Evening Star Newspaper, March 5, 1937, Page 11

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 1937. e . e e e e e e e e s — Court Propbsal Put on Basis of Crisis Appeal by Roosevelt Held Answered by Tribunal in 1866. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. RESIDENT ROOSEVELT has appealed to the Nation in effect to give him the powers of a benevolent dictatorship. His radio speech means that he does not believe either the Constitution or the Supreme Court should stand in the way of a free use ... of all govern e mental power by : & one-man gov- ernment if the: Mr. Roosevelt' underlying phil: osophy is not ne in the annals of ; government the world over, but it is decidedly novel coming from & President of the United States. ‘Whether one agrees with the Presi- dent's concept of his duty, the impor- tant fact is that fortified by an enor- mous majority in the last election he considers that he has the right to brush aside constitutional precadent and demand a Supreme Court which must virtually collaborate in the po- litical management of the national Government. Mr. Roosevelt's argument is that a great crisis prevails and that there isn’t time for the normal processes of democracy. This will come as a big surprise to many people who were led to believe in the last campaign that recovery was well under way and that most of the acute problems ~f the Nation had been solved or were on their way toward solution. 014 Argument Revised. Again and again in American his- tory the argument has been made that in a crisis the Constitution is sus- pended but it has never been accepted as valid in a government of laws. The Supreme Court in 1866 in ruling on an act of President Lincoln said: “No doctrine involving more per- niclous consequences was ever invented by the wit of man than that any of the Constitution’s provisions can be suspended during any of the great exigencies of Government. Such & doctrine leads directly to anarchy or despotism—the theory of necessity on which it is based is false. “The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and in peace, and cov= ers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, in all times and under all_circumstances.” The foregoing is the shortest answer that can be made to the President’s speech by those who believe n a government of laws, a government based on a written charter and not the discretionary powers of a one-man ruler. David Lawrence. Overlooks Precedent. Mr. Roosevelt, on the other hand, 1s leaning more and more to the theory that as long as he is President no harm can come from extending to him extra-constitutional powers. What he overlooks, it will be insisted by op- ponents, is that precedents created now will be used by others. How can the Nation be assured against the return -of “political pup- pets of an economic autocracy?” May Provoke Activity. News Behind the News Passage of Retirement Law Bars Congress Members From Appointment. BY PAUL MALLON. SUPREME COURT justice was having dinner at the home of a friend a few hours after the Senate had passed the new Supreme Court judges’ retirement law. The justice was in the customary uncom- municative mood required by his position, but observed once, With more than casual emphasis: “I wonder whether the Senators really know what they did today.” This puzzled his hearer, who did not feel free to ask further explana- tion. Wondering about it later the guest recalled that there is a constitu- tional provision which reads: “No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office . . . the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time.” Translated into curbstone English, this means every present member of Congress has barred himself from the Supreme Court bench under the proposed reorganization by voting full pay retirement for the justices. It hits all the legislators whose names have been mentioned for appointment, Senate Leader Robinson, Minton, Norris and the others who voted for the retirement pay law, as well as Sen- ator Hiram Johnson, who voted against it, and Senator Wagner, who was absent. It also hits all members of the House, but none of them had much chance of getting a Supreme Court job anyway. ‘The knowing surmise from the latest decision of the Supreme Court —@ that there is no disposition for sur- —— render within it. 3 The gold clause decision really did not amount to anything. The same point had been decided in previous decisions, also by & margin of 5 to 4. What they sald in the decision was therefore immaterial, but the way they said it seems to be highly significant. In the ordinary course of procedure the court could have issued a very brief per curlam decision (for the court as a whole), merely stating the decision was affirmed on the authority of the earlier famous gold cases. If this had been done an appearance of unanimity would have prevailed and the insignificance of the issue would have been attested. But the justices chose to meet the issue again headlong, thus calling wider attention to their support of the mew order in this most important