Evening Star Newspaper, February 24, 1935, Page 29

Editorial Page Part 2—8 Pages . TROUBLED TRUCE HEADS TOWARD EUROPEAN WAR Germany Not Appeased by Arms Equal- ity Offer at Price of Resignation of Her Desire for Unity. BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. ETWEEN the lines of the still recent German answer to the Anglo-French proposal for an air Locarno formulated dur- ing the Flandin-Laval visit to London, it is possible to read intima- tions which must have a very great importance for European affairs dur- ing the present year. The proposal itself, it will be recalled, was com- plicated, covering as it did a wide field of political and military sub- jects. Its main features were, how- ever, fairly simple. In the first place the Germans were | {nvited to join the other nations which had subscribed to the original Locarno | pacts of 1925—namely, Britain, | France, Italy and Belgium—in a new agreement by which an attack by air upon any of the four nations upon the | other three would automatically call for common action against the ag- gressor. In practice this was every- where recognized as meaning that if | Germany attacked either France or| Britain by air, the two countries would at once co-operate, while Italy would act as her interests determined at the moment, despite her acceptance of the obligation, since distance would militate against her action if air oper- ations were limited to the Rhine area. Second Provision. Secondly, Germany was to return to the League and to the Disarmament Conference and on that basis the re- strictions placed upon her right to rearm by the treaty of Versailles were to be removed. In their place there was to be set up a general agreement of all the powers to limit their arm- aments. Germany was thus to acquire the right to parity which she has long claimed, the British were to acquire that limitation of armaments which remote past. In order to achieve this purpose he is willing to make any rea- sonable concession to satisfy the Brit- ish and French in the West and he has made his non-aggression pact with Poland in the East. For a considerable time to come, for five years at least, Germany will not be prepared to make war with any first-class power on the Conti- nent. She is arming and she will con- tinue to arm until she has reached the point where she has equality with France. The idea that Hitler plans eventual war against France is hardly to be sustained by Hitler's own course since he came to power, although the French are not likely to forget what he said on this subject in his book. In any event he is sure in the next few years, as he has in the past two, | to propose Franco-German peace. Real Price of Peace. But the real price of peace between France and Germany is the with- drawal of French opposition to Aus- tro-German union and to the reali- zation of German purpose in the whole Danubian region. If France continues to stand with Italy in guaranteeing Austrian independence and with the little entente in assuring Czechoslovakia's existence, then, in the end, a new Franco-German war seems inevitable when Germany feels herself strong enough to strike. Mean- time Hitler will endeavor to accom- plish by other means than war this task of creating a greater Germany. To propose, as Berlin does, at least semi-officially, that the Austrian af- fair be settled by the direct vote of {the Austrian people presents a pro- gram which it is very hard for either | the British or the French to reject in | principle. For it would be manifestly an act of signal injustice to deny to | they have steadily worked for and, finally, the League Was to be restored as the center of Anglo-French-Ger- man diplomacy. In the third place, Germany was in- vited to join in the establishment of at least two new Locarnos, those of the East and of the South, one relating to the regions beyond the Vistula and the other to the basin of the Danube. 1In effect, the eastern pact was to bind the Germans to respect the status quo as far as Russia and the Baltic states were concerned, and the Danubian to renounce all purpose to interfere with | the independence of Austria or the | territorial integrity of Czechoslovakia. In both the Danubian and Vistulan Locarnos, too, the signers were to bind themselves to act together against any aggressor as did the signatories of the original Locarno applying to the West. Position in Berlin. i Now in the German response it is | plain that Berlin is prepared to enter | conversations only on the basis of the | recognition of the German right to | parity in armaments with France. ‘That, in itself, was always to be ex- pected because it was upon this issue that Hitler left the League. Beyond that it is clear that the Germans are | ready to subscribe to the extension of the original Locarno to apply to the | air and not irrevocably opposed to the return to Geneva. On the other hand, it is equally obvious that they are unwilling to consent either to an eastern or a Danubian Locarno. Their decision grows out of the fact that they