Message to the Governor

It is an open secret that California's Governor Earl Warren, 62, would like a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. But the present nine justices are spry, sturdy fellows (Bill Douglas, 54, is a mountain climber; Hugo Black. 67, still plays tennis), and they like their jobs. The best hope for Governor Warren—and for California's Lieutenant Governor Goodwin J. Knight, who would like to have Warren's job—is that the oldest member of the court, Felix Frankfurter, 70, might soon retire.

Last week, while Governor Warren was vacationing in Europe, Reporter Clint Mosher of the San Francisco Examiner telephoned Justice Frankfurter at Heath, Mass., and asked if he planned to quit. "Now you must be very short of news to call me such a distance," replied Frankfurter, "although it is pleasant to hear your voice."

Mosher then mentioned the reports of Warren's succeeding him. "Oh, how stupid of me," said Frankfurter. "Of course, now I get it. Well, I suppose I may quit some day, unless I achieve immortality. But tell me this, are you on good terms with your governor?"

Mosher replied that he was.

Said Frankfurter: "Well, I want you to get this message to him. I know he is out of the country, but get it to him anyway. Tell him I would never want it on my conscience that I had kept him off the Supreme Court, if he wants to get on it. I don't know what you get out of that, but be sure the governor gets my message."