Evening Star Newspaper, April 2, 1937, Page 11

WASHINGTON, D. C., FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 1837. - This Changing World : THE EVENING STAR, News Behind the News q'HE 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 Court Reform Headline Folk May Hinder Later Cut Amendment Is Believed Only Means If Plan Passes Now. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. EMBERS of Congress are be- ginning to wake up to the fact that if they pass Presi- dent Roosevelt's plan to en- /arge the Supreme Court to 15 justices s#nd if a subsequent Congress, two or 1our or six years or more hence, should want to change it _ back to 9 or even to 11 or 13, it will be virtually im- * postible to do so without an amendment to the Constitution. Usually, one Congress hesitates to bind another, in fact, it is never : considered that the power of a subsequent Con- & gress to repeal a statute can be im- paired. But that's what would happen if the President's Dbill passes, because once the six extra justices are appointed and the court permanently becomes 15, no law to veduce the size to 9 would be con- stitutional, for the reason that the jus- tices, when once appointed, must serve for life and cannot be removed by act of Congress. It is assumed that Mr. Roosevelt would appoint six young justices. There ere six of the present nine justices who are above 70, but if they should live on as did the late Justice Holmes until their 90th birthdays, the court would remain at 15. Chief Justice Hughes has written Senator Wheeler that the efficiency of the court would be impaired with 15 justices. Today his comment constitutes & supposition based on experience, but if the plan should actually go into effect and his view 18 corroborated, there would be no simple or practical way to get the court back to nine members. Amendment Might Be Fought. It might be argued that a constitu- tional amendment might be offered to sanction the removal of justices al- ready on the bench, but such a pro- cedure would hardly win public ap- proval as it would be so palpably per- sonal and aimed at particular justices. In the event a justice died, the Presi- dent might refrain from filling the vacancy, but then the court would be evenly divided while the country waited for a second justice to pass on so that an odd number might be attained. The more the President’s proposal is studied by members of Congress, the more sentiment grows for a sim- ple amendment to the Constitution compelling retirement at 75 and pro- viding for retirement of two justices of the present court per year from those wiready above the age limit suggested 80 that the court would not be dis- rupted by too many changes at one time. Incidentally, the letter of Chief Justice Hughes about the efficiency of the court being impaired by making 15 justices decide each case made a profound impression. In some quarters there was & disposition to inquire whether Mr. Hughes had not, in ef- fect, rendered an advisory opinion when he called attention to the fact that the Constitution authorizes “one Supreme Court” and not & court con- sisting of two or three divisions or panels to hear different cases. Actually, what Mr. Hughes has sald does not constitute a precedent, be- cause the members of the judiciary have always expressed freely to con- gressional committees their opinions on legislation specifically affecting the judicial branch of the Government. They have never offered advisory opinions, even when requested, on other types of legislation and there is reason to believe that they feel it would be unconstitutional to do so. A study of various opinions already handed down by the Supreme Court indicates that the highest court feels 1t ean function only in specific con- troversies or lawsuits growing out of laws already passed which appear to the litigants to involve a loss of eon- stitutional rights. Advisory Opinions in Record. The real advisory opinions rendered by the Supreme Court are those which are already in the records and which can be read again and again and sub- stantial advice obtained therefrom. Senator Schwellenbach of Washing- ton feels that the Supreme Court should render advisory opinions at all times when Congress asks, but judging by the unanimous opinion banded down by the court in the N. R. A. case, even the advice con- tained therein was of no avail when it came to consideration by Congress of the Guffey coal bill. So it is difficult to see what purpose would be served by advisory opinions before legislation is enacted when so little attention is paid by Congress to opinions ren- dered in lawsuits arising after the bills become law. ‘The most practical plan is one sug- gested by the late James M. Beck, an eminent constitutional lawyer, who thought tRere ought to be a joint committee of Congress to which both the Senate and House might refer to eget opinions on points of doubtful constitutionality arising in proposed legislation. The court controversy is progress- ing to the point where it may be said that a constructive solution will ultimately be found. The opposition to the President’s bill is substantial and, while on a counting of noses it 4 not enough to defeat