have already made a 10-year non-aggres- sion pact with the Poles and entered into economic and political refations with Poland. The Poles, moreover, are opposed to the eastern Locarn partly because having a non-aggres sion pact with the Soviet Union as ‘well as with Germany they regard it as unnecessary, and partly because the relations between Paris and War- saw are no longer intimate and it is France which is pressing for the Eastern Locarno. { In the same fashion the Germans | make it quite obvious that they are | unwilling to foreclose the future in respect to Austria, and it is this fact which explains the emergence from Berlin of the suggestion that before eny Danubian Locarno is made there should be a plebiscite to determine the will of the Austrian people in the matter of union with the Reich. Em- boldened by the results of the Saar Dlebiscite, therefore, the Germans are willing now to have a similar test made in Austria. Caters to British. Collectively these details disclose the Germans ready to give any pos- sible guarantee in the matter of the status quo in the West, where France and Britain are directly concerned. From the outset of his political career Hitler has always sought some form of understanding with the British. ‘The events of the past two years have gradually forced upon him the reali- zation of the fact that it is impossible to separate France and Great Britain when any question of changing the status quo in the Rhine area is in- volved. All Hitler's strategy, therefore, must be directed toward getting France out of Central Europe. He knows that the British will not under any circum- stances consent to give military guarantees of Austrian independence. He is well aware that while the Brit- ish would undoubtedly move promptly to French support in case of a Ger- man attack upon France or Belgium by land or air not a British division wpuld move if German troops entered Austria. And he is just as certain that a German attack upon the Soviet Union would similarly fail to bring British armed intervention. On the other hand, the Reichs- fuehrer realizes that British policy and British public opinion are at the moment unfavorable to Germany be- cause of the events in Berlin and Vienna last Summer, and that if he is to escape diplomatic isolation he has to avoid rebuffing the present proposals which, although Anglo- French in origin, have come from London. Thus, on the point most important to the British, the air Lo- carno, he shows himself least uncom- promising. In the same fashion he does not slam the door against a re- turn to Geneva which is again a pro- 1 dear to the British mind, Nevertheless, Hitler is not going to abandon his major purpose—to bring about the union of Austria with Ger- many and a similar union of the Ger- men minorities of Czechoslovakia the Austrian people the exercise of that right of self-determination which | both allied nations recognized as the | | basis of the Paris peace settlement of | 1 1819. For the Italians, on the other ! hand, the proposal of a plebiscite con- | stitutes a direct threat and they are | | bound to oppose it bitterly and un- compromisingly. At the moment France, Italy, the Soviet Union and the nations of the little entente—Czechoslovakia, Ru- mania and Yugoslavia—seem likely to reject the proposal of an Austrian plebiscite, and in the face of this op- position the British are unlikely to lend it any official support. But pro- vided the Germans show themselves reasonable in the matter of the air Locarno as well as the return to the League and the Disarmament Con- ference British resentment of German demands in the matter of Austria is not likely to be very acute. The truth is, as most European | statesmen confess secretly, Austro- German union may be postponed, but | cannot be prevented. Nor do many | European statesmen believe that | Czechoslovakia can permanently | maintain itself outside the German orientation. What British and | French statesmen do recognize is that any attempt to bring about Austro- | German union now must precipitate a general war. As a consequence British policy supports the main- tenance of the status quo now, al- though recognizing that eventually EDITORIAL SECTION he Sunday Stad WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 24, 1935, If We Kill Foreign Trade What Would Happen if America Locks Itself Behind Closed Doors—Economist Analyzes Situation. BY NEIL CAROTHERS. Professor of Economics, Lehigh University. HERE lies before me on my I desk a book. I did not buy it. It was published and for- warded to me gratuitously, postpaid, and to many thou- sand others, by an American organi- zation. It is the seventh publication 1 have received from this group. The book is one long. sustained repetition of one proposal. the pro- itself up behind closed doors. shut out all foreign goods, give up export trade, and depend entirely on its own re- | sources. It is a plea for a “little America,” self-contained and self-de- pendent, without imports or exports. 