Evening Star Newspaper, July 23, 1937, Page 9

\L ) 4 . THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON D. C, FRIDAY, JULY 23, 1937. —9 % q’lfl' opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not Court Blunder May Free Congtess Roosevelt Has Only Self to Blame for Boomerang. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. HE Supreme Court of the United States is safe from political sabotage. The tribunal which the whole civilized world has learned to revere stands unharmed after five months of the most violent attack that ever was visited upon it in the 150 years of its existence. It is & victory for public opinion. It is & victory also for the statesman- ship of indepen- dent Democrats who led the fight, risking political reprisals from the Roosevelt admin- fgtration, and for e Republican group which had the good sense not topermitthe i issue to become political or par- tisan. But the his- torian will have to add also that it was the most damaging defeat that President Roose- velt has suffered in his public career. It was, moreover, an entirely unneces- sary and uncalled for blow to his prestige, because it was inflicted only by himself. As the record is closed on a most dramatic chapter in the President's experiences with Congress, the ques- -tion will be asked again and again why Mr. Roosevelt took the risk he did and - where his political judgment, hitherto extolled, happened to be when he failed to take advantage of oppor- tunity after opportunity to avoid a crushing defeat. Sentiment Quickly Apparent. On February 5§ when the Presi- dent took his own party leadership and the whole Nation by surprise with his message bitterly attacking the Supreme Court and proposing that it be packed with six additional justices most everybody hereabouts recognized that a mistake had been made. I looked up the dispatch which I wrote for February 8 and find this comment: “Had President Roosevelt laid in advance before leaders of both houses of Congress his proposal to increase the size of the Supreme Court, most of them would have advised against it. Now, torn between political loyalty and convictions, those leaders find it embarrassing to oppose the measure. It is an example of a lack of that co- operation with the members of one's party in the legislative branch of the Government which might have avoided perhaps the most colossal blunder of the Roosevelt regime. Indeed, unless the proposal is withdrawn, it may start the movement that will break up the Democratic party and produce em- barrassment for the rest of the Presi- dent's second term.” The foregoing was a reflection of the feeling and sentiment on Capitol Hill within 48 hours afier the court plan was launched. Mr, Roosevelt may have been doubtful about con- gressional sentiment that day but in the weeks that followed he could never have been in doubt. It turns out that even his intimate friends and support- ers like Gov. Lehman told him long ago he was on the wrong track. Vice President Garner told him. Senator Robinson unquestionably reported ac- curately the sentiment among mem- bers of the Democratic party. Cer- tainly close friends like Senators O’'Mahoney of Wyoming and Wheeler of Montana didn't mince words, and it is reported that Chairman Sum- ners of the House Judiciary Commit- tee and Speaker Bankhead, too, spoke out frankly to the President. How Was Opinion Reached? But Mr. Roosevelt wouldn't budge. ‘Why? Is it possible that he set up his own judgment as better than the opinion of all the veterans in Con- gress, believing that the “yes men” in his cabinet and the ambitious lesser lights in official circles knew more about it than the others? Or did Mr. Roosevelt, fresh from the applause of South American capitals and with the cheers of huge demonstrations on the streets of the big cities during the last campaign still ringing in his ears, imagine that he was a better judge of public opinfon than anybody else in the country? There were dozens of opportunities for real compromise, for graceful re- treat, even for the attainment of the larger objectives. But Mr. Roosevelt stubbornly refused them all. Thus 8t any time within the last five months both houses of Congress would have voted by a two-thirds vote a consti- tutional amendment compelling re- tirement of Supreme Court justices at 75 years of age. It might possibly have even approved of a 6-3 vote being re- quired for holding unconstitutional an act of Congress or of the State Legislatures, though this proposal would have been much more contro- versial. Blunder Not of Ordinary Kind. In other words, the big objective of dealing with the alleged tenacity of Justices of advanced age would have been reached by proposals to amend the Constitution. But the President ‘was deaf to all such pleas. The