Show Bruc karts kares washington digest age old fight between president and senate in vicious revival al current squabble involving senators glass and byrd invited by president hims himself elf mr Roosevel alts ts at tempt to discipline senate a political mistake by WILLIAM BRUCKART service national press washington D 0 washington through nearly all of our nations history there has been a continuing controversy concerning the respective rights and prerogatives ol of the president of the united states state and the senate it has alternately shouldered ed and burst into flame it has been characterized a eteri zed by vicious outbursts from one sid side oi or the other at various times and it has made or destroyed the political fortunes of a great many men washington has been regaled with a fresh revival bithe of the controversy in the last several weeks the fundamental differences are the same as they always have been there are however i new names and new faces and obviously the political fortunes of individuals who have entered upon the public stage in recent years ere are bound up in the boiling i kettle like the earlier embitter ments over these rights this one will prove nothing in ih 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 BO often has wrongly advised him lately men who do not know politics and who ignore 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 I 1 ng upon his own selection e t in for political swe ic appointments appointment where h e r the senators from a particular r tate state were not receiving his smiles the procedure 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 virginia it proved to be the signal for a riot advisers reckoned not with senatorial courtesy after the manner of 6 senate enate 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 I 1 it t surely made the tact fact abundantly clear that mr roosevelt could not get away with his theory namely that a president can pick nominees with without 0 ait the advice and consent of the senate as the constitution specifies but it did not have that effect and here wai was where the president made a griat great political mii mistake take he sought fought to discipline the senate by publication of a letter to judge roberts in explanation of the senates action he scored senator glass and he tarred senator byrd they were almost guilty of conduct unbecoming gentlemen it vas 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 th their air native virginia which any one acau acquainted 1 anted with virginia Virgin li poll pol tics bics will tell ell you Is much easier said than done it was reported ev even in 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 deane or describe it one simply has to say that it exists and let time prove 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 fight for their rights or what they believe to be their rights on a col basis each sticks by the others none knows when he may need the same kind of help senate senates els Is thoroughly Embi embittered hered at roosevelt thus Thu after several weeks of this h lathing ashing back and forth because senators glass and byrd bird did not tail fall to tell thi the country what they thought of mr roo Roosevel sev elti ts action we find the senate thoroughly thorough li embittered at MT mr roosevelt and mr air roosevelt saying rei repeatedly that the senate is trying baing to usurp the powers of the chief executive lve As isaid I 1 said that fundamental difference ba existed bece aba formation of our govern govera ment it is going to continue boex to exist because of the form of our government i ern ment its system of chicki checks and balances and it will exist as long as our system of political parties obtains coldly and without bias it must musi be said that each side to the ba battle predicates cite s its conclusions co and conception of its rights lights upon a thirst tor for more power mr roosevelt is as president dent cori conceives elves that he should be boss bosi the senators as representatives ol of sovereign states conceive that they are the elected representatives ent and they are not going to have a single individual even evin though it be the president of the united states dehorn them odthe of the strength that s an election by popular vote gives aves them moreover mor eov e arthe the president must musi do political knitting he must keep the weave as free of knots as Is ble in the d case se of the pres present e nt incumbent it Is quite apparent that he desires to be complete boss of his political structure he hehir had a taste indeed a full meal of it for flie five years when a s subservient u congress vastly earned the sobriquet of rubber stamps I 1 imagine that he liked it anyone would if that person pers on is really human when tome some of his rubber stamps became blurred and did not print clearly what he s said aid they should print mr roosevelt like any other ruthless politician was going to get rid of them ile he tried that in the purge during the th last campaign and failed many persons are sure that the present flame Is intended to destroy this type of opposition old line democrats seek to 70 regain party control nor are the senators not just glass and byrd alone but all of them blameless tt 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 that machine depends the retention or the loss of the power which every politician loves I 1 imagine they can not be blamed tor 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 ot of a plum is vital to maintenance of machines politicians continue as leaders only so long as they can dominate the scene and get tor 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 haye have had bad 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 ahem will tell you yo u unhesitatingly batin ta gly that continuation of democratic party control in the hands of such men will be destruction odthe party and its conversion into a vehicle guided by socialists s communists and a complete rainbow of colors naturally they want to adhere to democratic doctrines and dem democratic socratic 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 newdell new deal the other phase of the differences I 1 is less clear I 1 acan can report it only as the belief of quite a few senators some of them believe it definitely til tely I 1 give tt it here simply sk asa subject for or 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 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 ip appointive poin tive power that which the congress refused him the lie power to do when w hen 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 befi favorable to new deal laws law insurance against adverse decisions is provided tor for years to come or sot so s some me of the the senators senator s and re presenta lives tores will tell you it would be only incidental if the above analysis Is correct that thit mr roosevelt would build a fresh political machine completely subservient to him it would be only Inci incidental detal but it would be a i fact 0 western K Nw paper union |