1 have not looked into the matter, but I suspect that the book is printed on wood pulp from Canada and that | the cover is from Russia by way of | Ireland. It is part of a veritable ocean of propaganda that has flooded the country in the past two years. Before we look at the economics of the book, let us follow the author for just & moment as he goes about there must be revision. No nation wants war this year or next. The hour of a war of preven- tion has passed. Henceforth neither France nor Italy will move except in the face of German aggression. Con- trol of the military forces of the Reich has passed to the professional soldiers in Germany and they are certainly unlikely to invite the hazards of very doubtful battle for several years to come, that is, until they feel them- selves prepared. What we are in for, then, is a period of troubled truce. Crises are likely to arise and war scares are far from impossible. Struggle for Unity. The thing the American audience has to perceive, however, is that what is preparing in Europe is another struggle of another great people for unity. The French, Italian, Russian and British people among the great powers, like almost all of the smaller races, have by war achieved unity and attained frontiers which they accept as right and satisfactory. Out- side of Europe, too, all four peoples have empires which, save in the case of Italy, also fulfill national needs and aspirations. Only the German people lack unity in Europe and possessions abroad. This German people numbers nearly eighty millions, dwells in a compact block in the heart of Europe and with the collapse of the Hapsburg mon- archy has instinctively sought unity both for ethnic and economic reasons. That unity was forbidden by the treaty of Versailles and rendered un- attainable by the unilateral disarma- ment of the Reich. In offering Ger- many equality in armaments at the price of the resignation of her desire for unity, the British, French and Italians are striving to postpone if not prevent the collision that they see musi come if German purpose hold. Union Would Be Threat. If the Germans were able to at- tain unity, however, a new German Mitteleuropa would emerge capable of dominating all of the heart of Europe from the Baltic to the Black Sea and thus g & potential threat to the security of all the other great powers. That is why they stand to- gether diplomatically and militarily— militarily so far as the continental states are concerned, and diplo- matically in the case of all. Here is a combination of force too great for the Germans to challenge today. On the other hand, German purpose is equally compelling. So Europe is entering a new period, & period in which Hitler is manifestly seeking to follow the example of Bis- marck and to establish a new and wider union of the German tribes than that the iron chancellor brought about at the price of three wars be- tween 1864 and 1871. But, as I have tried to make clear, while the road the great powers are following leads eventually to conflict, the need and desire of all the prospective antag- onists at the present moment is for a truce. Only Americans, however, could confuse that truce with actual peace, for its true nature is to be measured not by the words of states- his daily activities. Tossing aside his blankets (Argentine wool), he arises from his bed (Italian walnut) and dons hosiery (from Australian sheep and Chinese silkworms), shoes (Ar- gentine leather tanned with Brazilian acids) and a tweed suit (from Glas- gow). After a simple breakfast (served on English china) which includes cof- fee (from Brazil) and sugar (from Cuba), he glances at a newspaper (from Canadian wood pulp), lights a cigar (from Cuba), puts on his hat posal that this country should lock | g DI o and overcoat (Australian) and takes his car (containing indispensable ma- terials from all over the world) and travels through the city (which could not have been built without hundreds of import materials) | since Alexander Hamilton. But it s | only in our time that organized propa- | ganda to convert the Nation to false economic propositions has been suc- cessful. The silver propaganda has been so successful that its costs have already been more than returned. The inflationists have not yet cashed in. The results of the “little America” drive are yet undetermined. Under normal conditions a healthy American | intelligence might be expected to hoot [ it out of hearing. But in this time of domestic and international dis- | tress, conditions are not normal. The | explanation of the “self-contained | America” movement is simple enough, but its obtaining a hearing among to his office, | informed people is purely a depression where he turns on a light (made with | phenomenon. foreign materials) and sits down to | There is a certain superficial plausi- his typewriter (made possible by im- | bility about the self-contained Amer- | port commodities) and pounds out an article to show that cheap lamp globes from Japan are undermining the very foundation stones of American life. This book would