blun- der is not of the ordinary kind. It is not easily repaired. The President’s Pprestige has not only been impaired but grave doubts have arisen as to the true purposes of Mr. Roosevelt with respect to other legislation which plainly seeks to centralize more power in Washington and a great deal more in the hands of the Chief Executive. ‘The proposed reorganization of Federal executive departments, which in the main is a splendid thing will now be subjected to more scrutiny than before and it is doubtful whether the scheme to ruin the quasi-judicial commissions will ever get through or the plan to eliminate the severe audit of expenses which the Comptroller General has heretofore exercised on behalf of Cangress. The pendulum will continue to _— Jhe BEST MOVE YOU EVER MADE David Lawrence. NATIONAL 6900 TRANSFER = STORAGE (0 920 E ST NW What’s Back of It All Garner Agreed to Broach 11-Man Court Plan With " Associates for Circuits. BY H. R. BAUKHAGE. HEN Vice President Garner took off his coat and went to work at his repair job on the administration’s senatorial machinery, he made it plain that he wasn't signing up for an all-S8ummer job. The first thing he did was to state his views privately to the effect that, if he had his way, he'd close up shop and let everybody g0 home and tell the folks how prosperous they had become under the New Deal. He agreed, however, after an intimate conference with administration leaders, to attempt one chore first. It was to try to push through a plan which he had suggested and which the administration liked anyway, according to those who are in a position to speak with assurance on the administration’s Ppreferences. But, for a very delicate reason, it had not been feasible to insist on ihis particular proposal while Senator Robinson was alive. The plan, it can be authoritatively stated, was a bill the Vice Presi- dent felt might be jammed through the Senate with immediate ad- journment thereafter (or at least a recess) as the price. It would create an 11-man court, an associate justice for each of the 10 judicial circuits, with the Chief Justice over all. A constitutional amendment would then be offered setting the retirement age of the justices at 70. i * % % % This is the point that worried Mr. Robinson's friends: It was considered probable that an effort would be made to provide that all appointments to the supreme bench thereafter be regional. The candidate would have to come from the geographical area within the circult made vacant. That would have eliminated Senator Robinson. Associate Justice Butler presides over the eighth circuit, which includes not only his native State of Minnesota but Arkansas as well, X x ok x State Department Representative Leo Sturgeon, now in Alaska with the Bureau of Fisheries expedition, is about ready to pick a bone with the Japanese. A fish bone. Mr. Sturgeon has just made a flight over Japanese fishing boats licensed for crabbing in Alaskan waters. The report of what he saw hasn't reached Washington, but if it supports the, evidence taken by some of his co-workers in a previous flight it may force the Japanese to switch from their salmon diet and take to eating some of their official statements. Alaskans have contended for a long time that Japanese were by way of ruining their salmon industry. The Navy was interested in reports that the Japanese “fishermen” were doing some surveying in American waters. The State Department asked Tokio about the saJmon as long as three years ago, ,and Tokio said there couldn’'t be any salmen fishing because no salmon fishing licenses had been issued. ‘The Alaskans persisted, said there ought to be a law. Two were drawn up which keep Japanese salsion fishers out of most of the Bering Sea. But the court fight has held up action on them: and, besides, the State De- partment wanted to await Mr. Sturgeon's reports. Meanwhile, the department is getting some interesting information from other sources. Bince Americans have consistently been refused permission to board Japanese boats in Alaskan waters, five “men of integrity” decided to take to the air. What they saw in a half hour's survey of the Japanese boats, and the pictures they are sending to Washington, may be the basis for a job for the diplomats as well as legislators. It was estimated by the fliers that some 20,000 salmon were piled on the decks of four Japanese ships. Then came an even more disturbing message. An official not connected with the Bureau of Fisheries expedition reports passing 26 “fishing boats,” the floating cannery type as well as large trawlers 100 feet long such as are used in the North Sea and the type which was used as mine- layers during the World War. Other trawlers were spreading & mile- wide trawl which scoops the ocean floor not only