Evening Star Newspaper, January 7, 1937, Page 11

Message Puts Issue Before People May Crystalize Thought on Changes by Amendments. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. RESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S mes- sage to Congress will long be remembered as projecting into sharp focus a hitherto vague point in the American constitutional system. It involves this fundamental ques- tion: At what point in the evolution of law should a constitutional amend- ment be submitted to the people so that Congress may acquire an extension of its existing powers and at what point should the judi- cial branch of the Government un- dertake by flex- ible or “liberal” interpretations of the present Con- stitution to in- crease the powers of the National Government, thus making unnecessary any constitu- tional amendments to achieve the same goal? The first looks toward the accept- ance of constitutional precedents as final and gives the American people the specific opportunity to say whether they want governmental powers over their affairs extended. The second looks to amendment by judicial inter- pretation. Some critics, like Donald Richberg, call it judicial “usurpation” because of the assumption that any interpretation which goes beyond the original words is, in a sense, & use of the amending power. Two Main Reactions. From a legal viewpoint there will be many who will be shocked at the plain warning in the President’s message that he expects the Supreme Court to work in harmony with the political branches of the Government. But from a practical standpoint, or rather from the aspect of simple ex- pediency in a crisis, there will be many who will say the President has the right approach, if by his message it can be inferred that he does not want the court to try to uphold what are now conceded to be loosely written laws but to sustain laws that do con- form to precedent, however wise or unwise they may be from an economic aspect. The key to Mr. Roosevelt's thinking must be looked for in this all- important sentence in the concluding portion of his address: “The judicial branch also is asked by the people to do its part in mak- ing Democracy successful. We do not ask the court to call non-existent powers into being, but we have a right to expect that conceded powers or those legitimately implied shall be made effective instruments for the common good.” It is unfortunate that Mr. Roose- velt dwelt so much on the N. R. A. in the same speech that discussed the | ‘broad questions of judicial interpre- tation. For it so happens that nine justices of the Supreme Court, liberals and conservatives . alike, agreed that to validate the N. R. A. meant to bring “non-existent powers into being,” and that there was nowhere to be found any ‘“conceded powers” or words in the constitutional precedents which “legitimately im- plied” any such exercise of authority | as was attempted in the N. R. A. | Plainly, the present membership of the Supreme Court said unanimously in the N. R. A. case that it was not David Lawrence. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 1937. News Behind the News Roosevelt Expected to Compromise on Neutrality Demands. BY PAUL MALLON. NE thing to keep in mind about President Roosevelt's message to Congress is that he always asks for more than he .expects to get. This is the cardinal inner principle of his dealing with Congress, even one in such awe of him as this one. He will compromise for much less than he has indicated he wants, particularly on neutrality. Three administration drafting agencies have been at work on the neufrality bill with such a possibility in mind. All worked with a copy of the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the Chaco arms embargo before them. They tried to concoct as hot a bill as possible, from the presidential standpoint, but their soup will not be eaten as hot as it is being cooked. Mr. Roosevelt put the state of the Nation before a congressional audience which has changed a lot since he last addressed it. Last session the elder legislators went off in a corner to weep collectively because he barely mentioned a constitutional amendment. Now they are’ freely making surmises that thi§ might be the best way to effect minimum wages and maximum hours. Several things have developed to reopen their minds. The election is over, for one thing. No politician need be cagey this year. Such talk likewise keeps the wage-hour issue boiling, and the steam may be no- ticed by the Supreme Court justices, who are shortly to render controll- ing