Evening Star Newspaper, January 5, 1937, Page 9

Conservatives Agitate for " Amendment Seek Solution Which Opposes Nullification of Constitution. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. TRANGELY enough, agitation for amendments to the Federal Constitution to care for social reform are coming from what have hitherto been regarded as con- servative rather than radical mem- bers of Congress. This transposition has in it a deeper significance than appears on the surface. For, in truth, some of the radicals are perfectly willing to go on passing laws that are plainly unconsti- tutional, believ- § ing that until the United States Supreme Court finally gets a case the custom or governmental change will have been so firmly grooved as to make opposition later on less effective. As for the conservatives, they figure that circumventing the Constitution is & form of nullification that means 8 loss of respect for the Constitution itself. Senator Robinson, majority leader, has come out for a constitutional amendment on wages and hours. Senator Ashurst, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has pro- posed an amendment giving Con- gress the broad' power to regulate labor, industry and agriculture. Bankhead Adds Voice. Speaker Bankhead, Democrat, of the House of Representatives, indorses Senator Robinson's proposal and says of the Constitution-amending idea: “This 15 a long and torturous proc- ess, but if we are to meet the issue, and we must meet it, then it should be done head-on and not by trying to curb the powers of the court. “There are no doubt many Demo- crats in the House opposed to chang- ing the Constitution to achieve this goal, o it is quite likely that if the question does come up it will not be made a party issue.” Perhaps the most striking state- ment on the subject of amendment or circumvention of the Constitution has been made by William Lloyd Garrison, ardent New Dealer, former chairman of the National Labor Re- lations Board and now dean of the Law School of the University of Wis- consin and prominently mentioned as Gov. La Follette's choice as successor to Glenn Frank as president of that university. Garrison said in a pre- pared address before the American Political Science Association and the American Association for Labor Leg- islation: David Lawrence. “I believe that it is bad public policy | and beneath our dignity as a self- governing people to have to seek the objectives of these and other meas- ures (referring to recent laws de- clared unconstitutional) by round- about methods, tongue-in-check, in- sincere preambles and patchedup, sec- ond-best makeshifts which we hope will somehow get by the courts .. . Would Develop Power. “1 believe that we should equip our- selves with power to develop policies @s need arises, and that we are taking unnecessary chances when we resign ourselves to fatalistically criticising particular decisions and hoping that a chastened court may some day reverse them " ‘This view is diametrically opposed to the view of those in the Roosevelt administration who think there's noth- ing wrong with present constitutional powers but only with the viewpoint of & majority of the Supreme Court. ‘Their theory is not to bother with amendments but to wait till vacancies in the court can be filled by judges whose preconceived attitudes toward social and economic questions will in- sure their disregarding of precedent or at least interpreting precedent in ways that conform to the views of the present majority of Congress on social legislation. It may come to pass, therefore, that the conservative side of the argument will be to insist on constitutional amendments, believing that it is far better to have such a question, for example, as the regulation of wages and hours passed upon by the people in a special referendum than to let the present Congress take a chance on ultimate Supreme Court action. Multiple Problems. ‘There are some questions which have been clearly outlawed by the courts and some that have not yet been passed upon, but may run afolll of the courts and when it comes to writing an all-embracing amendment to the Constitution and getting it through two-thirds of both houses, the question will be multiplied. Thus, for instance, a specific act of Congress deals only with the subject matter covered, but a constitutional amendment grants & permanent power to Congress to deal with all phases of a given question that may directly or indirectly arise in the future. It might be supposed that the Bouth, with its cheaply paid labor, would resist any amendment to the Pederal Constitution giving Congress the power to fix minimum wages or maximum hours, but not very much THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. News Behind the News Roosevelt’s Domination of Congress Forecasts Victory for His Ideas. BY PAUL MALLON. dominant