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Size of Courts Limited 38 States Constitutions Fix Num ber, Leaving Power in Hands of People. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. AN EXAMINATION of the con stitutions of the 48 States re veals that 38 of them specific ally reserve to the people the right to fix the size of the Supreme Courts of their respective States. This is done by placing in the State constitutions the exact limit of the size of the court. In only 10 States is there an ab sence of limita tion. So, in more than three fourths of the States of the Union, the Legis latures may not enlarge or dimin ish the size of the highest tribunal. As a matter of fact, the Federal n,Tid Constitution does not empower Congress or the Presi dent to fix the size of the Supreme Court. The right to change the size of the Supreme Court was assumed by Congress in 1789 and has never been challenged. This is largely due to the fact that the changes in the size of the Supreme Court have never before been directly related to the character or quality of the decisions. While the Roosevelt administration, a fortnight ago, gave congestion of court business as the reason for the desired increase to 15 justices, this has now been brushed aside as the primary purpose and there is no longer any hesitancy here to acknowledge that the reason for changing the size of the Supreme Court is to get rid of certain of the present judges. Said Gov. Phil L* Follette of Wis consin last Saturday night, speaking on the radio in favor of Mr. Roose velt's plan: •'Of course, the President's pro posal will affect the decisions of the court. It is intended to do exactly that." i ummings linens on Decisions. Attorney General Cummings also dwelt at length on the character of the present Supreme Court's decisions in his recent speech advocating en largement of the Supreme Court. In view of these aspects, one out come of the present controversy, even if Mr. Roosevelt should win. may be an agitation for a proposal to amend the Federal Constitution so that the number of justices of the Supreme Court shall be definitely fixed and not lpft hereafter to the President or the Congress. On this point, the United States News telegraphed to the chief justices of various State Supreme Courts to obtain a symposium of views on the question of whether Congress or the people through the Constitution should fix the size of the Supreme Court of the United States. From Chief Justice Charles A. Goss. Supreme Court of Nebraska, tame this answer: ■'Inasmuch as the Federal Consti tution does not fix the number of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and does not specific ally grant the Congress the right to determine the number. I would favor an amendment to the Constitution, fixing the number at nine. Holds Number Adequate. ‘'First, because that number has been found to be adequate, and. sec ond, because fixgd determination of the number would largely remove from controversy an element that makes for political and social unrest. Our State constitution first fixed the State Supreme Court at three. It was later amended to seven. It works well. When exigencies de manded there was no difficulty in se curing an amendment.” From Chief Justice William H. Waste of the Supreme Court of Cali fornia came this answer: “In my opinion, the number of , justices of the Supreme Court of the United States should be definitely fixed by constitutional amendment adopted by the people in the ordi- j nary course and not be determined | by an act of Congress. In many, I | believe, of the States, the people by j constitutional provision fix the num- ' ber of members of their courts of lasr, resort.” From Chief Justice William H. Fol News Behind the News Beaten Path Across Atlantic May Produce Inter national Agreement Rabbit From Hat. BY PAUL MALLON. JUDGING from the way British and French financial and naval au thorities are running over here on "purely personal trips,” something big seems to be up in foreign affairs. First rame the British trade master, Rtinciiran, then the French financial wizard. Bonnet, now the British naval expert,, Sir Robert Cralgie, and later President Roosevelt's only ambassadorial intimate. Bill Bullitt, from Paris. No one is expected to believe the official excuse that these leaders of thought are u'earing a path across the Atlantic for "purely personal" reasons. Furthermore, the ease with which Mr. Roosevelt pulled his court rabbit out of the hat without disclosing more than an ear of it beforehand has caused the wary here to expect anything at any time. * * * * Despite all the rumors and suspicions now current, however, it is probable that the coming of these key men may not immediately engender another rabbit. A long period of incubation u In prospect. At least the powers-that-be offer the following plausible inside explanation of the | mysterious goings-on, and it sounds ! very logical: The day of international con ! ferencing is over, for the time being, at any rate. No nation or group of nations will dare to sponsor a world economic or disarmament gathering as long as what hap pened at the last ones is still fresh in world memory. nrilp . : ut-NCV ) HtUO'TW* t.LAI’ YOU \pl?C PPEU ) There will, therefore, be no disarmament conference and no economic conference this year. You may slip this under your hat as absolutely