decisions. However, there is another, deeper reason. The half dozen I who do the thinking for Congress have been more worried than they would publicly confess about the auto strike. They wonder what continu- ance of that method of jmproving hours and wages will mean to the recovery of the country. There will be a lot more thinking before the final decision is made. * x k% Those who know something of the Vatican situation from the inside believe the next Pope will be Cardinal Fumasoni Biondi. At least many American authorities are convinced he should be. No one else in line has had such world-wide experience. He was in the United States for 10 years until 1933. Earlier he was stationed in England and France, and was apostolic delegate to India and Japan. Now he is “the Red Pope,” the unoficial title applied to the head of the Vatican department Jor pvmqation of the faith. He has charge of all mis:ionary activity in Africa, Asia and elsewhere, His family is one o] two which are truly original Roman. His choice would undoubtedly be popular throughout the world. not only because he is better known than most of the eligibles, but because his experience best fits him for the international peace task ahead. * % X % It will not be advertised now, but the expected retirement of Presidential Press Secretary Steve Early probably will he delayed six months or a year. A third secretary will be chosen to fill Louis Howe's place first. Those who know say that Early, like Securities and Exchange Chairman Landis, put loyalty above personal desire. The rumor is that he had three good offers, two in the newspaper business, but has turned them all down definitely within the past few days. Thereby hang two tales. One is the devotion of the old Roosevelt crowd to him personally. They seem to have a more respectful attach- > ment to him than a dutiful son ;’flco"g, owes a father. The other story Howe concerns the dozens of minor officials who have been leaving the Government since election to go into private business, some of them not being particularly choosey about where they go. Some authorities were amazed to note the friendly gesture of Mexico toward the United States neutrality program. They knew something was wrong somewhere. In view of Mexico's proximity to the Spanish government, the inner consensus seems to be that Mexico is expecting some internal trouble of her own shortly. Dissatisfied elements are working up quietly but strongly toward revolution. The most significant point about that is the Merican army rifle is the same as the United States and uses the same ammuni- tion. They may need some before long. * kX % Mr. Roosevelt has not lost his sense of humor. He greeted newsmen the other day with the observation: “You people have come to the wrong end of Pennsylvania Avenue for news. You should go to the Capitol.” At his side at that moment was Chairman Pittman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who had come down from the Capitol to get the President's neutrality instructions, He knew where to go to get the news. ‘The fact is, as every member of Congress here knows, Congress was never less important. (Copyright, 1937.) Retired Professor Dies. Iturbi Ignores Smash-up. LOGANSPORT, Ind, January 7, ROCHESTER, N. Y. January 7| (P)—Prof. Roland E. Merritt, 73. (P —Undaunted by an automobile ac- | former head of English departments | cident, the third he has experienced, THS opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not necessarily The Star’s. Such opinions are presented in The Star’s eflort to give all sides of questions of interest to its readers themselves an although such opinions may be contradictory a: J dtrcctlyogppwed to g‘ha Star’s. b Background of the Strikes Lewis Steps Upon the Stage at Precise Critical Moment. BY MARK SULLIVAN. automobile strike can best be understood by reciting some of the steps and conditions that led up to it. ‘The first requisite for understanding the whole subject of labor organization is to realize that the organizing and leading of labor . unions is an oc- ?