undertone in this assembling Beventy-fifth Congress is awe of President Roosevelt’s popularity. It is the landslide Congress elected by him. He is its patron, its main constituent. There is no opposition worth mentioning. None is likely to de- velop this session. Traditional legislative ties have been severed. There are 105 Rep- resentatives who never saw the inside of the House before this week (roughly 25 per cent). About 100 more have served only two years and barely know theit way around. There are*12 new Senators and 38 more who have come in since 1933. Thus about 50 per cent of the entire Congress is in the lower grades. Prospects of legislation from this awed and unknown quantity may be glimpsed from the inside this opening day, as follows: Senator Robinson’s recently announced conversion to & constitu- tional amendment on wages and hours did not directly reflect presidential viewpoint. It was just part of Mr. BOY. Roosevelt's “talk-it-up” campaign. LIVER. The only orders issued so far are ,MNE:’?! for every one to air the problem. ‘What the masters are saying they want are these things: Mr. Roose= velt — “Something.” Robinson— “Constitutional amendment.” Sum= ners—“No constitutional amen ment.” Berry—“State N. R. A. etc. Gen. Johnson—"No State N. R. A’s,” but “Reconstructed Fed- eral Trade Commission.” Senator O’Mahoney—"Federal incorporation charters.” Senator Black—"Thirty-hour week.” Top presidential ad- viser—"No Federal charters” “No 30-hour week,” “No constitutional amendment.” All it adds up to is that the administration is whooping up discussion, possibly in indirect connection with the Lewis automo- bile strikes, and mot unmindful that the Supreme Court is shortly to decide what can be done by rendering an opinion in thg Wagner Labor Board case. The program will be mapped definitely after that decision. * ¥k * The only important monetary changes to be made this session will e in silver. Don't mention it in front of Treasury Secretary Morgenthau, but his silver pelicy increases excess reserves at & time when he is em- barked on a program of holding them down Actually, while he is paying interest. to keep gold out of excess reserves with his right hand, his left hand is maintaining a silver policy which increases the work of the right hand. What will be done is not yet clear. The bigwigs are close-lipped. They fear silver politicians. But Morgenthau, F. R. B. Chairman Eccles, and even Mr. Roosevelt, are supposed to:be agreed that silver just does not fit in now with what they are trying to do (Treasury General Counsel Oliphant dissenting). Other monetary policies will continue as they are. There will be no trouble about extending the stabilization fund and other gold authority. The old inflatior. bloc will jabber, but they know better than any one, since last November 3, tkat money is & dead subject politically. The coming neutrality law will put ‘mandatory war embargogs on credit, arms and travel on belligerent ships; will give the Presi- dent much wider discretionary power to embargo other products. This seems fairly certain mow, although details will cause a long fight. In the end, President Roosevelt will win. A special bill out- lawing the Cuse airplane shipments to Spain will be nfshed through, mostly for psychological effect to strengthen the President’s promo= tion campaign for his neutrality demands. The Southern Democrats in Congress are shouting for cushion amend- ments to the corporation profits tax law. to provide exemptions for debt- ridden concerns. Against them, under cover, are Morgenthau and his resolute counsel, Oliphant. They are determined not to amend their new tax law until it has been in operation a full year. A sharp clash is on, with the odds now favoring Morgenthau and Oliphant, because they are counting on ultimate support from NN COAT the big fellow. Therefore there is FOR YoU now no reason to expect that the current agitation for revision will be successful. * 'WHAT YOU SAY MISTER 7 * X X There is not much difference of opinion among the experts about the other things this Congress is likely to do ... The administration o of the social security act will be ~ 8. studied and changed, along cor- rective lines, but the purpose will not be altered (nor will the tax for this year) . . . Liberals within the Securities and Exchange Commission will agitate for investment trust legislation, but it will not pass this year . .. A modified Wagner housing bill will be passed to promote slum clearance. Presidential authority to make rectprocal trade agreements will be renewed, as will the R. F. C. . . . The subtle crop curtail- ment program being worked out by Agriculture Secretdty Wallace will be authorized along lines previously disclosed . . . the budget will be theoretically balanced, not by revenue, but by loan collections in the R. F. C. and