be funny if it were not so sinister. ing number of people. We have had propaganda for political purposes ica idea that gives it a peculiar appeal at this time. Since 1929 our export market for cotton has failed us, and i the whole South has suffered griev- | ously. Our export market for wheat It fools an astonish- | has vanished, and the grain States have suddenly realized that for 60 years they have been fooled by false economic arguments ‘about protection. Special Articles N.R.A.HELD ILL AND DYING DESPITE ANY EXTENSIONS Strong Tide Running Against Basic Principles Involved —States Reversing Attitude. BY MARK SULLIVAN. RESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S rec- ommendation that part of N. R. A. be renewed for two more year is likely to be adopted by Congress, but the action will not be for more than two years. And even though the renewal be for two years, Congress will take away much that is now in the act. It is further possible that some part of N. R. A, a comparatively slight part, may become permanent. As to most of N. R. A, however, the common judgment of Washington is that a strong tide is running against it, that some conditions have arisen which are taking the heart out of it, and that these conditions are likely to go far- | ther. In this article I confine myself to only one of the several influences working powerfully against N. R. A. To understand this factor, it is neces- sary to bear in mind that Congress cannot, under the Constitution, regu- late business that is done wholly inside the boundaries of one State. It can only regulate business that is done across State lines. As lawyers and Legislatures put it, Congress can only regulate “interstate” business; Con- gress cannot regulate “intrastate” bus- iness. The power of Congress in this re- spect is in the following words, Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution: “The Congress shall have power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States.” Doubt About “Commerce.” There is a question, which I do not cover here, about the word “com- merce,” a question whether the word “commerce” includes manufacturing. But in the present article I am only discussing the fact that Congress can only regulate business “among the States” and cannot regulate business done wholly inside the boundaries of any one State. What I am about to say on this point is, I think, important, and should interest many. For many small business men whose business is ®holly local, wholly within one State. have been under the impression that N. R. In their bitter distress they have turned to strange economic gods. Our export trade in automobiles and ma- chinery has collapsed. Our foreign markets for meat and lard and cot- ton cloth have declined. The nations of Europe that owe us war debts have repudiated them and defled us to, do anything about it. Even worse, the huge private loans we made to for- eigners to enable them to buy our | goods have turned out in large meas- |ure to be bad debts. Finally, many | nations, like Japan, have depreciated | their currencies to the injury of our trade, while nearly all of them have | tariffs, embargoes, quotas, | set up | what not that have disturbed and i restricted what is left of our foreign | export trade. Why not abandon the whole sorry mess, put up a still higher tariff wall, quit trying to sell to the whole lot of tricky and undepend- able foreigners and become a happy, “self-contained” American family, (Continued on Sixth Page.) 4,500,000-Acre Playground Roosevelt’s Gigantic National and State Park Conservation-Recreation Program Taking Shape. HE machinery for carrying out President Roosevelt's gigantic national and State park con- servation-recreation movement is about ready to swing into high gear. | Conceived by the Chief Executive shortly after he took office, almost two | years ago, the program envisions the | ultimate preservation of millions of acres of land which might otherwise fall to private exploitation, to the det- riment of future generations of Amer- icans. How vast and comprehensive 2 scheme might be undertaken by the administration was shown in the No- vember report of the National Re- | sources Board, which detailed a pro- gram for the conservation of all our natural resources which might go to waste unless some action is taken by either Federal or State governments. Nine Members on Board. This board of nine members, cre- ated by executive order last June, has for its purpose the preparation | and presentation to the President of | “a program and plan of procedure | dealing with the physical, social, gov- | ernmental and economic aspects of | public policies for the development | and use of land, water and other| national resources, and such related subjects as may from time to time be referred to it by the President.” But even before creation of the Na- tional Resources Board.the President had taken the first step in his great land conservation movement. In April, 1933, he obtained congressional authorization for establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps. And in the scant two years since that army of young forest workers was recruited from.the ranks of the unemployed, the Chief Executive's program has gathered such tremen- dous momentum that already the Na- tion’s State park areas have been in- creased by 567,873 acres. ‘When it was organized the C. C. C. had only 105 companies assigned to State park projects in 26 common- wealths. Today there are 348 com- panies employed on projects in 41 States. 