of all its policies. Note—The court could also dispose of the pending Washington min- imum wage law for women per curiam, because that issue also was decided last session. The New York law was then held invalid by 5 to 4. Some authorities expect another 5-to-4 decision now in the Washington case, although the justices seemed to indicate they all thought the law was in- valid under the previous court decision when they questioned counsel dur- ing recent arguments. * K k% How President Roosevelt happened to recommend a sugar tax in violation of his reciprocal Cuban trade treaty is hard to understand. The explanation current on the inside is that the President’s recom- mendations to Congress were drawn by Agriculture Secretary Wallace and his experts. Unbeknown to State Secretary Hull and his experts. Mr. Roosevelt, they say, sent the message along to Congress without letting Mr. Hull see it. This is probably what happened, but it is hardly a compliment to the efficiency which is supposed to prevail ¥ hin the new order. It would be easier for admirers of Mr. Wallace's thoroughness to believe the mis- take was not made so carelessly. If Mr. Hull had been consulted ahead of time, he could have protested vigorously and perhaps successfully against the course Wallace wanted to follow. As it is, all he can do is to negotiate with Cuba for a change in the treaty which will permit Wallace’s plan to stand. Note—The violated treaty provision says no tax can be applied to sugar which would make the tax greater than upon the day the treaty was signed. The tax that day was 1 cent. and the proposed tax is .75 of a cent, but this is to be added to the duty of .6 of a cent, thus making the total new tax 1.35 cents. * 2 x % No one has raised the suggestion aloud, but the money men of the ad- ministration seemed to be worried that their gold sterilization program may not be legal. e "v'fiu IQ The date for worry seems to be oick e 49 rather late, as they have bought up- wards of $186,000,000 worth of in- coming foreign gold. They have used money from the general treasury fund and have issued notes, not to meet each gold purchase, but at odd times when their general fund needed replenishing. This increases the Government debt. They have figured out some legal hocus-pocus whereby they are using their stabilization fund law, which is broad enough to let them buy the Washington Monument or the Brooklyn Bridge if they wanted to. Yet there seems to be some doubt in their minds. ‘Women from all over the country attended the dinner of the Women's National Press Club. The most prominent guests were introduced, re- quired to rise and face applause. Among them were Amelia Earhart, Doro- thy Thompeon, etc. To the surprise of many, the guest who received the most applause was Mrs. Charles Evans Hughes, wife of the Chief Justice. 1 This question now will be asked | with much more point than if Mr. Roosevelt had not raised the question | of a third term at all. As a matter of | fact, he has not issued the only ex- plicit statement that ever keeps third- term talk down—namely, that under | no circumstances would a third nom- | . Ination be accepted if tendered. There was no necessity up till now | for Mr. Roosevelt to make such a statement, but the peculiar wording of his reference to 1940 and the condi- tions which he feels should exist at the time may stir up a good deal of political activity by his henchmen of the various political organizations to draft him for a third term in the event that his program has not been ful- filled. Mr. Roosevelt's radio appeal will | have a number of effects. It will arouse new sources of opposition | among liberals as well as conservatives. It will bring to a head the question of | a controlled versus an uncontrolled | Supreme Court. It will define the is- | sue as one of changing justices to get | 8 changed verdict—a principle that has not been typical of democracy or sportsmanship heretofore. The President speaks of the votes of the 27,000,000 as ample support for his course. He also speaks of the tragic | era that preceded the outbreak of Civil War in 1861. The parallel is signifi- eant. What brought on the Civil War was & difference of opinion on the meaning of one aspect of the Consti- tution, Protects Minorities. Essentially a constitution is intended %0 protect minorities against the ex- cesses of temporary majorities. The last election did not mean that 27,- 000,000 voted to trample upon the rights of 16,000,000. If it did, then America may face a greater crisis some day as right after right is taken from the minorities. World history shows that revolutions and civil wars | are rarely begun by majorities, but usually by minorities who have been goaded to action by the loss of what they oonsider fundamental constitu- tional rights. Mr. Roosevelt probably would be more surprised than anybody in America at such an ultimate result tn American history of his present course, It s, however, out of chaotic con- ditions produced by the breakdown of controlled economy and by the suspension of constitutional