of fish but of fish- food as well, PR ‘There is & hint which he who runs may read in the records of the Congressional Library. By noon on the day the Robinson funeral train returned from Little Rock and the conciliators were dusy at their job on the court bill, 32 calls for a certain book had been made. The tome contained the platform on which Senator Wheeler (leader of the opponents) ran for Vice President in the presidential campaign of the elder La Follette. One plank provided for an amendment to the Constitution which would give Congress similar powers over a Supreme Court decision which 1t has over a presidential veto. HEY. SONNY. CANT Yo' READ 7, %= (Copyrisht, 1937.) / swing away from the President un- less he recognizes that the country 1s not as radical or as sympathetic to reckless legislative proposals from the “brain trust” as he has been. Congress is anxious to adjourn. The wages and hours bill 18 probably dead for the session and so also are va- rious other schemes and plans, some of which had some worth-while points in them, but which must now be lost in the legislative jam because a Pres- ident of the United States thought one-man government was as appli- cable in America as it seems to be abroad. The greatest result of the fight is the effect on Congress itself. The rubber stamp has been taken from the backs of a large majority of the members. There is, indeed, s new majority in the Senate and perhaps also in the House. For the country Tose to the occasion and fold Con- gress that to tamper with the Supreme Court was to break down oconstitu- there could be no compromise. The citizens who gave of their time and energy to the battle will for the most part go unheralded and unsung, but they have the satisfaction of know- ing that they helped on the 150th an- niversary of the Constitution to save that instrument from the worst ex- ample of attempted usurpation of power that has been recorded in the whole history of the American Re- public. (Copyright, 1937.) Anheuser-Busch to Build. 8T. LOUIS, July 22 (#).—Adolphus Busch III, president of the Anheuser- Busch, Inc, yesterday announced the brewery located in south St. Louis will spend $4,750,000 before the end of the Year on a building and modernization program. Busch said most of the money will be spent on stock houses, fermenting and lagering cellars and tional government and on that issue'the general offices. MEATS are CHEAPE Sugar-Cured Smoked Ham _ Breast Lamb _ Veal Cutlet Boneless Breast Veal _ Shoulder Veal Roast _ -1b. 28¢ Sliced Bacon Fresh Eggs, Nearby _ Tender Sirloin Steak _ Round St Chuck Roast Boef _ Pork Loin Roast__ Fine American Cheese Fancy Bologna Fresh Shoulde: Sliced Luzury Loa! (Delisious s Fresh Killed Stewing & Baking Fowl, 1b. FRESH GREEN VEGETABLES Large, Sweet Watermelons, very fancy__35¢ Finest Quality “Sweetest-Ever” Home Cantaloupes___ Sweet or Money Back Fancy Sugar Corn_ Ripe Home Grown Tomatoe Family Size NEW POTATOES 100-1b. Bag, 85¢ 10 ms. ¢ No. 1 NEW POTATOES Extra Faney U. 8. No. 1 10 ms. 13¢ BUSHEL BASKET, 65¢ 100-1b. bag, $1.25 3212 M St. N.W. N.E. MKT. l 2153 Pa. 12th & H N.E. Ave. N.W. necessarily The Star's. The Star’s e; readers, although such Such opinions are presented in ort to give all sides of questions of interest to its opintons may be contradictory among themselves and directly opposed to The Star’s. Back to Horse Trading Hull Abandons Policy Based on Everlasting “Sanctity of Treaties,” Writer Says. - BY JAY FRANKLIN, ECRETARY OF STATE HULL'S statement on the latest devel- opment, in the informal state of war which has existed be- tween Japan and China for the last five and a half years deserves to be studied carefully in Berlin, Rome, Moscow, Paris and London, as well as in the Far East. In this important state paper he removes the United States from the locked ranks of the “haves” and aban- dons the tedious legalism of a foreign policy based on the everlasting “sanc- tity of treaties.” Here is the key para- graph: “Upholding the principle of the sanctity of treaties, we believe in modi- fication of provisions of treaties, when need therefor arises, by orderly pro- cesses carried out in a spirit of mutual helpfulness and accommodation.” Back to horse-trading and away from that dismal “Stimson doctrine” which strait-jacketed us never to rec- ognize international changes brought about by force! Back to common sense and away from our picayune effort to preserve by paper alone “the terrtorial and administrative entity of China"—and other fictions. Diplomatic Chapter Ends. ‘Thus ends a truly dreadful chapter in American diplomacy. At the time of the “Battle of Concessions” in China, toward the turn of the cen- tury, John Hay advanced the theory of the open door in deference to Brit- ish wishes. We took part in