerned, will consult Attorney General Homer S. Cummings about the next step, with the possibility that the government govern-ment will bring suit to compel San Francisco to comply with the law, and stop selling Hetch Hetchy Dro. ... j . - w uut iHLCU in the authorized and Roosevelt edited ed-ited article of Arthur Krock, In the New York Times, which roused so many heartburnings among the White House correspondents. It was repeated in a speech a few days later. What causes the surprise here is that neither the authorized story nor the speech, nor some interviews with groups of senators carried any conviction whatever to Capitol Hill. They say that the whole idea carries with it too many qualificationsto qualifica-tionsto many 'ifs" and too many "hopes" and "ambitions." duced power to a privately owned utility. Which may mean, of course, that the electric company in San Francisco Francis-co would merely install a steam plant an3 go ahead, while Hetch Hetchy power would have to be auctioned auc-tioned around to other California towns willing to comply with the conditions by establishing government govern-ment owned distribution systems. San Francisco will still have the water supply, which Is what it really wanted most at the time of the original legislation. e Bell Syndicate WNU Service. |