guarantees that fascism comes. For this reason, with all due respect to Mr. Roosevelt’s econfidence in his own project, he will find in the next few weeks that there are many persons who believe a sub- stantial program of social reform de- signed to improve the lot of the com- mon man can be written within the Constitution, or that if necessary-the Constitution can be amended in the way provided by the document itself. The President’s radio speech will arouse to his side millions who have not been familiar with the implica- tions of one-man government and a suspension of constitutional govern- ment, but it will also arouse millions more who fully understand the na- ture of the present crisis in constitu- tional government which Mr. Roose- velt has precipitated ip his anxiety to take a short cut around the Con- stitution. (Copyright. 108%.) ‘ . tI’HS 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 opirions may be contradictory among themaselves and directly opposed to The Star’s. The Child Labor Bogey Amendment Is Only Enabling Act, Though Propa- gandists Wail. BY DOROTHY THOMPSON. F THE Republicans have & grain of political sagacity left, they, will not oppose the President’s judici- ary plan in the National Congress and at the same time fail to uphold the child labor amendment in the States, For it is quite certain that no settlement of the constitutional crisis will be satisfactory to the people of the country which is not broad enough to allow Congress to regulate the labor of minors. It will be hard convincingly to advocate a consti- tutional amend- ment instead of the President’s plan to pack the Supreme Court, if this specific amendment, which has been pending for many years, and which has the support of leading mem- bers of all parties and the indorsement of labor and women's organizations, falls to be ratified. A vast amount of nonsense has been talked about this amendment. It is said that it gives the Federal Govern- ment the right to control, in the most minute detail, the education and home life, school and playtime activities of all young persons in the United States under 18 years of age. “The National Committee for the Protection of Child, Family, School and Church” is putting out propaganda, all of it misleading and some of it vicious, picturing chil- dren in Fascist uniforms and suggest- ing that the ratification of the child labor amendment means the total reg- imentation of youth. The distinguished Nicholas Murray Butler is also terrified that the amend- ment will mean general regimentation of youth, and if the amendment is de- feated in New York State it will be largely due to pressure brought by Catholic churchmen, the American Manufacturers’ Association and the New York State Economic Council. Means What People Mean. Now, the national child labor amendment will mean in law exactly what the people of the United States, through their elected representatives, from North and South, Catholic and Protestant, intend that it shall mean. The child labor amendment does not pass a law. It is an enabling act, sim- ply that and nothing more. It gives Congress the power to “limit, regulate and prohibit the labor of persons un- der 18 years of age.” There are plenty of court opinions on the meaning of “labor,” and none Dorothy Thompsen. ing in school. There is not an instance in history where “labor” has been in- terpreted to mean “education.” Educational freedom is also protect- ed by constitutional principles which have been supported by at least two Supreme Court opinions. An Oregon law requiring all children to attend the public schools was challenged by the Catholics and the law was reversed oy | versed a Nebraska law forbidding the SEVENTH & F STS. of them covers home chores or learn- | the Supreme Court, which also re- | the elementary schools. Congress can- not regulate education and parental conduct. under the Constitution, and this amendment does not give them that right. A Federal child labor law was ac- tually once in force in this country for three years, with none of the dire consequences predicted by the opponents of the amendment. That law was passed in 1919, and operated until 1922, when it was reversed by the Supreme Court. That law was based on the taxing power of Con- gress, after & previous law passed in 1916 and based on the Interstate Commerce power had been declared unconstitutional, with Justice Holmes, representing the four dissenters, de- livering one of his more famous opin=- jons. That child labor law during its operation was administered at a cost of $125,000 a year and with a little staff of 51 people. There was no in- terference in the schools or homes or on the playgrounds. Child labor was again prohibited in the N. R. A. codes, and I've yet to hear from a single person who objected to these provisions of the code as they worked out in prac- tice. They brought in some much=- needed reforms. In the cotton-gar- ment industries, to take an example, 1 worker out of every 25 was under 16 in 1932, while in 1934 there were only two children under 16 in the whole industry. The