sup- pressing the Boxer Rebellion and Theodore Roosevelt made us a silent partner in the Anglo-Japanese alli- ance which encouraged Japan to de- feat Russia in 1904-5. The result was 35 years of futile effort to save China, the sick man of Asia, much as England had tried to save Turkey, the sick man of Europe. Both policies were matters of convenience rather than principle, and in the case of China it was re- markable that our program worked lo the greater advantage of British trade, while all the world knows what happened to our oil interests when the British finally cracked the O.to- man Empire. After the World War another prob- lem confronted us—the desire of France and England, victors of the peace conference, to make us under- write the status quo of the treaty of Versailles. The Senate refused to take us into the League of Nations and Secretary Kellogg diluted Bri- and'’s proposal for a special peace pact CULBERTSON FLAYS AMERICAN PACIFISM Georgetown U. Professor and For- mer Envoy Says Our Policy Is Selfish. By the Associated Press. ORONO, Me,, July 23.—W. S. Cul- bertson, Georgetown University pro- fessor and former Ambassador to Chile, charged yesterday American pacifism often was selfish and “unwilling to do anything for anybody's peace ex- cept our own.” Declaring “we live in a world or- ganized for war,” Culbertson, in a speech prepared for the University of Maine Institute of World Affairs, said America did not reveal a con- structive approach to the peace prob- lem. “We run from responsibility,” he asserted. “Our peace movement is usually negative; it is supported by the keep-us-out-of-war sentiment; it is grounded in the belief that we can live at peace in a world at war, and in the conceit that we are a more TEA! ISN'T IT MARVELOUS HOW COOL IT MAKES YOU FEEL Dy 3 EXPLORER BEATS THE HEAT WITH TEA—Mr. Robert Ship- pee has mapped hundreds of miles of the Andes wilderness =working constantly in intol- erable heat and humidity. between France and America into the general pact for the outlawry of WA, Japan Launched Offensive. ‘Then came 1931, when England abandoned the gold standard and Japan launched her great offensive in Asia. The nin?-power treaty of 1922, by which our “interests” in the Pacific and Far East were codified, the League of Nations covenant, and the Kellogg-Briand pact popped like firecrackers. Hoover's Secretary of State, Mr. Henry Stimson, an emi- nent New York attorney, scampered dutifully out to the end of the legal limb and tried to halt Japan in the name of the sanctity of treaties. ‘We were left holding the bag. The League powers lacked the will or abil- ity to restrain Japan. The nine-power treaty (in the name, of which we had limited our Navy) was a broken reed, The Kellogg-Briand peace pact lacked even milk teeth, and our State De- partment was reduced to the stuffed- shirt statement that we would “never” recognize such unlawful changes. The world changed just the same. Italy took Ethiopia in the face of the League of Nations and the entire British Empire. Filibustering Spanish Raid. The great Italo-German filibuster- ing raid in Spain was launched in the Summer of 1936. Japan continued to follow the footsteps of the Tartar con- querors of Eastern Asia. It began to look as though the world would soon be dotted with unholy facts which we alone refused to recognize. This position was dangerous as well as silly. It was silly because every one knew that we would not fight to coerce the “have-nots” who werk snapping up unconsidered trifies and because our own predatory past contained episodes as outragesous as any in recent history. It was dan- gerous because it gave Anglo-French diplomacy an American back-log in the event of a victors' war to punish Germany for being German and Mus- solinl for being Mediterranean. Now we are beginning to crawl out of the pit we so self-righteously dug for others and into which we so in- gloriously tumbled ourselves. For if we admit that the “sanctity of trea- ties” 15 subject to modification of their terms in the light of new cir- cumstances, we can complete our peaceful evacuation of the Far East and resign from the dwindling Vic- tors’ Club which has tried to halt the history of Europe. (Copyright, 1937.) peaceful people than other peoples who lack aur geographical advantage.” Culbertson said preferential tariffs, such as those in force among nations of the British commonwealth, “can't be justified either as sound eommer- cial policy or as good international politics.” He indorsed Secretary Hull's trade agreements program. Regarding trade agreements, Cul- bertson said “we need not have fewer professions of geod neighborliness; such sentiments are useful * * *, But we need more insistence upon our rights—insistence that discrimina- tions be removed and that we have a more equitable share of world trade.” Hoppers Finicky About Poison. TRINIDAD, Colo., July 32 (F).