the plan, nevertheless it is doubtful whether, under the circumstances, Mr. Roose- welt would wish to keep the contro- versy alive until the 1938 campaign and split his party when alternative proposals are available on which a majority in both Houses would agree. Smith Made Impression. Thus it appears that a constitu- #ional amendment to compel retire- ment of justices at 75, with provision for staggering the retirements, would probably include a clause definitely fixing the size of the court at nine. Dean Smith of Columbia University Law School, who voted for Mr. Roose- velt in 1932 and 1936 and is sympa- thetic with the New Deal, made a deep impression on the Judiciary Com- mittee of the Senate when he con- firmed the view expressed often hither- to that the people alone, and not Congress, should decide whether the Bupreme Court should be enlarged or diminished in number. It will be recalled that this correspondent a fortnight ago referred to the fact that more than three-fourths of the States of the Union do not grant their respective Legislatures the power to fix the size of their highest court, but instead provide for a definite num- n David Lawrence. Wheeler Reveals Proposal to Him 15 Months Ago to Offer Court Increase Bill. BY PAUL MALLON. ENATOR WHEELER has been saying some unnamed parties came to him 15 months ago and tried to get him to introduce a bill increasing the Supreme Court to 15 justices. He has never identifled the parties, but he came rather close in Senate debate the other day, when he said: “I said then to those who brought it (the bill) to me, ‘If you take this issue into the campaign, from a political standpoint, it will ruin you’ I said further, ‘You will have every church leader in the United States against you' I was approached again later in the Spring, and I told them the same thing. “The bill then brought to my attention was not the identical bill now pending, but one to increase the Supreme Court permanently to 15.” Senator Wheeler did not need to mention names to his senatorial colleagues, who knew his inseparable associates last session were President Roosevelt’s unofficial Attorney Gen- eral, Tom Corcoran, and Ben Cohen. The three were working very closely together on the holding companies bill. The one who asked Mr. Wheeler to sponsor the bill was Mr. Corcoran, if good memories can be relied upon. The draft of the 15-judge bill, however, was under- stood to be the result of their Joint labors. Some Senators with inside in- formation have gone as far as to say, without mentioning Wheeler, that Gen. Corcoran and Gen. Cohen are the sole authors of the pending proposal. * ok K K Available evidence indicates they probably were the instigators of the 15 idea, but are not the sole authors of the plan. The program as laid down by the President really seems to be a combination of several separate plans, which Mr. Roosevelt himself per- sonally put together with the aid of Judge Rosenman of New York and the Justice Department. The original Corcoran-Cohen plan, for instance, would merely have authorized the President to appoint six new Supreme Court justices, whereas the President has altered that proposed method by making it contingent upon the failure of present justices to retire, and thus giving it & temporary tone. Origin of the idea for creation of 50 more lower Federal courts was apparently independent. It may be traced to an unpublished report, presented to the House Judiciary Committee last Summer by Federal Judge Denman of San Francisco. This report also con=- tained the recommendation for a proctor to function between the Supreme and lower courts, but did not suggest tampering with the Supreme Court. S. E. C. Chairman Landis worked privately on this phase of the program for the President. So did the nominal Attorney General, Mr. Cummings, who contributed all statistics upon which the President’s message was based. Judge Rosenman, the President’s friend and personal counsel, is supposed to have helped to round out the plan in the message. This may not be the whole story, but it is the best to be pieced to- gether at this time, in the face of the official insistence that the plan was entirely the workmanship of the Justice Department and the President. * XX X Pomp reared its silk hat higher than usual for the visit of Lord Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada. One reason is Mr. Roosevelt was given such a reception on his recent Canadian visit, he did not want to be outdone. There are three other reasons which may appease the wonder of news readers at the extraordinary social gayety of the occasion: (a) The St. Lawrence waterway treaty will require much friendship to revive it; (b) trade treating with Britain and THeY DIDNT ¢ Canada is involved in many deli- [EAVEATHINE cate new problems, and (c) the . British naval building program is N 7 beginning to be regarded more seri- i ously by the Navy than at first. The basic international policy of this administration is that friendly personal acquaintanceship must be established among states- men of the world before anything can be accomplished for peace, finance or trade. That idea is Mr. Roosevelt's own, and would be unani- mously