Children's Bu- reau of the Labor Department reports that work permits to 14 and 15 year old minors increased 150 per cent in 1936, after the invalidation of N. R. A. Poll Showed Favor. There are really only two ques- tions involved in this whole debate: Pirst, whether Federal control is nec- essary, and, second, whether this amendment is the way to get it. The Gallup poll on the subject a short time ago showed the country overs whelmingly in favor of the amend- ment—=83 per cent for it in New York State and 76 per cent for it through- out the Nation. That Federal action is necessary is indicated by the mere fact that after all the years of agitation, and in a Nation particularly conscious of its duty to childhood, child labor still ex- ists in many States. Only seven States of the Union have adopted the 16- year age minimum for work during school hours. Nine States still per- mit children under 14 to work in in- dustry during school hours. Seven States allow children under 16 to work from 9 to 11 hours a day in the mills and factories, and 10 States allow such children to work until 8 p.m. And that Congress, if given the | power to enact laws to abolish child | labor, would set out to destroy the family, school and church, while de- pending for their own offices on the | votes of their constituents, is a bogey which fades out upon a little thought. An amendment similar to the one pending had the support 30 years ago of the conservative Senator and his- torian, Albert J. Beveridge. Incidentally, as Frank P. Walsh pointed out in a radio broadcast a year ago, recurring waves of bigotry have from time to time swept sec- tions of the country, and have some- times brought about the enactment EISEMAN’ Buy Your Spring Suit on Eiseman’s Charge Plan. Nothing Down—Pay $6 Monthly, Starting in April! HUNDREDS of SPRING PAY $6 MONTHLY STARTING IN APRIL THE superiority of the tailoring is ap- parent throu%hout . . . the fabrics, pure 100% all woo! . .. and the styles, well —they’re the smartest we’ve seen. Choose “from rich plaids, chalklines, varied stripes, windowpanes, tweeds, mixtures . . . the same fine patterns you find in higher priced clothinF in sing| ... models for every man. . Hundreds of suits to choose from e and double breasted, drapes, sports At $24.75 you'll find values that will be the talk of the town. Buy your Easter suit tomorrow . . . pay $6 monthly, starting in April. OTHER FINE SPRING SUITS 30 835 %40 This Changing World American Neutrality Bill Favors Powers With Big Navies. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN. Tm is no doubt that the neutrality bill, which has been the Senate and will be accepted by the House, will keep us out of ‘war—if the war is of short duration. The new bill does not us from getting entangled in another conflagration more than umbrella can protect an individual from being drenched in a terrific sf Legislators are frequently like general staff officers; they still their strategic plans on the basis of the last war. ‘The Senators have drawn up & bill which avoids many of the pitfalls with which this country r.l‘l"hud between the years 1914- But somehow or other our legislators have overlooked the fact that during the last war there were two groups of naval powers—each belligerent group had sea might. - - At the present there is only one dominating sea power—Great Britain— while the other group of would-be belligerents, the Germans and their allies, can never show their flag on the ocean. The best they can do is to police the Mediterranean and the Baltic Seas. Although there is no doubt that the members of the Senate did not intend to favor one nation against another, from the practical point of view, the maritime powers, Great Britain and her associates, will be able to purchase every kind of raw material necessary for the prosecution of war. Germany and Italy, even if they had the neces- sary cash, will not be able to buy a pin in this country. The fears expressed by Senator Borah that these nations, in despera- tion, will endeavor to bring a destructive maritime war close to our shores are purely hypothetical. * k% Germany has no airplane carriers, and even if she had a number of then‘x they would be chased off the seas by the superior British Navy in no time. There are no submarine bases at the disposal of the Reich and Italy in the vicinity of the American ports. They could have had some during the last war, but now there is not a single harbor in this hemisphere which could shelter a submarine force of another nation without the consent of the United States. Should Britain stay out of the next conflagration the Italian-German navies would control the seas, as far as belligerent forces are concerned. But they would not risk themselves far away from the European theater of operations and certainly would not think of bringing their war to the American shores. Fifty Italian warships will meet in the Mediterranean for the first time since 1935 to play war games for 10 days. These war games will be played between Tripoli and Tobruk and have been scheduled