certain—they say. What is needed now is the renewal of friendliness and trust among international statesmen. It must be put on a personal basis. It must be Frank.” “Bob," “Bill” and "Walter," or as near to an intimate acquaint anceship and knowledge of each other's personalities as unbending officials can get. There must be a knowledge of each other’s viewpoints and ob jectives, without which no conference can be successful. There should be trade agreements, monetary understandings, etc., not on a broad world scale, but “man to man" and "group by group.” This is u hat State Secretary Hull meant in his New York speech when he minted the world to take a cue from the friendly relations developed in this hemisphere at the recent Pan-American conference. One thing which all personal visitors will find out, if they have not already, is that the United States is not going to finance world recovery the way it financed the war. Loans to Europeans are out of the question, not particularly because of the Johnson act. but because the administration does not like the idea in any shape or form. This, they say, is also just as certain and un changeable as if Mr. Roosevelt had announced it himself. The inside crowd here believes the lending of money abroad would accomplish the same effect as pouring it down a sewer. The credit of most European nations does not justify loans, and the disarmament program of the others indicates they are just trying to hock their national honor to buy more guns. a a a a Hamlet never smiles. Neither does his labor counterpart, John L. Lewis. But if Lewis could smile he would have when he continued to | u 4,;au.-.t insist of late that he is against lr«r, cm stkivC”' strikes, and particularly against /jfZjf. J \ rrAAV the coming coal strike. At least dJC f y/ ^ there seemed to be a revealing ,^ Tfjtx i V "e glint in his eye each time he spoke. ‘ ’’A V ■" The truth is. every worthwhile authority here is just as sure there will be a coal strike as he is that people do not use much coal in Summer. The two facts are re lated. Some of the operators have come to call the biennial or quadriennial walkout a “vacation." Unfortunately the contract expires April 1. this year, and the bass season will not then be open. But they see little prospect that the strike will be delayed until fishing is good. Most labor authorities also privately consider a strike to be inevitable. * * * * Senate Leader Robinson fre. .ently takes walks around the Capitol grounds early in the morning, before most other Senators are on the job. Senator Jimmy Byrnes, who also lives nearby, has been meeting him on the street corners lately. There several important impromptu court con ferences have been held. 'Copyright, 19:17.) land of the State Supreme Court of Utah came this answer: “The Supreme Court of the United States should be an entirely inde pendent tribunal, not subject to in fluence or control by the Executive or the Congress. To attain this end. it might be better if the number of justices were fixed by constitutional amendment rather than leaving the power with the Congress to be used by it in such manner or at such time as to actually influence the court decisions, or. what is as bad. to give the impression that such is the case.” Some Opposition. Chief Justice Coleman of Nevada. Chief Justice Blume of Wyoming and Chief Justice Sands of Montana con curred in the idea of a constitu tional amendment to fix the size of the Supreme Court: only Chief Jus tice Anderson of Alabama and Chief Justice Russell of Georgia declared themselves as opposed to the idea, though Chief Justice Rosenberry of Wisconsin thought it might have been done as an original proposition, but was not necessary now’ because he did not favor making a general rule to cover particular cases. Thus six of the nine chief justices who replied to the questionnaire definitely favored a constitutional provision to fix the size of the Su preme Court of the United States. (Copyright. 193T.) ESCAPED CONVICTS HALTED BY GUNFIRE Trio Fleeing With Taxicab Driver as Hostage Captured at Bloomfield, Mo. By the Assoclat«d Press. BLOOMFIELD, Mo.. March 1 — Three fleeing convicts from Menard Penitentiary at Chester. 111., holding a taxicab driver as hostage, were captured here yesterday, three hours after they escaped from the prison farm near Chester. Sheriff Randal Eians and his two deputies, Clyde Alexander and Clar ence Capps, halted the convicts and their prisoner with a burst of gunfire in the public square. No one was wounded. The felons overpowered two guards in gaining their freedom, the sheriff was informed. The convicts, all trusties, are Mil ton (Snake) Armstrong, 57, colored, serving a life sentence for murder; Lonnie Hawton. 30, serving one year to life for armed robbery, and Harry J. Creiston, 20, sentenced 1 to 10 years for burglary. The kidnaped cab driver. Sherman Martin, said Armstrong held a gun at his back throughout the 120-mile trip. On a business visit your hotel is doubly important. You then want the utmost in comfort and conve nience, to turn you out each morning 100% effi cient and "raring to go." You also demand a local address in every way worthy of your own prestige and standing. The Hotel New Yorker meets these two needs—and meets them so completely that it is chosen by men of affairs. Make it your head quarters. You'll say that it is the most thoroughly satisfactory hotel you have ever known. 