elsewhere, but the effect will not be impressive for many reasons . . . relief prospects are unknown; P. W. A. uncertain. The Congress will be all-Roosevelt at the start, which means con- servative on money, liberal on labor, nationalistic in foreign affairzs. The President’s ability to control wiil wear off during the session, but prob- ably will carry him through without major upsets . . . Length of the ses- sion? No one can tell, because the agenda is in & disorderly state (new N. R. A. labor, war threats in Europe, etc). A July adjournment seems possible. (Copyright, 19”7‘) i' is no probability that such an applica- opposition has as yet come out of the southern members. As for the Republicans, on the other hand, it might be supposed that they would fight to the last ditch against the passage of constitutional amendments allowing Congress to fix minimum wages and maximum hours, but it would not be surprising if they helped such amendments get through both houses of Congress, so that the issues might be passed upon directly by the people within a specific time limit of seven years. Constitutional Doubts Furthered. Incidentally, the very fact that Con- gress adopts for submission to the people an amendment empowering both the States and the Federal Gov- ernment to regulate wages and hours will be taken to mean that immediate legislative proposals do not have con=- stitutional sanction. In this respect the pressure for constitutional amend- ments may become an offset to pres- sure for immediate legislation reviving the N. R. A. But even at this early date it looks as if returning members are going to press for an opportunity to vote on concrete proposals to amend the Con- stitution to meet demands for social legislation. Meanwhile the words of Andrew Jackson, hero of the Democratic party, may be cited in favor of amendment rather than circumvention, He said in a message to Congress: “We should recollect that that in-" strument (the Constitution) provides within itself the method of its amend- ment, and that there is, therefore, no excuse for the assumption of doubtful powers by the General Government. If those which are clearly granted shall be found incompetent to the ends of its creation, it can at any time apply for their enlargement; and there The Modern Hearing Aid Better hearing by means of vacuum tube amplification, crystal micro- phones and crystal headphones, with a patented induction tele- phone pickup as an added feature. Demonstration of this amazing instrument at KLOMAN INSTRUMENT CO. 911 19th N.W. Western Electric Audiphones and Service | tion, if founded on the public interest, will ever be refused ® * *. “The difficulty and supposed im- practicability of obtaining an amend- ment of the Constitution is, I firmly | believe, in a great degree unfounded. | The time has never yet been when the patriotism and intelligence of the American people were not fully equal to the greatest exigency, and it never will when the subject calling forth their interposition is plainly presented to them.” To the foregoing might be added the fact that the Democrats today ! control the legislatures of more than three-fourths of the States necessary | to ratify an amendment to the Federal Constitution. (Copyright, 1937.) q“}fl opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not necessarily The Star’s. Such opinions are presented in The Star’s effort to give all sides of questions of interest to its readers, although such opinions may be contradictory among themselves an: directly opposed to The Star’s. The Danger of Compulsion Mandatory Insurance May Lead to Other and Odious ' Regulation of Ideals. BY MARK SULLIVAN. N A dispatch some time ago deal- ing with the social security act, I said that the individual States could make changes in the old- age pension part of the social security law. This is not correct. The States can vary the unemployment insurance part of the law but not the old-age pension part. The ... old -age pension part stands as written by Con- gress, and is & changeable only 7 by Congress. The mistake .1 was not material, but I am glad to i- correct it because it gives me an opportunity tore- : peat the funda- mental point I made before. I cannot do better than repeat it more or less verbatim. It deals with one aspect of the.old-age insurance law. Superficially, it is & compara- tively unimportant aspect. But if this detail is kept as it now stands, and if it is not declared invalid by the Supreme Court, then America will have something which I think hardly any American would lose know- ingly and willingly. Let us admit, as nearly everybody does admit, that old-age insurance i5 desirable, either by a government system or by private ones. Admit, &5 most persons do, that it is desirable for the Government to provide this insurance to those who want the Gov- ernment to do