approved even by the Senate and the Supreme Court. * ok kX More sub-cellar military conferences are going on around the War De- partment these days than since the World War. They are not the usual routine meetings of the general staff, but highly technical discussions in which experts from military intelligence are called in to report, presumably on such subjects as the Spanish war, British, Italian, German moves in the Mediterranean and the semi-secret war preparations being made in Europe. So secret are these meetings that young commissioned officers are as- signed to go through the waste baskets afterwards to make certain that no casual scrap of revealing memorandum has been thrown aside. * ok K x Some Government employes have been talking matters over, and you may be sure, if they ever decide to express collectively in a mass protest, it will be a “stand-up strike.” The Lewis method lacks novelty for political workers. (Oopyright, 1937.) e s e — FOUR TO GIVE TALKS IN CRUSADE ON WAR Voorhis, Dr. W. A. Abernethy, Miss Jeanette Rankin and Dr. Brunauer to Speak. ber of justices in the Constitution of their States so that a vote by the peo- ple on this specific issue is required before changes can be made. Dean Smith struck at the idea of “packing” the court or seeming to pack it. The “packing” idea has been advanced by some proponents of Mr. Roosevelt’s plan on the ground that Republican Presidents packed the court with reactionary judges. But such argument fails to take into ac- count that it was a Republican Presi- dent, Herbert Hoover, who nominated Justice Cardozo, and it was an ultra- conservative President, Calvin Cool- idge, who nominated Justice Stone, both of which justices are quoted con- stantly by liberals as being the type of Justice they like to see on the bench. (Copyright, 1937.) =SSR SR Sugar Consumption in Reich. More than 6,600 tons of sugar was used by mineral and table water pro- ducers in Germany in the last 12 months. Representative Jerry Voorhis, Dr. | W. S. Abernethy, Miss Jeannette Rankin and Dr. Esther C. Brunauer, gency peace campaign. The crusade is scheduled for open- ing Tuesday with Nation-wide broad- casts by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Ad- miral Richard E. Byrd and Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick. Mass meetings and rallies are planned in more than 2,000 cities and communities. Thousands of churches will refer to the crusade in seremons on April 11, dedicated as “No-Foreign- War Sunday” by the organization, it |all of Washington, were announced | today as scheduled speakers in the | no-foreign-war crusade of the emer- | themselves and directly opposed to The Star’s. Labor Act No Cure-All Industrial Troubles Rooted in Worker Resistance and Competition. BY DOROTHY THOMPSON. WISH I could believe that Sena- tor Wagner's analysis of the causes of labor troubles and sit-down strikes really covered the situa- tion, because if it did everything would be relatively simple. Senator ‘Wagner says that “the lack of power in the Federal " . Government to enforce the na. tional labor rela- tions act . . . is the root cause of economic Ware fare. Let the Federal Govern- ment have the power and the determination to enforce the law on a Natlon-wide scale and we shall have, on a Nation - wide scale the methods of justice and peace.” The strikes, according to SBenator ‘Wagner, are occurring because the worker is deprived of the right to or- ganize and bargain collectively and are used “only in protest against re- peated violations of industrial liber- ties.” The Senator spoke of “the or- ganized, calculated and cold-blooded sit-down against the Federal law by a few great vested interests.” According to the Senator, you have on one side millions of workers anx- jous to organize and on the other employers trying to prevent them and the law, which would safeguard the workers’ rights, flaunted and in sus- pension. Vague in Meaning. But that description utterly fails to fit the situation. The words *‘organ- ize and bargain collectively” may mean many things. They may mean an organization confined to a single plant. The labor relations act forbids management from interfering in any way with & labor organization, but it does not definitely, outlaw the single- plant union which may have no out side affilations. Hundreds of such employes’ organi- zations exist in this country. They are thoroughly disapproved of on or- thodox trade union principles, but wherever they exist there is, or may be, a vested interest in their contin- uation which is not confined to the employers. They have officers and memberships. Sometimes the whole union goes over to the C. I. O.