3500 ROOMS.. MINIMUM RATE $3.00 Washington reservation office: 986 National Prat Bldg., Metropolitan 3717 CONVt«»lNCE \ pUASU** | ^ °L «dio, S.^id®1' I h*» T . ;,. y,8lel 1 .ndcitoutob"* J00fc I R,le,DU9cUunn.Acon \ t£»«»"w“ I st**'®"' 3 4 T H STREET AT EIGHTH AVENUE, NEW YORK Balph Hits, President • F. L. Andrews, Manager CJ’HE opinions of the ivriters on this page are their own, not necessarily The Star’s. Such opinions are presented in The Star’s effort to give all sides of questions of interest to its readers, although such opinions may be contradictory among themselves and directly opposed to The Star’s. Freedom for Neutrality Tied Hands of Uncle Sam Ineffective, but Action Might Prove Telling. BY DOROTHY THOMPSON. IT IS, of course, utterly impossible to lay down a hard and fast pro gram for preventing world war, but it is the thesis of this column that should a war of world propor tions occur, any neutrality legislation which we may pass today cannot be counted on to keep us out of it, and will tie our hands, limit our influ ence and restrict our power, which now. in time of peace, may be used to help pre vent such a war from occurring. If war comes it will lie states manship on the spot and not com pulsion on the Government to act in any rigid way which Doroth, Thompson. will keep us out of it. We could, to be sure, frame an almost sure and foolproof neutrality policy. If we decided that we did not care what happened in the rest of the world, and were determined to re strict our political, military and eco nomic interests to this hemisphere we could do so. But no one has even suggested that we prepare to pay the prodigious price involved. The neutrality bill thinks of us wholly as sellers, and not as buyers, In world trade. But large sections of American industry depend upon im ported materials. The President, un der the neutrality bill, is compelled, ; under certain conditions, to keep our ships out of war zones. Suppose there is a war involving Japan and Eng- : land, and Japan manages to block ade British an i Dutch possessions in the Par East, which are the chief source of our rubber supply. Without rubber our automobile industry col lapses. Will we stand by in such a case? Positive. Not Negative, Proposals. American naval policy is certainly not confined to thp defense of the American coast. Mr. Cordell Hull's policy is certainly not predicated by our withdrawal from world trade, but by precisely the opposite. And Mr. Hull is consistent To the members of the Council on Foreign Relations he said Thursday night that ‘it is not beyond the power of statesmen today to check and reverse the drift toward world anarchy,” and he sug- ; gested the principles laid down at , the Buenos Aires conference as a basis for ending this anarchy. That means "the loyal acceptance by na tions of the rule of law, guarantees for the integrity of each and imple menting renunciation of war by methods of instantaneous co-operative action.” These are positive and not negative proposals. As far as the Americans are con cerned. this country has already en tered upon a scheme for collective consultation and collective action in case a war threatens or breaks out i on this hemisphere. But the pro posed neutrality bills may possibly wreck even the results of the Buenos j Airs Conference and even any scheme for collaborative action between the Americas. For, although both the House and Senate bills exempt the American republics from the arms and other embargoes in case of war between them and a non-American power, they make an arms embargo mandatory in case of war between two American republics. Should, for instance, war break out between Argentina and Brazil, we would be forced to stop war sup plies immediately to either belliger ent. England, Germany. France or Italy, however, would be free to pro vision either or both of them, so that one or more European powers might determine the result of a war on thus hemisphere. Conceivably, the result might be to turn an American ! j republic Into a new Spain, and all that we could do would be to enforce a blockade. And t{iat would almost certainly mean war, possibly of In ternational proportioas. What of Recalcitrant? Also, under the terms of the Buenos Aires treaty, we would im mediately enter into conference with the belligerents and other American powers. But we would enter that con ference with our hands tied. Before it started we would remove from our representatives anything with which they could bargain. If all the South American republics should agree with us upon one course of action, and one should refuse to arbitrate, we would be compelled to treat the re calcitrant exactly like the rest. An emasculated State Department could do little more to compel arbitration than to speak noble words. This country is not prepared to offer collaboration in the enforcing of peace upon the whole world. But then let us at least keep our heads clear, our tongues uncommitted and ! our hands free for whatever emer | gency may arise in this anarchic world. Legislation which compels the I Government to act in any rigid way I to meet circumstances as yet com- ! pletcly unpredictable will, I am con vinced, one day rise up to plague us. (Copyright, 1»37.) *-• POWER DEVELOPMENT TO AID IDLE URGED Wider Program to Provide Jobs Proposed by Representative