— Trinidad grasshoppers are particular when 1t comes to their diet. The poison beit succeessful in other areas was spread here without apparent re- sult. So banana ofl and sirup was mixed with the bait and County Agent Dale Hodgll reports the hoppers diminish- ing rapidly. C.1.0. ORGANIZER INSISTS | This Changing World New State to Provide Home for Exiled Intellectuals Seen Necessary. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN. NEW state will have to be formed in the near future for intellec- tusls who have been expelled from countries ruled by dictators. ‘These people, until a few years ago held in high esteem by their fellow countrymen snd showered with honors by their respective governments, are now undesirabe unless they devote their minds exclusively to serving the war purposes of ‘heir new masters, Many German and Italian intellectuals are exiles at the present moment, earning precarious livings. They are tolerated in forelgn lands particularly because of the pity they inspire and partly because they serve the propaganda pur- poses of their hosts. ‘The majority are not practical men, they used to be provided in- comes by their respective countries which enabled them to work pa- tiently in their laboratories or studies. They are lost when they have to do menial work to keep soul and body together. They are a problem to most countries. Of course, men like Einstein, Emil Ludwig and Thomas Mann are received with open arms everywhere. But scientists and writers less widely known who used to make tmportant contributions to human progress are out of luck. ‘The only solution being considered at this moment is to gather them together in some wsland with & good climate and place them under the Jurisdiction of the League of Nations.- ‘There, some slight contribution from democratic states and nature Would help feed them and they would be able to lead quiet and leisurely lives far away from the saber rattling in Europe which disturbs their peace of mind. . *x x % If many more advisers and counselors are appointed, the State Department soon will become, like the Mexican Army of old, all generals and no soldiers. Besides the undersecretary and the usual secretaries, provided by law to help the Secretary of State, the administration has in- augurated the system of appointing counselors and advisers. Former Assistant Secretary R. Walton Moore was made counselor of the department with vague and indefinite duties. This job has been revived as a consolation prize for the former acting secretary because he was not appointed Undersecretary of State as he had hoped. Then, although the 8tate Department was reorganized, throwing all independent divisions dealing’ with various parts of Europe into one European division, it was thought necessary to appoint James Dunn, formerly head of that section, as adviser to the Secretary of State on European affairs. The European division will have a very capable chief, Plerrepont Moffet. But Mr. Dunn will top him as adviser to Secretary Hull. In the old days the chiefs of the various European divisions were considered sufficiently able to advise the Secretary of State on the probiems of their various provinces. It is in the cards that some more advisers and counselors will be appointed before long. In fact, if this policy is pushed to its logical end there will be so many advisers that nobody will know who is what and why. * % % The neutrality act, with all its implications and complications, will need some real specialist to advise the State Department about what is neutrality and what is not. For the time being there are few men in this country who can §rasp the implication of that im- portant bill. The future adviser will have to have some Einstein-like qualifications, but it is believed such a person can be found. \ Then it will be necessary to appoint somebody to deal with contraband and arms and ammunitions. Joseph Green is in charge of that depart- ment, but it might become necessary to put a more ponderous person in that division to advise the State Department as to why ostrich feathers can be considered war implements. Green will report to the adviser, who in turn will report to Counselor Moore, who in turn will report to the Secretary of State, who in turn will advise the President as to why Mr. Green, the adviser, the counselor and he himself shink that such and such a material is & war implement Louls “for continuing and intensifying program in Tupelo.” “A cherter has been applied for, Tegular meetings of garment workers are being held. * The union is es- ON RETURN TO PLANTS Escorted From Mississippi Town Twice, She Goes Back to Re- new Efforts. she said. the educational and organizational | tablished permanently in Mississippi,” By the Associated Press. TUPELO, Miss., July 23.