191,024 Acres Added to Parks. Even since publication of the Na- tional Resources Board's report, peo- ple have become so awakened to the fundamental facts of conservation and recreation that 191,024 acres have been added to park areas, lifting the country’s State park acreage to 4,500,- 000, or an area almost as large as with the Reich. His conception of his |men, but by the expenditures-upon | Massachusetts. Of this, 3,500,000 are destiny is that he has a divine mis- ermaments. And, unhappily on that | under E. C. W. development. sion to reunite the German people and to restore to them the greatness which belonged to the Kaisers of & “ barometer, the needle continues to point to “storm.” (Copyright. 19353 4 It is the President’s desire to de- velop these vast stretches of park Jand for the benefit and recreation of 3 I A TYPICAL COMPANY STREET OF A C. C. C. CAMP. MOUNT SPO- KANE CAMP, S. P., No. 10, FORT GEORGE WRIGHT, WASH. all the people, and his program and the plans of executivec of 41 States will be co-ordinated at a conference here this week between the State and Federal officials. The first session of the conference will. be held tomorrow morning at the Interior Department auditorium, when Secretary of Interior Ickes, Emergency Conservation Work Direc- tor Robert Fechner, National Park Service Director Arno B. Cammerer and Charles W. Eliot, 2d, National Resources Board executive officer, will k. w‘el'ahase four officials, who have the responsibility of directing the New pected Deal’s ambitious program for properly developing the Nation's land re- sources, will outline the Federal pro- gram snd point out wheren the ’» States can co-operate. Thereafter sessions will be held twice daily, morning _and afternoon, in the La Fayette Hotel. The significance of the conference is that the conservation-recreation movement, initiated with the birth of the Civilian Conservation Corps, has reached a stage where Uncle Sam wants to sit down with State repre- sentatives and lay broad plans for the future development of America’s playgrounds and recreation spots—its parks. Now is the magic hour for such a conference. Congress soon is ex- to extend and expand the C. C. C, and the Federal Govern- ment wants to know just what can be expected of the various State govern- ments, for the C. C. C. can furnish the ‘manpower to carry out whatever pro- grams are decided upon. And the State officials—Governors, legislators, park authorities and con- servation officers—as well as the cit- izens themselves—are interested in- tensely, according to National Park Service reports, in what the Federal Government is planning and in what way they can help. They want ex- pert advice on how to go ahead. So, taking the role it has always filled so well, the National Park Service is explaining its park and rec- reation standards and influence to the States. This week’s conference is concerned primarily with the recre- ational phases of the plans of the National Resources Board. Recrea- tional planning blends well with the land-use policies as defined by the board, by President Roosevelt and by the Interior and Agriculture Depart- ments. States Co-operating. The representatives of the 41 States who will take part in the con- ferences are co-operating with State Park Service and the offices of E. C. W. Director Fechner in the program to develop State parks with C. C. C. labor. Also, they are co- operating with the Recreational Dem- onstration Projects Division of the National Park Service and Fechner in the development of recreationel areas on submarginal lands which, under the F. E. R. A. land program, are being retired from agriculture for conservation and recreation. licenses, subsidized domestic produc- | tion schemes, valorization plans and | Park Division officials of the National | A. could “crack down” on them. Act- ually N. R. A. has cracked down on many of them. The small business men have submitted because they were unfamiliar with the law, and also because small business men have not the resources to fight N. R. A., or fight the Government of the United States as that Government is now adminis- tered. To many small business men, the mere cost of a trip to Washing- ton is a considerable item, to say noth- ing of taking witnesses and employing a lawyer. Such business men, N. R. A. has been able to intimidate, in many cases. I think it is fair to say that intimidation, what Mr. Walter istic attacks on private business.” is an essential feature not only of N. R. A. but of the New Deal as a whole. Knew Congress Limits. In