it. Admit, as most persons do, that the present Federal act is a good groundwork and begin- ning (though, as a member of the Pederal Social Security Board, Vin- cent M. Miles says the act is not per- fect and “may be changed as experi= ence dictates”). Finally, let us admit, merely for the purpose of argument, that the details of the present Federal act are as they should be—with one exception. Compulsion Objectionable. The exception is this: The act com= pels every worker to whom it applies to take the insurance whether he needs it or not, whether he would prefer private insurance or not. The law compels each one to surrender 1 cent out of every dollar of his pay check (rising later to 3 cents). It is this compulsion that is ob- jectionable. The objection is not alone the compulsion that takes money from the worker whether he wants to give it or not. It is likely that practically all workers will want the Government insurance. It is likely there is much public good in requiring every person to be insured against oid age. Those who are not thus insured, and thereby become public dependents, are a charge to the rest of us. Hence the rest of us have some right to insist that each individual be insured, for the good of all. as well as for the good of the individual. Since many persons are prone to neglect insurance unless 1t is pressed upon them, there is much public good in making the pressure strong. Yet the pressure ought to stop short of absolute and universal com- pulsion. There are many who pro- vide their own old-age insurance in their own way. There are many who have long had insurance through pen- sion systems set up by private em- ployers, or benevolent or trade asso- ciations. There are many who have means and do not need the insurance. For these there should be immunity from compulsion. Principle at Stake. But the argument against compul- sion goes deeper than mere justice or convenience to the individuals who do not happen to need that which they are compelled to take. The ob- jection is one of principle. ‘To compel a man to take and pay for insurance whether he wants to or not and whether he needs it or not is a violation of the very basis of the American conception of society. It is & new extension of the power of Government to put compulsion upon the individual. And every American tradition calls out to us to resist such extension. Every sound American in- stinct tells us such extension is dan- gerous. How far America has gone Mark Sullivan. in tolerance of compulsion is {llus- trated by recalling the wartime law setting up insurance for soldiers. That was not compulsory. Though in accord with military tradition the soldier was compelled to bear arms, he was not compelled to accept in- surance. I hesitate to use the “entering ‘wedge” argument, but if we now sub- mit to taking an insurance we do not want, our submission may become a precedent from which later we may find ourselves required to take a re: ligion we do not want, a form of edu- cation we do not want, a peacetime military service we do not want, a surrender of habeas corpus, of free- dom of speech, of all the guaranties of the bill of rights in the Consti- tution. Oregon School Law Recalled. If this seems fantastic, if it seems to look too far ahead and too far afield, recall something that hap- pened in America in the very rceent past. In 1923, about the time the Ku Klux Klan was at its height, Oregon passed a law compelling every citizen, under® penalty of imprison- ment, to send his children to State public schools. He had to take the education the State provided whether he preferred another form of educa- tion or not. He would go to jail if he sent his children to the parochial schools of the Catholic or Lutheran or Episcopal church, all of which had ?chml.s in Oregon. He would go to ail if he sent his children to any non- sectarian school of the familiar type, of which there were some in Oregon. The law was later held unconstitu- tional by the Supreme Court. ‘The most conspicuous fact in the world today is the rapid spread of two conceptions of society and govern- ment, in both of which the funda- mental characteristic is compulsion of the individual to submit to the gov- ernment—dictation by the government in every area of life in which gov- ernment chooses to assert autocratic power. In both fascism and commu- nism the fundamental rule is that the individual has no freedom of choice, no rights which the government need respect. The aim is the “authorita- rian state,” the “totalitarian state.” The idea is uniformity—uniformity and, therefore, conformity. “Eternal Vigilance” Necessary. ‘The most solemn duty of Americans is to safeguard our own country from infection by this rapidly spreading conception of society and government. This infection, like those of disease, gets its foothold insidiously and be- comes