—John Lewis’ organization, but sometimes a rival leader among the workers starts a C. I. O. union, and then there is conflict, not between employers and workers in the first line, but between two sets of union leaders, each with an interest as boss and leader to pre- serve. Or the words “organize and bar- gain collectively” may mean an ine dependent, international trade union along craft lines. The A. F. of L. has not been outlawed and in many industries it will contest the C. I. O. Here again the employes are not alone involved with their employers. There is a competition between rival labor organizations and rival labor leaders for power. Each of these rival labor organizations and leaders will bring pressure to bear on the workers and employers, and it has happened within the past few months in at least one strike that the A. F. of L. threatened to call a strike if the management yielded to the C. I. O. strikers in the same plant. Strike in Better Industries. Nor can these strikes be laid down in the first line to bad working con- ditions, inadequate wages, overlong hours, or any other purely economic complaints. This is a natural and astute thing for Mr. Lewis to do, because these are the industries where he has the pos- sibility of making a showing. But, again, what is happening is a contest for power; it is not just a fight to overcome intolerable working ocondie tions. It is & contest for power in rich industries, on a rising market and in many cases & contest between various types of union organization. Such & contest can only be resolved by & demonstration of power, and a strike Dorothy Thompson. “Boy—wouldn’t I trade all this desert romance for one cup of good old Wilkins Gozee et is the one conclusive way to make that demonstration. In the R. C. A. strike, for instance, last Fall, the management stood from the outset on the labor relations act and offered Mr. Lewis immediately & free and secret election under the auspices of the Labor Board to de- termine whether he had a majority. This Mr. Lewis declined. Wage and hour issues were open to negotiaticn from the outset. Nevertheless the union pulled a costly strike because— Mr. Lewis was candid enough to ad- mit—the only way he ¢ould get the workers organized was to get them into a strike. This simply means that the pic- ture of workers rising spontaneously and demanding, as a mass, unioniza- tion according to any one pattern is ‘pure popycock. Unions have to be organized. Given half-way normal conditions of wages and employment, the mass of the workers do no spontaneous rising at all. On the contrary, they often re- sist union organizers. They don’t like to pay dues; they don't have faith in the union’s power to get them a great deal; they often resent restrictions put on them by the unions; they don’t like to risk being called out, perhaps, on a sympathetic strike to fight for some interests not directly their own, and very often they don’t trust the self-appointed union leader. ‘They join unions when union organ- izations and union sympathizers do two things: make a demonstration of power which impresses them; and, secondly, make it extremely uncom- fortable for them to hold out against unionization. Old Tactics. of old, have been trade union tactics, not only here but everywhere else. And it is quite im- possible to see how the labor rela- tions act will prevent them being used in the future. Unless, of course, the Government is prepared to sponsor one kind of trade unionism, insist that all workers join that particular type of workers' organization, and see to it that both employers and employes ccmply. As long as there is resistance among the workers, if only the resistance of inertia; as long as there are com- peting organizations, and campeting leaders, there will be labor troubles, and the Government cannot stop it without a kind of intervention that no democratic government can use. After all, the Government could not settle the maritime strikes easily in a fleld where it has complete juris- diction. It is misleading and dem- agogic tp suggest that if the labor relations act is declared constitutional labor disagreements will be finished forever and overnight. (Copyright, 1937.) ‘These, British Might Accept American Proposal for New Armament Conference. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN, ORMAN DAVIS' good-will calls at the foreign office in London ;svemmmm..mwummmmmzm capital He had no definite proposals to make; that is to say, he has nothing new to offer. The possibility of an international limitation of arms conference has been discussed since last Fall, unofficially between Wash= ington, London and Paris, The idea of & heads-of-states conference was received at first enthusi- satically; then, the enthusiagm began to dwindle when it became obvious that Hitler and Mussolini would want “something” before they agreed to curtail their rearmament programs. That “something” was in the shape of Colonial demands from Hitler, Mussolini would have liked tc see the British less active in the armament fleld. Both dic- tators looked suspiciously at Presi- dent Roosevelt’s endeavors to bring about & halt to the dance of bil- lions for arms and ammunitions. They suspect him of being biased against Mussolini and Hitler and more than sympathetic towards the British and the French, L But, Tl Duce and Der Fuehrer might have been willing to take & chance—a status quo in armaments would have been advantageous to the dictatorships because they are better armed than the European democra- cles. This the British realized and proceeded to rearm as never before. France has joined whole-heartedly in the race as Great Britain's stable mate. Davis is surveying the European scene wheré