Show Bruc Bru karts charts washington basht bigton direst digesi age old fight between president and senate in vicious revival current squabble involving senators gloss glass and byrd invited by president himself mr roosevelt I 1 s at to discipline senate a political mistake by WILLIAM BRUCKART service national press washington D C washington through nearly nil of our nations history there has been a 0 continuing controversy concerning the respective rights and prerogatives of the president ot of the united states and the senate it has alternately shouldered ed ana burst into flame it hns has been char by vicious outbursts from one side or the other at various times and it has mode made or destroyed the political fortunes of a great many men washington has been regaled with a fresh revival of the controversy in the lost last several weeks the funda mental differences are the same as they always have been there are arc however new names and now new faces and obviously the political fortunes of individuals who have entered upon the public stage in recent years are bound up in the boiling kettle like the earlier embItter ments over these rights this ono ona will prove nothing in the way of a tangible solution the current fight must be said to have been invited by president noo roosevelt seven perhaps his course of action was urged by some of tho the inner circle which so often has wrongly advised him lately men who do not know politics and who ignore political history histo but the tact fact remains that the president carried the fight to the senate and there are more than a few observers who expect that he will come of off a bad loser mr roosevelt as I 1 have reported in these columns earlier was wag insist ing upon his own selection tor for po lotical appointments where the sena tors from a particular state were not receiving his smiles the pro cedore was not pleasant but there was no sensational outcry from the senators concerned until the nomination of judge floyd roberts to a united states district judgeship was sent to the senate mr roberts was picked without consultation even over others recommended with senators glass and byrd of VIrgI virginia it proved to bo be the signal for i a riot advisers not with senatorial courtesy after the manner ot of senate pro cedore senators glass and byrd rose in their places in the senate and pronounced judge roberts personally offensive to them that was enough the senate as it has done so many times before promptly rejected the roberts nomination by the terrific jolt of 72 to 9 it was such a slop that even the virginia senators were surprised at its overwhelming character it surely made the tact fact abundantly clear that mr roosevelt could not get away with his theory namely that a president can pick nominees without the advice and consent of tho the senate as the constitution specifies but it did not have that effect and here was where the president made a great political mistake he sought to discipline the senate by publication of a n letter to judge roberts in explanation of tho the senates action ile he scored senator glass and he tarred senator byrd they were almost guilty of conduct unbecoming gentlemen it was rumored that the strategy of the inner circle was to have mr roosevelt smear the two senators and thus create a serious defection in their own political machines in their native virginia which any one acquainted with virginia poll tics bics will tell you Is much easier said than done it was reported even that mr roosevelt would send up another name without consulting the two senators and it if that were rejected to send up still others that bell believed eved the inner circle would slowly force disintegration of the glass byrd support but the president and his untrained political advisers reckoned not with senatorial courtesy now senatorial courtesy Is an intangible thing no one ever has been able to define or describe it one simply has to say that it exists and let time prove the statement the proof always can be found and the action ot of the senate on the roberts nomination and since certainly seems to demonstrate that the senators will fight ht for their rights or what they believe to be their rights on a collective basis each sticks by the others none knows when he may need the same kind of help senate Is thoroughly embittered at roosevelt tims thus after several weeks of this lashing back and forth because senators glass and byrd did not fall fail to tell the country what they thought of mr Roosevel ts action we find the senate thoroughly embittered at mr roosevelt am aej mr roosevelt saying repeatedly that the senate is trying to usurp the powers of the chief executive As I 1 said that th at fundamental difference tins has existed xanee ant th formation of our govern ment it Is going to continue to exist because of tho the form ot of out our government ern ment its system of checks and balances and it will exist as long as our system of political parties obtains coldly and without bins bias it must be said that each side to the battle predicates its conclusions and conception of its rights upon et a thirst for more power mr roosevelt as Pros president ident conceives that he should be boss the senators as representatives of sovereign states conceive that they are tho the elected representatives and they are arc not going to have a single individual even though it be the president of tho the united states dehorn them of the strength that an election by popular vote gives them moreover the president must do political knitting lie ho must keep the weave as free of knots as is possible in the case of the present incumbent it is quite apparent that ho he desires to bo be complete boss of his political structure ito ho had a taste indeed a full meal of it for five years when a subservient congress vastly earned the sobriquet of rubber stamps I 1 imagine that ho he liked it anyone would if that person is really human when some of his rubber stamps became blurred and did not print clearly what he said they should print mr roosevelt like any other ruthless rut liless politician was going to get rid of them 11 he e tried that in the purge during the lust last campaign and failed many persons persona are sure that the present lame flame is intended to destroy tills this type of opposition old line democrats seek to regain party control nor are the senators not just glass and byrd alone but all of them blameless it if one desires t to 0 turn purist the senators have their political machines they seek always to keep those machines well oiled smooth running upon the functioning of the machines depends whether the senators can be reelected time after time upon that machine depends the retention or the loss losa ot of the power which every politician loves I 1 imagine they can not be blamed for that any more mare than the president can bo be blamed tor for wanting to keep his hand on the throttle that Is politics selection of the men to judicial jobs or to any other political post in the nature of a plum Is vital to maintenance of machines politicians continue as leaders only so long as they can dominate the scene and get for their followers the things their followers want but in the current battle there Is somewhat deeper disagreement between the senate and the president it Is too well known to warrant more than mere reference here that tha old line democrats are determined to regain control of the democratic party label they have had more than enough unpractical direction from the regiment of college professors fes sors crackpots crack pots and long hatred haired dreamers without political training many of thern them will tell you unrest ta tingly that continuation of democratic party control in the hands hand s of such men will be destruction of the party and its conversion into a vehicle guided by socialists communists and a complete rainbow of colors naturally they want to adhere to democratic doctrines and democratic principles and that Is the line of cleavage the result I 1 doubt that mr roosevelt can win over the senate wants judges who will he be friendly to new deal theother phase of the differences Is less cleir I 1 can report it only as the belief of quite a few senators some of them believe it definitely I 1 give it here simply as a subject tor for thought by insisting upon his own awn choice ot of nominees for judge judgeships ships in the federal courts mr roosevelt is attempting to place men in the judiciary who will be friendly to all of the now new deal laws or so some members of the senate and the house firmly believe that is to say the belief Is held that mr roosevelt is seeking to do by use of the appointive poin tive power that which the congress refused him the power to do when it killed ott om his scheme to pack the supreme court of the united states with six new justices by filling ailing the judiciary the federal district courts and the circuit courts of appeal with men known to lo be favorable to new deal laws insurance against adverse decisions Is provided for years to come or so some of the senators and representatives will tell you it would be only incidental it if the above analysis is correct that mr roosevelt would build a fresh political machine completely subservient to alid it would be only incidental but it would be a fact 0 D western newspaper union |