Show Bruc Bru karts charts washington Washing fon digest age old fight between president Preside nL and senate in vicious revival current squabble involving senators glass and byrd invited by president preside it himself mr Roosevel ts attempt to discipline senate serious political mistake by WILLIAM BRUCKART service national press bid washington D C washington through nearly all of our nations history there has been a continuing controversy concerning the respective rights and prerogatives of the president of the united states and the senate it has alternately shouldered ed and burst into flame it has been characterized by vicious outbursts from one side or the other at various times and it has made or destroyed destroy ed the political fortunes of a great many men washington has been regaled with a fresh revival of the controversy in the last several weeks the fundamental differences are the same as they always have been there are however new names and 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 one will prove nothing in the way of a tangible solution the current fight must be said to have been invited by president roosevelt perhaps his course of action was urged by some of the inner circle which so often has wrongly advised him lately men who do not know politics and who igno ignore re political history but the 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 off a bad loser mr roosevelt as I 1 have reported in these columns earlier was insisting upon his own selection for political appointments where the senators from a particular state were not receiving his smiles the procedure was not pleasant but there was no sensational outcry from the senators concerned until the noal 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 virginia it proved to be the signal for a riot advisers reckoned not with senatorial courtesy after the manner of senate procedure 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 slap that even the virginia senators were surprised at its overwhelming character it surely made the fact abundantly clear that mr roosevelt could not get away with his theory namely that a president can pick nom nominees i nees without the advice and consent of 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 letter to judge roberts in explanation of the senates senate s action 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 anyone acquainted with virginia politics 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 if that were rejected to send up still others that believed 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 of the senate on the roberts nomination and since certainly seems to demonstrate that the senators will right fight for their rights or what they believe to be their rights on a col collective I 1 basis each sticks by the others none knows when he may need the same kind of help senate Is thoroughly embittered at roosevelt thus after several weeks of this lashing back and forth because senators glass and byrd did not tail fail to tell the country what they thought of mr Roosevel ts action we find the senate thoroughly embittered at mr roosevelt and mr roosevelt saying repeatedly that the senate is is trying to usurp the powers of the chief executive As I 1 said that fundamental difference has existed since the formation of our govern ment it is going to continue to exist because of the form of 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 bias it must be said that each side to the battle predicates its conclusions and conception of its rights upon a thirst for more power mr roosevelt as president conceives that he should be boss the senators as representatives of sovereign states conceio conceive ve that they are the elected representatives and they are not going to have a single individual even though it be the president of the united states dehorn them of the strength that an election by popular vote gives them moreover the president must do political knitting he must keep the weave as free of knots as is ble in the case of the present incumbent it is quite apparent that he desires to be complete boss of his political structure he 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 lie he liked it anyone would if that person is really human when some of his rubber stamps became blurred a and nd did not print clearly what he said they should print mr roosevelt ake any other ruth ruthless lese politician was going to get rid of them he tried that in the purge during the last campaign and failed many persons are sure that the present flame is intended to destroy this type of opposition iori old line democrats seek to regain party parly control nor are the senators not just glass and byrd alone but all of them blameless if one desires to 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 thai machine depends the retention or the loss of the power which every politician loves I 1 imagine they can not be blamed for that any more than the president can be blamed 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 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 haired dreamers without political training many of them will tell you unhesitatingly ta that continuation of democratic party control in the hands 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 be friendly to new deal the other phase of the differences is is less clear 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 for thought by insisting upon his own choice of nominees for judgeships judge ships in the federal courts mr roosevelt is attempting to place men in the judiciary who will be friendly to all of the new deal laws law or so some members of the senate a and nd 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 I 1 tive power that which the congress refused him the power todo to do when it killed off his scheme to pack the supreme court of the united states with six new justices by filling the judiciary the federal district courts and the circuit courts of appeal with men known to be fd fa vc able to new deal laws insurance against adverse decisions is is provided for years to come or sa so some of the senators and representatives will tell you it would be only incidental if the above analysis is correct that mr roosevelt would build a fresh political machine completely subservient to him it would be only incidental but it would be a fact 0 0 western newspaper union |