‘f” cupation, a ca- | reer. As such it 3§ is entitled to as much right to 3 function as many other careers that have risen up un- ** der the capitalist system. Aman or organization which can bring about higher Wwages or benefits ‘i for a group of workers is as en- titled to compen- sation, and is to be judged by the same standards, as classes of middle men in many fields. Practically never does it happen that a group of workers in a plant, by some kind of spontaneous common impulse, come together and decide to strike or take other common action. Rarely does it happen that some one workman in & plant, wholly of his own initiative, calls a meeting of the workers and organizes them into s union. Almost always the initiative comes from outside, from some career organizer. He, or two or three of him, comes into town from outside— usually he is sent by some headquar- ters to which he is attached, at Wash- ington or elsewhere, which pays his salary. Mark Sullivan. Key Men Aid Cause. ‘The organizers pick out a few among the workers who have the right kind of personality and would be good key men. To these the organizers hold out promises of office in the union about to be formed. To all the work- ers the organizers say that if the workers will let them organize a union they will bring about higher wages and other better comditions. The work- ers will be obliged to pay dues to the union, but the dues will be small com- pared to the advantages. Part of the technique occasionally used to stimu- late the forming of a union is to stir up feeling against the employer. Up until a few years ago, practically all the organizing and leading of labor was in the hands of the American Federation of Labor. It had been in existence some 50 years. It had done well for labor and at the same time acquired the respect of much of indus- try. It had developed what was gen- erally regarded as the best methods, organization and leadership. There was enacted, first in N. R. A. and later in the Wagner law, an act which undertook to make collective bar- gaining universal and, in effect, com- pulsory, on both workers and em- ployers. There is some doubt whether collective bargaining can be made compulsory, either in law or in nature. However that may be, while the law remains in effect it makes it in a sense necessary for all workers to join unions. Certainly the Wagner act makes it imperative for all work- ers to be bound by the unions set up in the plants in which they work. Obviously this greatly increased the fleld for supplying organization and leadership to workers. So to speak, the Wagner act increased the number of “sales prospects” to take in the entire body of labor in the country. The opportunity was taken advantage of by the American Fed- eration of Labor. It increased its stafl of organizers and otherwise pro- ceeded to develop the new field. The heads of the A. F. of L, however, were not as active as some of the subordinates felt they ought to be. Lewis Broadens Actlvity. One important subordinate in the A. F. of L. was an aggressive per- sonality, John L. Lewis, head of the mine workers, one of the largest units | within the American Federation. | Lewis began a rebellion against the American Federation officials. Lewis set up, partly within the old | federation and partly outside, a new | institution under the name Committee on Industrial Organization, abbre- viated to “C. I. O.” He also practiced | & technique different from that of | the old federation. He would or- ganize all the workers in each plant lmd industry, from office boy to skilled mechanic, into one union. The ‘old federation technique had been to Jorglnlu by crafts. That is, all the | machinists in the whole country are | in one union, all the electrical work- | ers in another, and so on. Under the | old federation plan, one industrial | plant might contain several different | branch unions of different kinds of | workers. Under the Lewis plan, all | the workers in one plant would be | in one union. Lewis, like all insurgents and in- novators, had to be aggressive. He had to be aggressive in behalf of labor, truculent toward employer and | spectacular before the eyes of the | public. He is adapted to the role, | is by nature ambitious and forceful, can be ruthless when ruthlessness will | serve his purpose and has a flair| for emotional oratory and for| publicity. Lewis, as part of his | strategy, undertook to put President | Roosevelt under obligations to him. both for organizing and leading unions i and also for maintaining satisfactory | ;l:n::‘ror}:gy Ranood“::;:sp:;uo{lhl:y ;‘::: relations with employers. Many at- | paign and his miners' union con- :;fl'l’" to ‘:: up f;"lll 1:?"‘""‘0!