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Show I- NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS I I Written for The Telegram - By Ray Tucler WASHINGTON The vener- ' sble members of the supreme court are stsging s privste row over patronage which comes ss near to being a hair-pulling contest con-test as their sges and dignity permit. It centers around the appointment of the proctor originally provided for in the reform bill but later enacted as a separate measure. Though only sn administrative agent, the proctor actually will wield tremendous power. It will be up to him to advise on assignment as-signment 'of Judges for trying esses In the lower courts other thsn their own, and what type of judge sits In a certain bit of litigation will depend on his judgment Final word will rest with the chief justice, but the proctor's advisory influence cannot can-not be denied. So bitter has become the dispute that the learned Justices have had to name the assistant before filling fill-ing the key post New deal Justices want a man who inclines toward their philosophy. They want a young, aggressive fellow the "brain truster" type. Older members Insist upon an experienced, Jif-dlclally-minded lawyer who will operate without thought of advancing ad-vancing any particular viewpoint view-point through Judicial processes. Tosser of this apple of discord into the normally placid cloisters clois-ters Is former Attorney General Cummings, for this measure freeing the courts from executive execu-tive domination in management of their Internal affairs was his pet He sides with the conservatives con-servatives and has so Informed the president Somebody was stuffing the skeptical Harold L. Ickes when they wrote his recent statement thst the Guffey coal commission had been performing efficiently since it fell under his wing. Coal men operators and miners-contend miners-contend that conditions In the Industry are chaotic because of the utter breakdown of this agency before and since it was Ickesiied. Although the commission will soon celebrate its fourth birth- ' day. It has not yet got around . to fixing prices for the various districts. The first set was thrown out because the figures had no basis in economic fact, and those now in preparation at the hands of sn able but Inexperienced Inex-perienced professor - economist will probably suffer the same fate. Due to these delays and costs the .industry foots the bill for the commission through special spe-cial taxes numerous coal companies com-panies were almost reduced to bankruptcy. In many Instances the treasury has hsd to agree to waive collection of taxes for fear of driving smaller companies to the wall. War business may save them. Congress will probsbly scrap the commission In so far as its authority to fix prices is concerned, con-cerned, and set up a system under un-der which operators in each producing pro-ducing region will agree upon rates under federsl regulation. The collapse of this experiment explains why John L. Lewis is so harsh on the administration these days also why the euthor I of this agency, Joe Guffey, Is on his wsy out of politics after a brief and uneventful career. Our military experts' privste study of the allies' advance purchasing pur-chasing orders reveal that war materials and weapons will be their sole need for a fairly long period perhaps a year. Whether they will seek other stuff In the hungry American market cotton, cot-ton, metals, grains, medicines, meats will depend upon the duration du-ration of the conflict. For the moment they have those supplies on hand or will obtain them from the British dominions. The order sheets, almost as it they were an economic map, show what sections of the United Ststes should enjoy a pick-up in business from the start Here, in the order of their importance, are the items which they wsnt now and in the utmost haste: Airplanes, airplane engines and parts, trucks and accessories, searchlights, antiaircraft guns and mounts, small arms, machine ma-chine tools. They wsnt, our secret se-cret Gar and rifle, but so far they , have been rebuffed on that score. There may be a rich market mar-ket for rifle makers If they can produce a weapon better than anything the allies have now. Roughly, the immediate boom areas should Include all the Industrial In-dustrial New England states, especially Connecticut; New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio and California. Other sections will profit in so far as they -supply raw materials for the major products named above. Hatty Woodrlng must have been studying the tactics of the opposing armies In the European war. After engaging in a few skirmishes and dispatching a few minor patrols to the White House, he hss opened a fierce offensive against his chief aid. Louts Johnson, sssistant secretary secre-tary of war. i During the neutrality debate in the senate Mr. Woodrlng personally per-sonally inspired several sympathetic sympa-thetic senators to include Mr. Johnson in their attacks on the administration's program. They singled out the sggressive assistant as-sistant because of his role in mobilizing industry for possible hostilities. When Mayor La-Guardia La-Guardia was mentioned as Mr. Woodrlng's possible successor, he swung into large-scale action. He persuaded House Military Affairs Af-fairs Chairman May to see Jim Farley to ascertsln the truth of the LaGuardia report Jim refused re-fused to carry the protest to the White House on the ground that "the boas knows how I hate the mayor for what he did to me in New York. See the president pres-ident yourself," advised Jim. They did, and the president was pleasant but noncooperative. He admitted that he contemplated contem-plated no change at the moment, but gave no promises. So Harry is still In a dither. He would like to succeed Joe Kennedy at London, but he has been told the climate is sunnier snd milderand mild-erand hotter in South America. Amer-ica. .As the communiques would say, "Woodring attacked in numbers but gained no ground." Copyright, McClure Syndicate. |