a contagion before the victims are aware. The time to stop is at the first invasion. That “the price of lib- erty is eternal vigilance” is an Ameri- can axiom. One member of the Federal Security Board, Mr. Miles, says the law will need change and that “we approach the problem with an open mind; our sole purpose * * * {s to make America a better place in which to live.” ‘Will America be a better place if the totalitarian conception of zociety gets a foothold here? The social se- curity law already permits many ex- emptions; it exempts farm workers, domestic workers, employes of colleges, employes of the National Government, employes of State and city govern ments. Why not extend the exemp- tions to all who can show that their old-age insurance is arranged for in any satisfactory way? That would take from the law most of the sinister element of compulsion. It may be that only one man in 10,000 would want the exemption. But to exempt that one man is to save an important | American principle. (Copyright, 1937.) ACCOUNTANTS TO MEET International Society Forum to Install Tonight. Newly elected officers of the Inter- national Accountants’ Society Forum | will be installed at a dinner at the | Casa Nobile, 5347 Connecticut avenue, at 7:30 o'clock tonight. The officers are Nathan M. Lubar, president; Kenneth A. Keer, first vice | president; Miss C. Virginia Diedel, second vice presidént; Miss June Beckstead secretary, and A. J. Has- kett, treasurer. OUTSTANDING thirty-two ounc and eans BEER ¢ ALE Since 1875 these popular Brews have maintained their reputation for a satisfying taste and favor. .. uniformity and dependable quality. CHRISTIAN FEIGENSPAN BREWING CO. NEWARK, NEW JERSEY TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1937. We, the People New Deal Liberals Have Only to Wait for Left-of-the-Center Swing. BY JAY FRANKLIN. HE cries of anguish now rising from the New Deal liberals over Roosevelt's post-election “swing to the right” simply prove how short is our political memory. Roosevelt always stages a “swing to the right” after an election, which shows that the people favor more radical policies. During the Winter of 1932-3 he was talking about the economic crisis being over and other- wise soothing the palsied conservatives. After the “For God's sake, do something!” election of 1934, he announced the first of the series of baf- fling “breathing spells” for business. After the recent barbecue he has made noises like “an era of good feeling” and has shown growing interest in that good old-fashioned safety valve for reform: Foreign affairs. 1In 1933 and 1936, notwithstanding Rooseveltian reassurances, Congress, at his suggestion, enacted a considerable amount of important legislation. 2 ‘There i no reason to suppose that the coming session of Congress will act any differently today, in the light of the marching orders which the voters gave last November. * k% % ‘The curious contradiction be- tween Roosevelt's apparent desire to have everything calm and peace- ful after the votes are in the bag, and the uproarious laws his admin- istration later suggests, has led many conservatives to brand F. D. R. as “shifty,” “tricky,” “insincere” “unstable,” “unreliable,” etc., etc. They seem to believe that it is his duty to ignore his campaign pledges the moment the election is won, in order to mark time with Wall Street. . The explanation of the President’s conduct is far too simple to win general understanding from a@ public which has been stifled with slogans for years. Roosevelt regards himself as the President of all the people, as well as leader of the New Deal party. He is both the King and Mr. Baldwin, and there is no Mrs. Simpson. In the hour of victory, it is his presidential duty to reassure the beaten con- servatives that he will not ignore their legitimate interests or outrage their convictions. He is a conservative himself and would be only too happy if every one was feeling fine and dandy about things. He feels an obligation to calm the wild talk and soothe the flerce emotions of the electorate. He offers no miracles and does not want victors or vanquished to regard themselves as such. This presidential mood lasted until the moment when F. D. R., the New Deal boss, comes up against the political forces—as represented in Congress=~which are responsible for his presence in the White House. ‘Then he becomes sensitive to the responsibilities of party leadership and tries to give the people what they voted for. This often gives the impres- sion that he regards the presidency as a sort of counter poise, a force which goes conservative when radicalism is most evident, and turns radical when conservatism seems in the saddle. In this way he has been able to convert the “interregnum” be- tween election day and Congress into an integral part of his political program. For the purpose of