“ ;gf | tributed some $400,000 to the Roose- e organizing and leading of labor hed fiteat 4 velt campaign fund. The American Federation of Labor, Attacks Motors. with much while practically alone in the field, | Lewis, attendant We, the People Cotton Tenancy Situation in Deep South Is Held Most Serious of Our Present Problems. BY JAY FRANKLIN, most important single problem we Americans can tackle ‘n 1937 is the cotton tenancy situation in the deep South. Tenancy is & Nation-wide problem, and there is no reason for any section to feel complacent. But the Cotton Belt is where millions of Americans—white and black—are living as economic coolies. -it' has been described by ezperts as “the slum of America,” a breeding house of disease, {gnorance and social savagery. There is where Huey Long found his followers. There is where social upheaval on the order of the “Mezican revolution” is possible, most of all now that Leon Trotzky is making his headquarters below the Rio Grande. There is where human beings are condemned to live under conditions which we would scorn for our, dogs. The easy Northern way is to breed a monstrosity, describe it, and then condemn it. Thus, the Yankees first sold the South its slaves, then Harriet Beecher Stowe to write “Uncle Tom's Cabin” and then fought the Civil War. Today, the Northern “radicals” wax indignant about the conditions in the Delta— and conditions are terrifying—for- getting that the North made the South what it is today. North- erners moved in after the Civil War, got title to Southern natural resources, railroads and lands. ‘The banks moved in and the tariff choked down and the South has been writhing in a social and economic agony ever since. The North helped create this problem and the North must help pay to solve it. * k% The easy Northern way is to condemn the planters and to recall the bloodhounds and Simon Legrees to the public mind. Yet the planters are themselves slaves of the system which the North created and forced upon the cotton belt. Very few people deliberately torture or oppress their fellow men unless it is the only way-of survival. The economic dog fight in Dixie finds the planters bearing down on the tenants, but it also finds the banks bearing down on the planters and the whole system the pris- oners of tariff and financial monopolies which makes economic cruelty a necessity. = The W. P. A., with the help of a staff of Southern investigators, has recently completed a remarkable study, entitled “Landlord and Tenant on the Cotton Plantation.” This book shows, among other things, that the average planter receives only interest on his invest- ment plus $855 a year for his labor in managing the plantation. His i3 a full-time job. The manager of a button factory or the operator of a soft-drink stand would feel outraged by such a wage —a bit over $2 a day. This is the complete reputation of the slovenly Northern theory that Southern planters are sadistic beats who love to lynch and cheat and bully. They are close to ruin themselves, and Jor this the North is to blame. * * % % Living standards fer the tenants are low in consequence of this system. Only 3 houses in 10 are screened, only 1 house in 20 has ade- quate sanitation. The disease rate is appallingly high. The death rate from typhoid and paratyphoid is three times as high in the cotton States as in all the other States put together; the death rate from pellagra—a disease of starvation—is eight times as high in the cotton South as else- where in America; malaria is also eight times as high in mortality. The facts—the hard, cold, unlovely sta- tistical facts—blow up those lovely white pillars on the plantation porch and those jolly Negroes sing- ing in their banjos which Holly- wood and the stage put forward as typically Southern. And the facts are assembled, analyzed and pre- sented by Soulherners. No Har- riet Beecher Stowe is involved. ‘The problem is a tremendous one. It must be handled boldly and on a big scale. Senator Bankhead wants a billion dollars as a be- ginning. The Department of Agriculture thinks $50,000,000 a year would make a good start. One thing is certain: More than a mere change of ownerskip is required. A whole system must be changed and agriculture must again become a way of life in the South and not a mere lifeboat for desperately necessitous men. No matter if it costs as much as & major war, the solution would be worth while. For no matter what hap- pens to us in the way of co-operatives and collective-farms and State socialism, no nation can long endure such social and economic strains as have accumnlated in the cotton South during the three generations of the Republican era which Rcosevelt has ended. (Copyright, 1937.) is probably greater than Lewis in-| Lewis' showmanship, have got out tended and may be dismaying to|of hand. They have precipitated and while strikingly successful in many respects, had never succeeded | in