| Show 0 0 national topics interpreted by Willi ato aln bruckart N national ati press building Wan hington D C washington it has always been said laid that politics makes strange bedfellows bed fellows histo strange ry has shown this bedfellows Bed fellows statement to be true because in every political battle one can note unusual in usual combinations odd types working together personal enemies fighting side by side in tr truth uth bed fellows for the time being never has the truth of this old adage been better demonstrated however than in the current political fight that was precipitated by president Roosevel ts demand that congress pass a law which will allow the chief executive to add six new members to the supreme m e court ot of the united states the r real eal congressional fight on the presidents bold move has not yet gained full headway but time enough has elapsed since mr roosevelt offered his history making demand for power to add enough judges to the supreme court judges of his own selection to give him a majority that those close to the congressional scene are now in a position to predict probably the most heated controversy tro versy since the days immediately preceding the civil war already it can be stated one can see senators and re representatives ves who are known for their liberal views standing side by side with hard boiled conservatives in opposition to the presidents plan which they describe as a move to pack the supreme court likewise one can see sec conservative democrats from the old south following president roosevelt and joining hands secretively with the wildest r radicals a in the senate one will see democrats and conservative republicans in earnest conversation planning ways and means to halt the presidents drive for control of the court and at the same time one can see radical republicans planning with democrats in support of the pr program 0 strange bedfellows bed fellows every one while this condition is interesting it is by far less striking as I 1 watch the proceedings than the extreme bitterness that is now developing while as I 1 said the controversy is hardly under way there is i s even now personal animosity evident in the senate to a degree that I 1 never have seen before I 1 had the privilege of observing the famous league of nations fight at close range there was personal bitterness in that senate battle old friendships were crushed and close relationships torn asunder yet I 1 think that the current controversy is likely to cause the league of nations bitterness to pale into insignificance ance in other words there lies ahead for the congress a raging fire t that hat is bound to destroy political lives and political ambitions which lives and which ambitions depend I 1 think upon the answer which the contrys count rys citizens give to the now direct question are we to have a system of courts and judges independent and free of politics or are we to have puppets that will do the bidding I 1 of political masters I 1 said above that the result of the supreme court battle in congress w aiu U be deter up to the mined by the atti people tude of the country it is vital that the citizens realize this fact since president roosevelt made no mention during the campaign for reelection in 1936 of plans to reform the supreme court there has been no public expression on the subject there will not be another opportunity for the voters to express their views until november 1938 the only way then open to those who want to express an opinion for or against the court change is by sending their views to their congressmen and senators conversations that I 1 have had with members of the house and the senate convinces convinces me that the representatives and senators will appreciate word as to how their constituents feel further evidence of the desire of congressmen and senators to know the feelings of the voters is given in the tremendous propaganda that is going on friends and foes of the supreme court reform program are on the air nightly scarcely a day goes by that some senator and usually several of them and numerous congressmen participate in debate or issue statements concerning the great controversy ersy and from the tremendous source of propaganda supply at the command of the president come countless statements and interviews and radio speeches speech cs praising the presidents plan even the president himself has made one of his famous fireside chats telling why he should be given the now new power in the meantime and some more strange bedfellows bed fellows we find the most peculiar cross currents operating among some of the religious groups there are many who fear that the court packing plan will void constitutional guarantees of religious freedom they tear fear eventual control of the churches by the state having in mind no doubt what has happened to religious groups in germany and soviet russia editorials from the catholic press are arc being circulated privately among many legislators and against these are some protestant preachers who take the position that the supreme court is out of date and ought to be reformed numerous jewish leaders are opposing the reform but among the jews are ni many any who feel that president roosevelt is right then there is the split among the farm leaders I 1 refer to farm organizations with national spokesmen some are for the change and some a against it uppermost in the minds of all of the opponents seems to be a fundamental fear that to change the court will open the door through which dictators may walk to illustrate the type of statements coming forth from observers of national reputation as regards this point I 1 am going to quote from a recent expression by the distinguished columnist westbrook lately he wrote all of a sudden mr roosevelt discovers that the supreme court is largely senile and demands quick action on a proposal which if adopted would create an easy precedent for the most cynical packing of the supreme court by someone of the type of huey long or warren harding mussolini or hitler in years to co come me it might not be many years either all dictators pack the courts by legal means as a preliminary to the promulgation of their dictatorial laws after that it is comparatively easy to take over because the cour courts Is belong to the dictator and do as he orders there can be no question of course that the thing mr roosevelt proposes to have congress do for him is legal since however it is legal in this instance it will be legal of course for someone else to come along after mr roosevelt and pack the court with men of his own choosing men who will decide questions as the then president desires them to decide there is no dimit limit to what may come if once the door is opened senator wheeler the montana democrat who has long been outstanding in the liberal character of views he holds has added to this thought the expression that if the door is to be opened the people must do it not the congress that was elected without voters having heard the proposition mentioned As the fight of packing the supreme court waxes warmer one can not help not they make ing how e even v e n mistakes clever politicians ceans make mistakes I 1 there are many who believe that mr roosevelt made a grievous error in proposing revision of the supreme court in the fashion he chose while there are others who say that he was elected by such a tremendous majority that he will have the people behind him regardless of the character of proposition advanced to congress it is interesting to note how many congressmen and senators are dodging 0 the issue their silence is positively thunderous because they do not know how the people back home feel about the general proposition there are others who have come out boldly for one reason or another in support of the plan and there are some 33 or more in the senate who have determined their position already and are ready to light fight to the finish to stop passage of such a law then there was the mistake which senator robinson of arkansas the democratic leader made in the senate the other day dav he vigorously denounced what he termed propaganda and a conspiracy to defeat t the he presidents plan he called attention to much newspaper and editorial comment in opposition and accused all of those people indiscriminately with being part of a gigantic conspiracy against the court pack the humor of the robinson outburst seemed not to be apparent to the otherwise kindly mannered senator whom I 1 very much admire what lie he did by an hour long attack in the senate was to reemphasize emphasize re all of the criticism of the presidents plan one might refer in this connection also to the explosive type of speech made by harry hopkins relief administrator of course everyone knows that mr hopkins has made his lifes wo work r k that of looking after suffering humanity he is on the government pay roll in such a job mr hopkins attacked all opposition to the presidents plan because he said it was in the interest of humanity to do so the relief administrator made his appeal direct to all of those receiving federal money through relief rolls and that obviously will be taken up by opponents of the presidents plan who undoubtedly will say as some already have hinted that mr hopkins is trying to muster relief classes to bring pressure upon con gress 0 western newspaper union |