the “breathing spells” is to reassure the conservatives at a time when it is beyond his power to embark on any new policies anyhow. If this also has the eflect of discouraging the liberals, it is just too bad. * % x % As 2 matter of fact, the liberals have have showed themselves to be clumsy winners. The wave of resignations which is crippling the adminis- tration is due not s0 much to their discouragement as to their odd belief that the campaign is over and the war is won. Offers of good jobs at high salaries in private business are hard to resist, especially in comparison with the insecure and underpaid “emer- gency” appointments under the New Deal. The President is responsible for this situation. He is a good Presi- dent “of all the people,” a shrewd party leader, but he is not a good administrator if he cannot held the men who helped shape his vic- torious political career. He is not a good administrator if he exposes his lieutenants to the intrigues, double-crosses, “palace” cliques and other risks of the political profession, when they simply desire to serve the people at his request. He is not a good administrator if he permits his administration to disband in the hour of victory, when other battles lie ahead of him. For the political processes of twentieth century America did not come to an end on November 3. There are other problems—many of them dangerous—which must be solved by political action. Roosevelt's “swing to the right” will come to an end. Then, when the moment comes to resume his course “a little to the left of center,” where will he find the liberal lieutenants to lead the young guard? Far too many of them will be placidly grazing in the long green pastures for Roosevelt to feel altogether comfortable when he marches against the remaining entrenchments of the “economic royalists.” (Copyright, 1937.) Senate Campaign Investigating Com- By the Associated Press. mittee yesterday that his sole gift dur- Alf M. Landon, 1936 Republican | ing the campaign was $1,000 to the Re- presidential nominee, reported to the | publican party. Landon's Gift $1,000. | uated Headline Folk Former Preacher Leads Organization of Auto BY LEMUEL F. PARTON. FORMER preacher leads the drive for organization of tis industry. He is Homer Martin, years ago to become a labor organizer. In this brief period, he has become of Automobile 5 f; Workers, at tne Missionary work in the West Bot- : Kansas City st.r- red his sympathy ‘, and caused him to leave the pule Baptist Church and get & job in Fisher Body plart Hemer Martin, and start organiz- rested several times, lost his employ- ment, did W. P. A. work, but became last April. From the first, he has been vigorously opposed to William Green archy,” and an eager champion of John Lewis’ “vertical” organization. sbundant roached black hair, be- spectacled and inclined to ministerial and vehement pleader for a “social philpsophy” in labor organization, ine chine production impel profound changes and adaptations. He has been a Communist, or that he preaches any- thing but sound organization which free men.” He sluices all the fervor of militant religious evangelism into They Do Workers. automobile workers in ths who left his Kansas City church two president of the International Union age of 35. & toms District of for the workers pit of the Leeds the Kansas City ing. He was ar- head of the union local and president and the old-line A. P. of L. “hier- He is tall, vigorous and athletic, with black in his dress. He is an earnest sisting that the complexities of ma- denounced as a “red,” but denies he is will “raise laborers to the status of his crusade. Seeking some oil for the lamps of Chinese darkness. this writer went down to Pell street and asked Sung Kee-Ling about what was going on over there. Mr. Sung, a merchant, is shrewd, informed and almost unfail- ingly accurate in figuring what comes next in China. He says T. V. Soong is pretty nearly the whole show over there, now that -| the kidnaping is over with, with appro- priate face-saving all around. Chiang Kai-shek will stay on as the chief military overlord, but reporting on and off to Dr. Soong. In 1880 Charles Jones Soong. a mess boy on the United States cutter Colfax, went ashore there, The sailors had taught him to make cord hammocks. The Chinese lad tramped up and down the State, selling them. He became a Christian, found influential friends and was grad- in theology from Vanderbilt University, previously having attended Trinity College, now Duke In China he was an English teacher and founded a Methodist Episcopal Church. He founded his fortune printing Bibles and with his shrewd business aptitude steadily gathered wealth. He jointed Sun Yat-sen in the 1911 revolution. Dr. T. V. Soong, Harvard law grade uate and former finance minister, is his eldest son. Dr. Soong married the (Copyright, 1937.)