organizing more than about 5.000,- 000 out of the more than 30,000,000 workers available for organization. ' Soon after the Roosevelt adminis- tration came intc power it took a | step which greatly enlarged the field | for those who make careers of labor | publicity, began a drive to organize the large mass production industries, especially steel and motors, in which the old federation had never made much progress. There ensued the re- cent strikes in automobile supply‘ plants and the present ones in the heart of the industry itself. The momentum the situation has gained him. While he is publicly spectacular for the sake of strategy, he has, nevertheless, a reputation among em- ployers and associates for shrewd judgment and sure-footed depend- ability. There is evidence that some of Lewis’ subordinates and some of the younger leaders in labor, infected by strikes earlier than fit into Lewis’ plans. They have put themselves in positions in which they and Lewis may incur public disapproval. It may be also that Lewis has rather oversold, to workers and public, the degree to which he can count upon support from President Roose- velt. (Copyright, 1837, the province of the Court to amend the Constitution, but simply to take s statute and lay it alongside of con- | stitutional precedent and to say| whether the law did or not v:on{mfm1 to the Constitution as previously interpreted by the Court. | What Mr. Roosevelt may have in mind is a disregard of precedent alto- gether. but, if he has, then the entire structure of law, including humanl rights as well as property rights, | stands in danger of being overridden | by measures passed for political | expediency. Legal Check Needed. After all, some one in our system | of government has to say whether the legislative and executive branches are | right in their interpretation of the Constitution, and the document itself states that judicial power must be vested in a Supreme Court which can | pass on “all cases in law and equity” that arise under the Constitution. The theory of the founders was that the judicial branch would act as a check on the other branches of the Government, because, if Congress or the President were to be the sole judges of their own acts, the way would be opened to arbitrary action. In recent years the notion has been fostered that the congressional body, representing the people, should be supreme. Radicals have been ad- vocating, indeed, that judicial de- cisions should be vetoed by Congress and the laws re-enacted if two-thirds of Congress agreed. Mr. Roosevelt does not include in his message any measures or proposals to interfere with the existing powers of the courts or constitutional prac- tice. He merely appeals for a more “liberal” interpretation of existing constitutional powers that are vested in Congress. He does not threaten any constitutional amendment limit- ing the judicial power. His remedy, of course, could lie in appointing Judges who thought as he did about “liberalizing” the Constitution, but here again one cannot tell what an appointee who is considered “liberal” might do when face to face with the generations of precedent laid down by our historic court. Brings Out Issue. From the viewpoint of expediency, Mr. Roosevelt's proposition comes down to this: The appeal from an unwise law is repeal by a simple ma- Jority of both houses of Congress, either as & result of popular expres- sion or an election at the polls. But the remedy against a constitutional amendment adopted in the stress and emotion of an emergency is a long- drawn-out process of doubtful efficacy. 1t takes & long while to get an amend- ment out of the Constitution but it doesn’t take so long to get rid of an unwise law. Still, there will be many who will say that, if the Federal Government i to have the power to regulate wages, the people should have,a chance to approve or disapprove such @ grant of power in a special referen= dum called for that purpose alone. ‘The President’'s message is construc- at Highland Park College of Des Moines, Iowa., and Iowa Wesleyan College at Pleasant Island, Iowa, died | of pneumonia here yesterday follow- | ing a brief illness. He retired four years ago. Funeral services will be held here Jose Iturbi, pianist, composer and conductor of the Rochester Phil- harmonic, headed by motor for De- troit yesterday. He was in a smash- up near Corning Tuesday night, escaped with minor injuries, he said, | and hitch-hiked his way to Elmira | tive in that it brings the issue clearly to the surface for public discussion, again one of the splendid attributes o democracy. (Copyrishs, 1937, today. i to keep a concert engagement. WE SELL U. S. GOVERNMENT INSPECTED MEATS MARKET CO. rrioay. saturoay 37146 M St. N.W. SPECIALS 311 7th St. N.W. SLICED VEAL LINK TENDER BEEF POCKET PORK BEEF LIVER | ROAST |SAUSAGE| ROAST 14¢c LEAN w.17¢ls11¢ | 20¢ | SMALL SELECTED CARTON SMOKED Shoulders BOILING BEEF 10 Philadelphia Style Pan Scrapple FANCY STEWING FOWL FRTING _ 1. 