purposely by Il Duce to take place when the prime ministers of the Balkan entente meet in Athens in the course of this month. Mussolini wants to show them what the Italian fleet is and what it might do to them should they be sufficiently foolish and try and cross the German-Italian plans. * % % % Although the Italian government has not recognized officially Man- chukuo as an independent state, a bargain has been reached between Japan and Italy regarding Manchukuo and Ethiopia. The Japanese government has withdrawn its minister from Addis Ababa and the Italian government has appointed a consul general at Mukden. The new Italian representative is Count Luigi Cortage, a relative of Mussoliri and Count Ciano. Until recently he has been the chief of the Bureau of Personnel in the Foreign Office and is a man who is highly thought of by Il Duce and the foreign secretary. Rome is stalling about an official recognition of Manchukuo, but the Tokio foreign office seems to think that it won't be long before Cortage will be made a minister fully accredited to the government and the Emperor of Manchukuo. The only thing that is being maintained of the Weimar constitution is the abolition of orders and dec- orations. At official functions in Berlin you still see men decorated like a Christmas tree. But these orders are either foreign or date back to the days of the empire. Hitler is now trying to restore decorations, as Stalin did after a few years in office. The leader of the Reich has re- cently bestowed gold medals of the National Socialist party to a number of members of his cabinet who did not possess it. Now there is a question of making that medal in silver and copper for the minor lights of the Reich. - QY ity of laws interfering with education and | people have been the Federal Congress in the free exercise of religion. But |and the Supreme Court of the United these have invariably been State laws, | States and not the State Legislatures The bulwarks against invasion of nat- | or courts. ural and constitutional rights of the (Copyright. 1937.) Headline Folk and What They Do Myron C. Taylor, Who May Be Ambassador, Man of Action. BY LEMUEL F. PARTON. HIS department hasn't a foot rule, but as exchanges pour in from around the country, it is safe to say that Myron C. Taylor has recetved more column Inches of publicity in the last 48 hours than he and his ancestors, their uncles and their aunts ever got since the family first started here in 1640. The man who fluxes steel in what may be a néew social amalgam is one of the few great industrialists who at- tained and held his throne without benefit of press agents. And now, in the backwash of the eight-column lines on the steel-labor rapproche- ment, comes the news from Washing- ton that it is quite likely he will be made Ambassador to the Court of 8t. James, to succeed Ambassador Bing- ham. He shook up steel a lot when, in 1929, he became the successor of the late Judge E. H. Gary, bringing in such younger men as William A. Irvin, infusing both new blood and new ideas into the organization. With a life background of law, textiles, banking, finance and insurance—almost every- thing but steel—he was clear of all dynastic and traditional restraints. ‘This writer has seen him only once, in one of those newspaper inquisitions to which important men are some- times subjected by reporters hunting in packs. Mr. Taylor answered ques- tions courteously and succinctly, or declined to answer, and said nothing which was not absolutely pertinent. ‘There were no rhetorical trimmings, flourishes or philosophical rationali- zations. And no sheet of flimsy when the reporters flled out. Handouts have been conspicuously missing in Mr. Taylor's administration. Unlike many | great industrialists who have com- manded vast amounts of newspaper | space, Mr. Taylor never has sounded off at banquets or expounded his polit- ical or economic philosophy. He never issues statements. For years the newspapers had to get along with a single, overworked old photograph, and as to his ideas, they lacked even that much guidance or semblance. Whatever clear present- ment of Mr. Taylor exists today is a sypthesis of swift, incisive and effec- tive action. Quietly stepping out of law, building a string of New England textile mills and running it up to imposing propor- tions; deftly carrying through a $2,000,000,000 bank merger; taking steel at a time when it was whispered that the organization was becoming moribund and galvanizing it with new life, He was born at Lyons, Wayne County, N. Y., and was graduated from Cornell in law. At Locust Valley, Long Island, he lives in the eighteenth cen- tury home of his ancestors, built by | one of them, the illustrious Capt. John Underhill. He is the type of man who | likes old hoyses and new ideas. There | was a sweeping liquidation of old atti- | tudes and policies, going back to the | days of “Divine Right” Baer, when he | started putting more ductility into American steel. (Copyright, 1037.) “And now that we've seen the etchings what about that cup of Wilkins Coffec?”