The appointment of Solicitor General Stanley Reed to the Supreme Court gives President Roosevelt reasonable assurance that he can now carry out his program unhampered by constant judicial interference. The United States needs a high court that can adjust legal theory to economic reality in the face of rapidly changing conditions. We can no longer afford the cultural lag that has so long afflicted the judiciary.

Senator Vandenburg's comment that the nomination is excellent "in view of the circumstances" is a favorable reflection on the President's good judgment in selecting Reed. Mr. Roosevelt might have picked a senatorial progressive who has fought many political battles for the administration or be might have chosen a brilliant professor who has done much to reshape legal thinking. But such an appointee would inevitably have been scored as just a partisan agent or an impractical theorist. By appointing a lawyer who has won the admiration of administration critics, the President has accomplished his purpose without offending a large block of people whose confidence and cooperation are desirable.