Mr. Roosevelt's Nominee When, as is expected, Congress in Washington
goes into recess at the end of this week, after an unusually prolonged session, it will have the satisfaction of knowing that it has defeated some of the administration's most cherished projects, checked Mr. Roosevelt's plan to " pack " the Supreme Court, caused a steep decline in the President's prestige, and watched the Conservative Democrats from the Southern States break away from his control. Against all this it can be small compensation to Mr. Roosevelt that at length the Senate has by a large majority approved his choice of Senator Hugo Lafayette Black to fill Justice van Devanter's vacant seat on the Supreme Court ; but he has largely himself to thank. His concentration on the Supreme Court issue has removed one obstacle there, but, on the other hand, it is Congress itself which now opposes his measures, and not the Supreme Court. Senator Black is to all appear- ance a purely political choice, for while he is one of Mr. Roosevelt's most faithful supporters and one of the promoters of the Black-Connery minimum wage Bill, no one has ever regarded him as an outstanding lawyer ; in the Supreme Court he can be depended on to uphold the constitutionality of Mr. Roosevelt's measures, and a Liberal majority is estab- lished in the Court in place of a Conservative.
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