Douglas v. Truman

Illinois' rumpled Senator Paul Douglas wet his lips, solemnly cinched up his belt and took his fight with Harry Truman into the open. Slapped down by the President in the choice of two men for vacancies on an Illinois federal district court (TIME, July 23), Senator Douglas persuaded the Chicago Bar Association to take a poll on whether it favored his or the President's choices.

Then, with the firm but nervous air of a bespectacled student standing up to the school bully, ex-Professor Douglas began tapping at the President's chin. In a speech before A.F.L. retail clerks, Douglas, an 80% Fair Dealer, deplored the "tendency for the leaders of groups, as they grow powerful, to want only yes men in their organization."

The President did not duck. He told a press conference stubbornly that it was his job, and not a bar association's, to make judicial appointments. He forgot to add that it is also the Senate's job to confirm those appointments. If the Illinois poll goes against him, that in itself will be a sharp blow. Douglas will oppose the Truman men when they come to the Senate and--if Douglas makes a determined fight of it--the Senate will likely reject them. That will be a real nose-bashing for Mr. Truman.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.