Requiescat in Committee

Thomas R. Marshall of North Manchester, Ind., who 20 years ago was not only Vice President of the U. S. but also the Will Rogers of the era, was the author of a brief tale: "Once upon a time there were two brothers. One went to sea. The other was elected Vice President. Neither was ever heard from again." Tom Marshall did not live to hear about a Vice President who went to sea and was next heard from when he landed with the Marines to take the situation well in hand.

Thus did John Nance Garner land last week in Washington. Returning from a vacation in Texas he had joined the train which brought back the bickering mourners from the funeral of Senator Joseph T. Robinson (TIME, July 26) and set foot in a scene of the greatest political confusion which Washington had witnessed in many years. At the Capitol a group of resolute Democrats stood entrenched with the firm resolve that the Supreme Court Bill should not pass. At the White House, mile and a half away, sat a grim President not only determined that it should pass but still expecting that it would. From the moment of his arrival, white-haired Jack Garner took charge of the situation.

He called at the White House and saw Franklin Roosevelt. Later at the Capitol he gave audience to a delegation of Senators, most of them freshmen counted on to vote for the Court Bill, who felt that unless the President would make a further compromise, they would vote to send it back to the committee. The Vice President told them what he meant to do. That evening, he took Senators Harrison, Barkley and Pittman and went back to talk to "The Boss." He even got in touch with Senator Wagner, about to write a stinging reply to Governor Lehman who had urged him to vote against the Court Bill (TIME, July 26). The Vice President advised the Senator not to make himself ridiculous: by the time his answer was published there would be no Court Bill before the Senate.

John Garner had seen: i) that as matters were going the Court Bill was doomed to defeat and 2) that if this futile issue were forced any farther, the Party would be irrevocably split. He meant to halt events in their tracks and he did so. Next morning after the Democratic leadership fight was settled (see p. 10), Senators Barkley and Harrison were called to the White House to discuss what part of the President's Court Plan could be saved. While they were doing so Mr. Garner conferred with Senator Wheeler, the leader of the opposition, and told him to write his own Court Bill. The fight was over. On the following morning in a session of the Judiciary Committee the bill was written in memorandum form:

1) No change in the Supreme Court.

2) No proctor to supervise the allotment of judges in the courts.

3) No roving judges.

4) Direct appeal to the Supreme Court in cases where the constitutionality of laws is questioned.

5) Authority for the Attorney General to argue the Government's side in such cases even if the Government is not directly a party to the issue.

6) Assignment of judges by the senior circuit judges.

7) New judges on the basis of need, not age.

The opposition, wary of trickery, made another stipulation that the original Court Bill should be sent back to Committee and killed for this session, that the new bill would be added as an amendment to a minor court bill already passed by the House so that Administration strength in the House could not be used to change it back to the form desired by the President.

Franklin Roosevelt was still anxious to save face by keeping the nature of the settlement dark, and avoiding a roll call. Neither was possible that afternoon when the issue was settled on the floor of the Senate. Senator Logan who had sponsored the defeated bill was allowed to move to recommit it. Only 20 last-ditch fighters voted against him. Seventy other Senators jumped into the breach provided for them by John Nance Garner, to settle in an hour a profitless wrangle that had played havoc with public affairs for nearly six months.

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