the beginning the New Deal lawyers, who in part wrote the orig- inal N. R. A. statute, knew as well as any one else that Congress cannot regulate business done wholly within a State. They knew also, however, that they could not make N. R. A. Iast unless it could cover both kinds of business, If business done across State lines is subject to N. R. A. restrictions, while small local busi- ness is not, it is difficult or impossible to make N. R. A. stick. This condi- tion existed in the beginning and it exists now. Because it exists, and because 1 “intrastate” business is becoming aware of its immunity, is one of the reasons why many think that N. R. A. is on its way out. In the beginning those who wrote the N. R. A. statute tried to overcome this handicap by ingenious language. They wrote into the law such phrases as “any transaction in or affecting interstate commerce.” This was on the theory, I presume, that they could argue before the courts that “intr: state” business affects “interstate business. The courts, however, have not “fallen for” this ingenuity. The courts, indeed, have been pretty rough with N. R. A. altogether. Much rougher than the public knows, for the N. R. A. publicity organization has given out many accounts of law- observed them giving out any ac- counts of cases in which the courts have indignantly rejected suits at- tempted by N. R. A, and vigorously “jumped on” N. R. A. lawyers. Presently N. R. A. realized it could not control business done wholly within a State. Thereupon, some new tactics were adopted, one of which succeeded for a short distance, but now seems collapsing. This was the effort to have the States enact local duplicates of N. R. A. Urged State Statutes. Gen. Johnson, when he was still head of N. R, A, started a campaign to get all the States to enact “baby” N. R. A, statutes. The plan was that each State Legislature should enact a duplicate of the national N. R. A. statute that Congress had adopted. The two statutes combined would catch all business. The national N. R. A. would catch businesses that cross State lines; the baby N. R. A’s would catch the local businesses that are conducted inside the boundaries To Conrad L. Wirth goes much of the credit for what has been accom- plished thus far in carrying out the correlated of conservation and recreation. The assistant direc- tor of the National Park Service h: direct charge of the State Park Divi sion and the Recreational Demon- stration Projects Division, and he will play a major part in the forthcoming conference. Up to now the State officials have been concerned chiefly with develop- ing parks to supplement the national parks with a system of similar and more numerous recreation areas. When the sessions end next Thursday it is expected they will carry back home with them more comprehensive plans_for the furtherance of Presi- dent Roosevelt’s program to make the United Seytes a better place in which to live. of each State. Gen. Johnson’s campaign, begun in those days of the early fine ferver of N. R. A. and the evangelical pub- licity about the Blue Eagle, succeeded in persuading 14 States out of the 48 to adopt baby N. R. A.’s. The 14 were: California, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Wash- ington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. By the time these 14 had adopted baby N. R. A.’s the blue eagle had be- gun to lose glamour; the momentum stopped. Some 44 Legislatures, I think, are now in session—but no ad- ditional State, so far as I am in- formed, has adopted a baby N. R. A. In some of the Legislatures now in session baby N. R. A. laws have been introduced, but none, I think, has been enacted. If I am right about Largely it is because of these men than the acreage of the State parks has been increased so greatly in re- cent years. Their interest in the Prsident’s land program and the emergency conservation work pro- gram has brought about these scqui- (Continued on Third Page.) A this, it is significant, for a great ma- jority of those Legislatures now in session are controlled by Democrats. More significant yet, one State, New Jersey, has ended its Kk N. R. A. has thrown the Blue Eagle out of the window. That is ominous. It bears an analogy to what hap- Lippmann calls “punitive and terror- | suits N. R. A. has won, but I have not | pened to another institution which When national prohibition and the prohibition forces invented the same started a campaign to have all the | hibition began, just as reaction | Legislature, under the leadership cf the beginnings of the end of national So, I suspect, is New Jersey's end- | N.R.A'sattempt to have the States | has ended the baby jflush of N. R. A. success. In addition, 1 think, if it goes farther. | York Judge MacNaught of the Supreme |the New York State baby N. R. A. { final, for what is called in New York | Division, and above that a Court of The case was between the New York dealer. The code authority, acting | below which no coal dealer could sell. below the code’s “floor price.” He |an intrastate