A QUIET CRISIS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 59, 11 March 1937, Page 9

A QUIET CRISIS

POLITICS IN U.S.A.

PRESIDENT'S APPEAL

SUPPORT FOR COURT

PROPOSAL

United Press Association—By Electric Telecraph—? Copyright. WASHINGTON, March 10. President Roosevelt, in a radio fireside chat, appealed directly to the people to support his Judiciary proposals. "I am reminded that in March four years ago, when I made my first radio report, we were in the midst of a great banking crisis," he said. "Now we are faced with a quiet crisis. There are no lines of depositors outside closed banks, but to the far-sighted the crisis has far-reaching possibilities of injury to America.

"Wr are faced by the fact that the Supreme Court more and more often and more and more boldly has asserted power to veto laws passed by Congress and the State Legislatures in the past four years," he declared. "The sound rule of giving Statutes the benefit of all reasonable doubt has been cast aside, the Court acting not as a judicial but as a policy-making body. That is not only my accusation but that of the justices who dissented from majority opinions vetoing recent laws designed to meet modern needs. The Court improperly set itself up as a third House of Congress—a super legislature. i TO SAVE CONSTITUTION AND COURT. "We therefore have reached a point in the nation where we must act to save the Constitution from the Court and the Court from itself." the President proceeded. "My opponents seek to arouse prejudice and fear by crying that I am seeking to pack the Court. If the meaning of the phrase is that I wish to place on the Bench spineless puppets who will disregard the law and decide cases .in the way I wish, then no President lit' for office would appoint, and no Senate of honourable men would confirm, this form of appointees. "But if it means that I am to appoint, and the Senate confirm the appointment of, justices who understand modern conditions to act as! justices and not as legislators, then I believe a vast majority of the American people favour my doing just that thing.

"Now, my opponents urge a Constitutional Amendment, but it would take months and years to agree to the typelanguage, more months and years to I xget a two-thirds majority in the House] and Senate, and then a long course of) ratification by three-fourths of the} States. This process is too long and^ | too uncertain.

"My proposal is not to infringe in thes slightest the civil and religious liberties dear to every American," the President added. "You who know me/ cannot fear that I will tolerate the de-j struction by any branch ■of the Gov-i ernment of any part of our heritage) of freedom."