—Miss Ida 8ledge of Memphis, organiser for the International Ladies Garment Work- ers’ Union, C. I O. afiiliate, returned here yesterday to renew her sfforts to organise empioyes in three Tupelo plants. She said she was “escorted” from town twice and “warned” not to return. B8he reached here & few houra after hand bills were distributed to textile workers urging them to “stick to your local union.” “Home unions” were or- ganized last week under sponsorship of the “Citizens’ Committee,” which distributed the printed mesmges. Miss Sledge sald plans were made at & week end union conference at St PATENT WORK HEAVY Patent Attorneys Swamped, Cos- mopolitan Club Is Told. Patent attorneys today have more work than they can handle, Edward Randoiph Walton, jr., local member of the profession, told the Cosmopoli- tan Club yesterday at the Carlton | Hotel. Walton explained the stepe neces- sary to obtain a patent and cited the difference between s patent attorney and & general attorney. Arthur W. Defenderfer presided at the meeting. E. A. Rule, former president, was given & certificate for his work in the organization. 1 HAD MADE ME FEEL SO MUCH COOLER, Headline Folk and What They Do. Frankie Parker’s Rise to Net Heights Meteoric. BY LEMUEL F. PARTON, ALTER PATE has chosen Frankie Parker and not Bitsy Grant for tomore row’s Davis Cup challengs round against Great Britain. This 13 the first time Grant has made the Davis Cup team and his elimination is & hard luck story which will fust about put flags at half mast in Atlanta, his homa town, In the intere zone finals with the Germans, the peak moment of his tennis ca« reer, Grant just couldn't get go- ing. He asked Pate to count him out and give the call to Park- er—the first time this has hap- pened in a major American sport event. The sizzling little blond Southerner, who plays in shorts and looks like a prep school lad, is a game fighter, and officials, gallery and public are generous and understanding. Now 27, he whammed his way up to the higher plateaus nf tennis in 10 years after winning hig first, Southern championship, Considering the smooth going of Frankie Parker, it seems that Dama Fortune fust didn't have enough luck left over to dish any to Bitsy, Parker was Frank Andzez Pajkowskl, a skinny, undernourished Polish boy, shagging tennis balls in Milwaukee for $2 a week. He had a nickel to spend and turned in the rest to his widowed mother, supporting five children, Mercer Beasley, coach of the Mile waukee Town Club, started teaching him and uncorked his geyser of ge . At 14 he was national boy champion, Beasley virtually adopted him and sent him to Lawrenceville, en route to Princeton. The lad developed such an appetite for study that it interfered with his tennis, but, at 17, he was na« tional clay court champion. He is not yet 21 and is eagerly ine terested in continuing his education, but his mentor thought he should have a chance to grab top laurels in tennis— which he promptly did. He is today the most spectacular of the young giart killers. Among tennis authori- ties he provides a text for “the end of the Tilden slam-bang era and the start of the new era of strategy.” He beat Grant at New Orleans January 2 of this year when he won the Sugar Bowl championship. Uncle Sam has been branching ou ® lot in the last few years, but here's one golden opportunity + which he probably will pass up. Geoffrey La Mesurier Mander, Member of Parliae ment and the best 55-vear-old squash player in Britain. thinks a nice way out of the Palestine rukus would be for the United States to take over the Palestine mandate The fact that Mr. Mander has no ill -intent and really has nothing against us has been proved by his friendly attitude toward this country in the past. In 1933 he stood up in Parliament and insisted that Britain pay all of its war debt to the U. S. A. in one lump sum, including interest. He is a man of many talents, in ad~ dition to squash and politics. He is a skilled and daring aviator, & master of arts from Cambridge, a lawyer and & successful business man, chairman of Mander Bros, Wolverhampton. If some of his proposals have seemed a bit quixotic, he has been an earnest advocate of friendly and close rela- tions between Britain and America, and it would seem that any gesture of friendliness anywhere should rate a hand these days. ie Parker. “The difference be« tween tea and other so-called cooling drinks is this: Tea does more than merely quench thirst. Tea actually lowers the body tem- perature. Its cooling effect is more lasting.” VITALIZING TEA comes from INDIA, CEVLON, and JAVA- SUMATRA. Buy a good brand of Orange Pekes, and look forany of these nfiufim@umuindm