business. On this {Naught held that the independent Emnclory to him." | cause it is a natural resource, is one be regulated by the Government. But not by means of an N. R. A. which Judge MacNaught held that the na- dealer in Binghamton, because the N. R. A, of New York State, the | Shackno law is unconstitutional. authority of any industry writes a a certified copy of this code is filed { the code becomes & law of the State: recently was meant to be for all time, but turned out to have a short life Volstead law were adopted by Con- gress, the Anti-Saloon League and the strategy that was later copiea by Gen. Johnson with N. R. A. They States pass baby Volstead laws. Prac- | tically all did so. (All except Mary- |land and Massachusetts.) Then reaction against national pro- against N. R. A. is now under way. On May 4, 1923, the New York State | Gov. Alfred E. Smith. repealed fits | baby Volstead act. That was one of prohibition. New Influence Arises. ing of its baby N. R. A. a beginning of the end of N. R. A. | adopt baby N. R. A. statutes came to an end with 14 States; and one of | those, New Jersey, | N. R. A, which it adopted in the early | another influence has arisen. stronely destructive to N. R. A—fatal to i | The courts have been finding the | baby N. R. A. statutes invalid. In New | Court handed down in Broome County !a decision holding unconstitutional known as the “Shackno law.” | Judge MacNaught's decision is not | the “Supreme Court” is not the court i of last appeal; there is an Appellate Appeals. But Judge MacNaught's opinion is strongly convincing. State N. R. A. code authority for the solid fuel industry, and a small coal under the State baby N. R. A, the | Shackno law, had fixed a “floor price.” An independent dealer in Bingham- | ton. defying the code authorfy, sold | bought his coal within the State and | sold it within the State—it was purely | ground (as well as on the ground of | unconstitutionality), ~ Judge Mac- | dealer could “sell his own merchan- | dise at a price fixed by him and sat- Regulation Another Matter. | (I should say that I think coal. be- commodity which, together with other natural resource industries, might weil of course, the regulation. if and when done, must be in a proper way: and | puts the same restriction upon every | commodity whatever.) tional N. R. A. could not touch the business of the independent coal business was wholly within one State. Then the judge said that the babv Shackno law, could not touch the Binghamton coal dealer because the ‘The Shackno law undertakes, in ef- fect, to operate in this way: Any code icode. That is, the leading members |of the industry write the code. Then with the State government at Albany. | By this act, so the Shackno law sa: under it men may be haled into | criminal court. | Not so, says Judge MacNaught. This, says Judge MacNaught, is no way to write a law. He says that laws cannot be written by groups of pri- 1vnte citizens. Laws, especially erim- ! inal laws, can only be written by the Legislature. The Legislature “may not | delegate the power to create crimes.” Innovations Frgwned Upon. Judge MacNaught In some sentences of his opinion deals sternly with some of the innovations brought by the | New Deal. “Legislative declarations of emer- gency are relied upon to justify star- | tling innovations and to sustain un- usual changes in our constitutional | system of government. ® * * The leg- islative power of the Congress has been abdicated more fully than in any previous enactments. If such abdi- | cation of legislative power is within | the authority of the Congress then a | co-ordinate branch of the Federal | Government created by the Constitu- |tion may voluntarily destroy itself | and disrupt the American system of government.” To read Judge MacNaught's decision is to feel pleasure at recognizing how much power of analysis, how much exactness of thought and precision in the use of words, together with knowl« edge of the law and regard for the Constitution, are to be found fre- quently among the several thousand men who sit on the local, State and county benches throughout the coun- try. From considerable knowledge of them I am tempted to think that these local judges, a hundred or so of them in each State, many of them little known outside of their own counties, compose, on the whole, perhaps the ffinest one group of men in the country. (The impression made by one of them, Judge Thomas W. Trenchard, a rural judge in a county seat town of some 3,000 people, who came to public notice in the Lindbergh murder-kidnaping case, is fresh in the public mind.) These country judges may save America, even though Congress for a while abdicated. | New Trade Ties Sought By France and Russia PARIS (P)—Republican France and Soviet Russia are trying to re- inforce their growing political friend- ship with commercial ties. Representatives of the two coun- tries are devoting themselves now to concluding a new trade agreement to local | yucceed the one which expired the - end of last month after » periment.