Voorhis. Increased public power development as an Instrument of decreasing unem ployment was urged before the League for Industrial Democracy yesterday by Representative Voorhis of Cali fornia. addressing the final session of the public power group here. Such development, Voorhis said, would make the Nation richer m three ways: First, paying the cost of work relief for part of the unem- | ployed; second, by giving the people ' as a w hole' increased purchasing power through cheapening of the tost of one important commodity: third, J through technological advance. Utiiiisation of water resources in de velopment of public power was urged by Representative Boileau of Wiscon sin as an important means of flood control, while Prof. Carl Raushenbush of New York University, stressing the same flood-control value of power de velopment, accused the private utility interests of blocking this type of flood prevention work. As the conference adjourned a num ber of resolution;. growing out of three days' of discussion, were adopted, among them condemnation' of the power pooling plans advanced by the private interests in the Tennessee Val ley area. POSTERS ON DISPLAY Winning Airmail Designs Shown at Post Office Department. Winning airmail posters prepared by school children of all grades in the Bristol (Tenn.l public schools in a contest conducted the postmaster of the city, are on exhibition in the Post Office Department Building. Twenty posters are being shown out of the several hundred entered in the competition. They are being shown in the fifth floor elevator lobby in front of the office of Charles M. Graddjck, superintendent of the airmail service, room 5302. Russia will build many moving pic ture theaters next year. This Changing World Poles Have Precedent for Court Changes—Ballyhoo and Bluff Continues in European Politics. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN. THE Poles have a constitution which should make President Roose -'elt's mouth water. Not only can the President designate one of the two candidates for succession to his office, but he can dismiss without much ado the chief justice and the judges of Poland’s Su preme Court. , The Poles have sent us during the revolutionary wars Kosciusko and Pulaski, two valiant warriors. It would be interesting if in these days of X TmhK Tnf V v t /■-J yCOMSMutlCM social changes they would inspire a constitutional change regarding the Supreme Court. It is amazing to the observers of international diplomacy how leaders in various countries have not abandoned the game of bluff and ballyhoo. Last week the news came from abroad that an arrangement had been reached between the German minorities in Czechoslovakia and the German party. It looked as if the troubles of President Benes and Premier Hodza were over. There is nothing of the kind. The agreement reached in Prague concerns a small portion of the Germans whose leaders have been bribed to enter the cabinet. The followers of these two cabinet ministers do not form 10 per cent of the German population in the Central European republic. Hinlein, the nationalist leader who has been dined and wined in Berlin during last Summer's Olympic games, is not a party to it. and the agreement has not met with the approval of the government in Berlin—quite the contrary. When Hinlein was asked what he thought about the agreement he said that he could see no advantage to the German minorities in it. He. himself, he stated, was not a partisan of drastic measures. But his follow ers are getting rapidly out of hand, and unless something constructive was done by the Prague government in the near future there may be trouble soon in that country'. There is a good deal of speculation in diplomatic quarters as to when Internal trouble might begin. The guess is that it might start during the coronation festivities in London. The Czech Germans do not see why the British alone should have a good time. When the trouble begins, it is expected—unless the Czechoslovak government shows a good deal of wisdom—that it will be a repetition of "hat is happening in Spain now. Probably less cruel and bloody because the people of Czechoslovakia are less ferocious than the Spaniards. But we may easily expect the usual talk about communism, unbearable oppression and all the other complications which accompany interna! strife these days. * * * * Great Britain is spending billions on armament, but the recruiting of soldiers to man the new war engines is painfully slow. In a country where there are more than 1.000.000 unemployed, only 7,000 men have answered the call of the War Department for enlistment. In order to attract more men, the requirements as to the height and the physical aptitude of the new recruits hare been made less stringent. Furthermore, the posters made by imagi native artists show to the future British soldiers what a grand life he will have by accepting "the King's shilling " They tell those who have doubts about their ability to make a living in any other walk of life to enlist ' on approval." That means that the individual wno consents to don the King's coat undertakes to serve six months. At the expiration of that term if he finds that he does not like military life, he can get out. The only thing that is required of him is to undergo a period of in struction of 14 days during the next five years. The war department is at a loss as to how