National Affairs: Courtesy Fight

Senatorial courtesy is the custom by which Presidential appointees "personally offensive or obnoxious" to Senators from their State are not confirmed by the Senate. Last week Virginia's tart old Carter Glass and his junior colleague, Harry Flood Byrd, found obnoxious the appointment of Judge Floyd Roberts of the Corporation Court of Bristol to a Federal District judgeship. Reason: he had "lent himself to a conspiracy," of which the other partners were Governor James H. Price and Franklin Roosevelt, to flout the Glass-Byrd patronage prerogative. The Judiciary Committee thumbs-downed Judge Roberts, 15-to-3. The Senate concurred, 72-to-9. Franklin Roosevelt promised to write Judge Roberts a right interesting letter before making another appointment. Snorted Carter Glass: "I think he'll send up a more objectionable one—if he can find it."