| Show 0 national topics interpreted by william bruckart washington more perhaps than ever before in our count rys history the courts of the the president n nation a t I 1 0 n federal and the court and state are in a jam they are being subjected to a greater strain than ever before and I 1 think the strain is too great for them long to continue to bear it that sentence sounds sensational it is meant to be in the opinion of many sound thinkers men and i women of vision there has never b been een a time when a wave or surge h has a s attacked the cour courts wave or any other atwith any cother american institution with such h ferocity one of the reasons the situation is to be regarded with so much concern is president Roosevel ts latest request of congress for a reorganization of the judiciary system he is asking for more judges everywhere which of itself seems entirely proper but the message astounded observers by proposing a an n increase increase in the membership of the supreme court of the united states to fifteen that is to say that if it were enacted into law mr Roosevel ts own proposal would i give him authority to select six additional I 1 dit ional justices of the highest tribunal inasmuch as the present membership of the court has refused a number of times to hold new deal legislation valid under the constitution it takes no stretch of the imagination at all to figure out that mr Roosevel ts proposal would give him authority to select a sufficient number of new justices so that the new deal would hold the balance of power in the highest court of the judiciary of the country there there may be and probably is merit in the presidents proposal that judges should retire at seventy years of age it happens that the present membership of the court includes six men who are above that age and a statute compelling retirement ti at seventy would make six added vacancies in the court unless the present court should find that this law itself is unconstitutional in one regard the judges are appointed for life and they cannot be removed without cause which means they must be impeached by congress and tried the message respecting reorganization of the judiciary system was by far the most sensational to come from mr roosevelt as president he pointed out in it that he had proposed reorganization of the executive branch of the government so that it might function more efficiently the next step he said was to reorganize the judiciary so that it could administer just justice i ce more speedily but there are many minds throughout the country which find it difficult to believe that the necessity tor for speedy justice is the fundamental reason for the new proposal it is too early to tell of course how congress will act on the presidents suggestion but the more astute observers here are quite convinced that such legislation cannot go through without a bitter debate the political implications are many if a real struggle develops in the house or the senate it is not outside the range of a good guess to predict that it could split the tremendous democratic majority asunder in either house it if it did that once undoubtedly enmities and factions would be created that would continue through the remainder of the presidents new term and only the passage of time can disclose how far reaching such a thing might be but let us review for a moment some of the background of the conditions that have preceded the presidents sensational proposal there have been sniping and bushwhacking at the judiciary for a number of years and this was thrown into high speed by the president himself I 1 when the supreme court threw out the on that occasion mr roosevelt made the well remembered remark that the decision had taken us back to the horse and buggy days there followed an uproar by a vocal minority of radicals and persons who claimed to be liberal they attacked the supreme court for throwing out new deal measures ridiculed the justices as the nine old men and proceeded I 1 in n general to spread poison to all and sundry about the count rys judicial system on top of that came mr Roosevel ts speech to congress last month in which he made a virtual demand upon the supreme court for a more enlightened interpretation of the constitution that was an unprecedented thing but it was not nearly so sensational as the present problem much of the problem that is swirling around the courts of the land results from the po congress which con criticizes gress has chosen to take there are a goodly number of representatives and senators who swayed by the vocal minority mentioned earlier have voiced bitter criticisms of the judiciary and have even proposed that its freedom be curbed they are doing this because they see the supreme court deciding every now and then that so some me ill thought out piece of legislation should be tossed out of the window A good many of those these congressional shouters have only a slight understanding of the babble that they put out on the floors of the house and senate but the fact remains they are a part of the congress and hence their words are received with some consideration among those who want to believe the same way on the other hand there are men h like ke senator borah of idaho who f foresee 0 real trouble for all of us if the powers of the courts couris are curbed senator borah thinks the question of the freedom of the judiciary is a paramount issue and lately has made a powerful appeal that if the people want to make changes in their government 1 the people ought to do I 1 it t and not the president and the congress the idaho senator makes the point that only through a judiciary unfettered by politics free to operate as it sees the law can the people of the country retain their freedom if judicial independence goes liberty goes so it seems to me that congress which just now is the spearhead of the movement to change the power of the courts ought to recognize its own responsibility I 1 said earlier that the courts could not continue long to bear the present burden of attack that burden which they carry now results largely and this is especially true of the supreme court of the united states from the fact that congress has ceased to be a deliberative body it has tossed great chunks of undigested legislation at the courts and when the courts have held these laws unconstitutional a bunch of nitwits each time has unleashed a great howl it would seem then that the proper conclusion is that the n nine in e old men are not older nor any less enlightened than the members of congress or the executive branches of the government but that especially congress is falling failing to do its job it is attempting to read election returns into the judiciary it seems to me it ought to be remembered by members of congress and officials of the executive branch of the government that each and every one of them has taken en ah oath as ari an official of this government to preserve protect and defend the constitution and in so doing they must defend the courts in any discussion of congress and its activities I 1 find time to do a little laughing laughs are through the last loud today several weeks a period when floods were raging and people were dying when thousands upon thousands walked the streets without jobs when other thousands walked the streets because a militant labor leader had called a strike and had permitted his strikers to violate laws of the land by seizure of property while all of these things were happening our congress was giving thought to a picayune proposition it was discussing a bill providing tor for alterations of the capitol building itself the tragedy of this particular thing is that it has a very good chance of being enacted into law before the end of this session it is proposed to spend four or five million dollars to extend and reconstruct the central portion of the capitol along lines that would make the three east wings extend the same distance from the main building it would enlarge the central portion and provide more office space when as far as any observers van an see there is ample space for all of the offices required no now r or for the next half century I 1 said the tragedy of the thing was that this proposal stands a fair chance of passing through congress sponsors of the plan declare it will improve the appearance of the central portion of the old building it may do that but I 1 have found more architects who disagree than agree with that thought As for the office space argument it would appear that somebody in congress is quite determined simply to spend some more money it is to be remembered that only two years ago the house of representatives senta tives built a second office building at a cost of for its members about the same time the senate added a wing to the senate office building so that each senator could have three rooms whereas heretofore the average senator had only two rooms in his suite committee chairmen always have had three or more rooms in addition there are several hundred offices in the capitol building itself and a goodly number of senators and representatives have private offices in the capitol as well as in the office buildings so altogether I 1 think there is just ground tor for saying as one hears said frequently that the congresses of the last few years much resemble boys who have received too many toys in one delivery they dont know what to do with themselves 0 western newspaper union |
