| Show t f fI I jA A Washington Daybook j B By RODNEY BUTCHER DUTCHER WASHINGTON ASHINGTON V March 25 25 President dent Hoover has preserved the so so- called liberal majority in the United States supreme court Considering the cordial dislike which most progressives progressives progressives pro pro- hold for him and the fact that hat he has long since been generally classed as a conservative the Hoover record in regard to that majority is most extraordinary Hoover built it Not without some fumbling especially when he under under- took ook to wish Judge John J J. J Parker on the he court and was balked by the sen ate But he has had three supreme court vacancies to fill and the men who fill those vacancies now have the virtually unanimous approval of the country Especially does their performance delight the liberals who never dreamed that the president would make three appointments each of which was essential to the establishment establishment establish establish- ment of the five to four liberal majority ma ma- That majority with the appointment appointment appoint appoint- ment of Justice Benjamin N. N Cardozo to o succeed Oliver Wendell Holmes consists of Hughes Cardozo Brandeis Roberts and Stone Hughes you OU was the object ob of a furious attack from the senate senate sen sen- ate progressives when he was appointed appoint appoint- ed cd chief justice to succeed the very conservative Taft Twenty-six Twenty senators voted against his nomination and he was assailed as a reactionary and a professional servant of powerful corporations But Butto Butto Butto to everybody's surprise it turned out that the Hughes appointment had been the keystone in building the new liberal majority On social and economic issues he was found more often than not riding rid ing along on the same opinions with Holmes Brandeis and Stone sometimes sometimes sometimes some some- times even writing them himself Then Hoover nominated Parker The senate however rectified what it considered the presidents president's s slip He 0 thereupon appointed Owen J. J Roberts to the vacancy and as soon as Rob Roberts got to functioning with the other eight justices the liberals found themselves I whooping about the new liberal ma j or t a. a There were those who feared that Mr Hoover had been kicking hills himself lf for unwittingly creating that majority and when Holmes resigned they groaned and looked forward to the worst It seemed to them too much to expect ex cx- peet that a man mai of the Holmes type would get the job They thought they knew Mr Hoover too well for that Nevertheless they were vociferous for Cor or the appointment of Cardozo Their case was strengthened of course bythe bythe by bythe the fact that Cardozo was widely recognized rec ree as a judge of extraordinary ability and arid mentality who had the profound respect of nearly everyone Nevertheless there were plenty of conservatives from irom whom to choose I Ii I i and Hoover could have overlooked Cardozo and used the handy excuse that three justices from New York state would have been too many Instead In stead he appointed Cardozo and liberals liberals lib have joined conservatives in loud cheers a. a a. a The courts court's liberal majority is no hard and fast setup which can be depended upon to function in a certain tam tain way under given circumstances It is however composed of men with minds untrammeled by conservative economic prejudices the antithesis of oJ the type which gives first concern to the sanctity of property and vested wealth Their legal philosophies and concepts concepts con con- of government and the social order have led Hughes Holmes Brandeis Stone and Roberts to disagree disagree disagree dis dis- agree with the others in the railway clerks case the Minnesota press gag case ease the Yetta Stromberg red flag Hag case casc the Indiana chan store tax law case and except for Roberts in the cases of Professor Douglass MacIntosh Macintosh Macin MacIn- tosh and Marie Bland who were denied denied de nied citizenship because they wouldn't promise to bear arms in case of war Omitting the last when four liberals liberals lib were a dissenting minority the opinions represented victory for organized organized or or- labor free press civil liberties liberties liberties liber liber- ties and states' states rights |