28¢| Chickens ROLL CREAMERY BUTTER _®- 37¢ C SiRLOIN SMALL SMOKED ®. STEAK HAMS _ _» 24c LETTUCE | sQUARes 2 tor 15¢ ». 18¢ TANGERINES| 'CHOPS 2 aoz. 25¢ . 22¢ ORANGES | PUDBING 2 doz. 29¢ | . 12V/5¢ GRAPEFRUIT | sSHOULDERS 4 ror 15¢ ». 18¢ STORE SLICED BACON - Headline Folk and What They Do Gov. Langer Is Stormy Petrel of North Dakota Politics. BY LEMUEL F. PARTON. HREE years ago Gov. Willlam Langer of North Dakota was barricaded in his office, with the State capital under mar- tial law, after the State courts had declared his office vacant. He faced trial on four criminal charges. To- day he is Governor again, clear of all charges, and on his first day in office proclaims & moratorium on mortgage foreclosures and discharges 30 State employes. Prairie politics has been full of vitriol ever since he got into it. He has been a storm center since he got on the main line in 1916, with the Non-Partisan League, counted out now and then, but always bouncing back, as he does today. In his first uncoms= pleted term he fought for a State- owned printing plant and a plant to make alcohol out of farm roughage; he fought for the repeal of the defi- clency judgment law and he cham- pioned all labor causes vigorously. Probably the farthest left of all Governors, he assailed the New Deal, horse, foot and dragoons, but rode aleng with it in his victory over Wal- ter Welford, his Republican opponent. Mr. Welford is now swinging charges of corruption in the election and the tumbleweeds are stirring with the new winds of contention over the prairies. At Columbia University, where he was graduated 27 years ago, Mr. Langer held leadership as s rough- and-tumble debater. Starting law prectice in his native North Dakota at the age of 21, he got a runaway start by nailing the North Dakota railroads for a $1,250,000 judgment for failure to pay rentals on leased sites. He became county prosecutor. On his first day in office he made 167 srrests. He fought blind pigs— in fact, he fought all comers, and as the years have passed he has re- cruited a strong block of political power, as evidenced by his sensational comeback. He is gunning for Senator Gerald P. Nye, whom he accuses of stirring up the conspiracy charges which oust- ed him temporarily from the gov- ernorship and his Non-Partisan League leadership. Senator Nye is up for re-election next year. There ought to be some interesting milling in that fight. One wonders whether the movies will slick up the part of Scarlett | O'Hara in “Gone With the Wind" and | make her less unpleasant. Putting | Wendy Barrie in the role indicates such intentions—the word from Holly- wood is that she is being tested for the part. Little Miss Barrie was never roughed up by life the way Scarlett was, and it would be hard to think of her in anything but a happy end- ing. It would be difficult to get much sympathy for a faithfully portrayed | Scarlett. g Wendy Barrie was trying to get on | the stage in London, with no luck at all. One day, when she was lunching | with & friend at the Savoy Alexander ]‘xordl. the film producer, saw her and offered her a screen test. She | was Jane Seymour in “The Private Life of Henry VIIL” She was firs§ seen here in that role. (Copyright. 1837.) WASHINGTON'S DE SOTO-PLYMOUTH DEALERS EVANS PALMER, 1021 14th St. N INVITE Inc. City National 347 PEARSON & GLADNEY, Inc. 1202 King St., Alexandria, Va. Alexendria 3180 MID CITY AUTO CO. 1711 14th St. N.W., City Decatur 5050 NICK BOMBARD, Inc. 1424 Floride Ave. N.E., City Atlentic 4305 ROSEN MOTOR CO. 1811 Rhode Island Ave. N.E., City North 2337 SEMMES SALES, Inc. 4121 13th St. N.W,, Gity Adams 8500 YOU TO LISTEN IN MAJOR BOWES SALUTES WASHINGTON TONIGHT-9 P.M STATION WJSVY KEARNEY MOTORS, 4201 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Cleveland 9646 Inc. City RUSSELL MOTOR CO. 111 Beltimore Boulevard, Colmar Manor, Md. Greenwood 2168 MARKS MOTOR CO. 1833 North Moore St., Rosslyn, Va. Walnut 7155 VERNON MOTOR CO. 6700 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesds, Md. Wisconsin 5385 GOOD MOTOR CO. Falls Church, Ve. Falls Church 510 MACK'S SERVICE STATION Hyattsville, Md. Hyattsville 31