to get more men into the army. But the greater the in | Join nov| aucements are. the more remunerative the pay is, the fewer are the ap plicants in the recruiting stations. * * * * Pessimists in Paris and in London fully expect Herr Hitler to ask the former allies to return Germany the billions she has paid them in reparations. They base their theory on the fact that the reparations mere paid by Germany because she accepted the respon sibility of having started the last mar. Hitler has done away with that with a stroke of the pen ior of the voice in the present case-. Since Germany has refuted the war guilt admission signed by her previous rulers, the payments made to the allies were illegal and taken under false pretenses. Whether Hitler has so much sense of humor as to raise this question when his trick box becomes empty is a matter which we shall see m the future. Rumania has gone a step ahead of any other country regarding uni forms. The authorities in the town of Arad have just passed a city ordinance providing the registered beggars with a special uniform. The ordinance has a two-fold scope: It prevents the public from being molested by any other but the registered beggars and also provides them with clothing, thus doing away with the unpleasant rags which they wear on the street. DR. WILBER DAILEY DIES President’s Personal Dentist 25 Years Also Was Painter. NEW YORK. March 1 OP—Dr, Wilber M. Dailey, personal dentist to President and Mrs. Roosevelt for 25 years, died Saturday night at his home here. Born in Athen. N. Y., 68 years ago, he was a graduate of New York University. Dr. Dailey devoted much of his non professional time to landscape paint ing. and many of his northern New York studies received the approval of critics. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.. His widow, the former Cora I. Fletcher, and a son, Wilber M. Dailey, jr.. survive. ^REA^?EL^FO^| |EXTERNALLY CAUSED | PIMPLES I Relief comes fast for unsightly I I pimples, rashes, itch and tor- I 1 ment of eczema and other skin I I irritations. Start treatment I 1 tonight Ointment25c. Soap25c. I ciiticura r ' ~ i Headline Folk and What They Do Recall of Gen. Diohara May Ease Sino« Japanese Relations. BY LEMUEL F. PARTON. JAPAN'S recall of Lieut. Gen. Kenji Doihara, chubby, hawk eyed little ‘'Lawrence of Man churia," is regarded by knowing persons as the most convincing evi dence to date of an entire new deal in Sino-Japanese relations. For neiA ly 20 years the ubiquitous general has oren a urom in the paw of the Chinese lion, and if the new pre mier ha* extract ed it. things ought to be quiet er on the Asiatic front. One thing China holds against the general is the fact —it is generally held belief, at any rate — that he snatched their g*„. Kenji n«.h,r,. Emperor, Henry Pu Yi, to head the new synthetic State of Man ehukuo. But kidnaping their Em peror is just one item in the fat Chinese dossier of the general's tact less doings As the spearhead of Jap anese penetration on the mainland, he lias been deep in intrigue for many years, stirring mysterious demands for •'autonomy” wherever he goes. He has functioned as the principal military intelligence officer of the Jap anese Army in China. He seemed to be everywhere in China at once, fre quently in native dress, speaking Chi nese perfectly, always leaving trouble and dissension In his wake. He was a master of puppetry, manipulating multitudes of dissident Chmese war lords with invisible strings. He went underground about 22 years ago when he became a military at i tache at Peiping He won his spurs by a masterfully adroit bit of strategy ■ during the Chinese Rebellion, when he whispered a bunch of the Anfu war lords into furious assaults on each other. His power and dominion grew until 1935. when he came to the sur i face and began to talk. It was then that the Chinese began to call him “Ta-hua Wu-shih." which means, roughly, "much talk and not much happening " During the last year his remarks have been particularly pro vocative. Representative Alfred N. Phillips, jr., of Connecticut puts in a bill to rope and hog-tie the newspapers. He would restrain their freedom to criticize "any United States official.” When Mr. Phillips was elected Mayor of Stamford, Conn . at the age of 28, he said: "I don't believe it is my job to tell the people what they ought to have. The people don't want rulers. They don't want to be governed by some high and mighty committee who are certain in those 'best minds' of theirs that they know just what is good for the people and what isn’t. Government by the heart is rather more important, if anything, than government by the head.” What SHE TOLD WORN-OUT HUSBAND She could have reproached him for his hi* of temper—his "all in” com* Mm pia '1*. Bus Wisely she saw in his Si iJLphjt frequent cold*. h:s "fagged out.” "on edge" condition the very |iy_1 trouble she herself had whipped. w* Constipation! The JC very morning after f jw , taking NR (Na |f Vur'. 7 ture'a Remedy). I T as she advised, he 1 fc / felt like himself again — keenly. 1 ' alert, peppy, cheerful. NR—thef safe, dependable, all-vegetable laxative and corrective — worksgently.thoroughly.nat I urally Ttstimulatest heelim-l inative tract to complete, f regular function ing Non-habit forming Try a f 11lOBillQilB box tonight 25c • — at druggists. 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