the props for the final drama are rapidly being prepared. There is no doubt that Eden and Blum will talk frankly to Mr. Roosevelt's personal ambassador. A limitation of arms conference, while Hitler and Mussolini are de- flant, they will say, is out of the question unless. . . . What that “unless” means is easy to understand. The American Government is obviously in sympathy with the European democracies despite their faults on war debts. The administration is doing its best to assist them unobtrusively. Should President Roosevelt, Davis willsbe given to understand, find some means to change this impression in Rome and in Berlin there might be a chance to summon, some time this year, a limita- tions of arms conference. Davis has been unfortunate in the past as a negotiator for good will and harmony among the European people. He was particularly unfortunate in October, 1933, at Geneva, when there was a splendid chance to bring about a real limitation of armaments. * ok X X Lord Tweedsmuir, the Governor General of Canada, is in Washington on a purely unofficial visit. So at least the official statements read. But it is doubtful whether a man of Lord Tweedsmuir's intellect will be satisfied with exchanging generalities and diplomatic plati- tudes with Mr. Roosevelt. The Governor General of Canada would be soon forgotten by the people if he were just ordinary Lord Tweedsmuir, the lieutenant of the King of England in the Dominion of Canada. But he is John Buchan, author of the “Green Mantle,” the author of “Oliver Cromwell” and some other 30 books, best sellers in Great Britain and here. And strange as it may seem, he himself does not take much stock in his new official position. He is prouder of his work as an author and a newspaper man. And because he is a former newspaper man and a political and fiction writer he will not be able to refrain from discussing with Mr. Roosevelt the present unfor- tunate state of the world. The two men will be able to talk freely on the general situation and what may ¥ be done to relax the pressure. The President will feel free to talk to John Buchan off the record. It is not through the usual diplomatic channels that exchanges of views occur these days, but through such conversations as the Governor General of Canada and the President of the United States have these days. Of course, Lord Tweedsmuir has no right to engage Canada to any definite policy. He is a mere figurehead there. But he is a high offictal of the British Government with a good deal of authority, and as such might become a most useful letter box between the White House and Downing street. | tunes. and What They D Count Alfieri Hits Press “Villification” in Spanish War. BY LEMUEL F. PARTON. HE adroit Count Dino Alfierd, Italian minister of propagan- da, is now discharging éne of the most difficult tasks of re- cent European statesmanship in tell- ing foreign reporters about Italy's pol- icy in Spain. He says Ttaly’s volunteers have rushed into Spain “with the elan and dash of the Fascist faith.” Thae stories that they were somewhat retarded in their heroic advance he ascribes to “Russians sources.” The rebel govern- ment, he®adds, already has disposed of these canards. Count Alfleri re- gards the press references to “a second Caporetto” as in perticularly bad taste. But he proclaims Italy’s calm indifference to the foreign “press cam= peign of villification.” It was Count Alfieri, a personage of great dignity, power and distinction in Ttaly, who organized the tin whistle and mechanical Bronx cheer cam- paign against Haile Selassie at Geneva last August. This coup by the Italian press section shook up the stuffy old League of Nations a lot, being a reminder that the vigorous, new, expanding and imperial Italy knew how to refute slanders. At about the same time, Karl Greiser, the Dan zig Nazi leader, showed similar ree sourcefulness in his historic nose thumbing gesture toward Geneva. Both diplomats won thunderous sce claim at home, but most of the laurels were Italy’s, as obviously the me- chanical raspberry clearly outpointed Germany's mere hand technique, and that means a lot in a mechanized, modern state Count Alfieri is particularly zealous in making a good showing in the American press, and it was reported e that the claquers and s were devised as something 1 our target—that the count he would appreciate this new note of abandon in the League Abroad his gesture was derstood and somewhat but it won resounding ap- proval at home, and, it is indicated, greatly advanced Count Alfieri's for- It had been reported that up to that time the count was slipping and that Mussolini had called him to account for ineptitude in dealing with the foreign press. But it is stated to- day that he has the full and unques- tioning confidence of Il Duce, and he is now intrusted with the official | rationalization of Italy's effort to save Spain from her own evil ways. He is of an ancient Italian family, of imposing dress and stature, active in Fascist propaganda for many years. He is a facile writer and speaker trusted with many important when he conferred with Goebbels, German propa- , at Venice last Sum- ropaganda preliminaries missions, Paul Jose | of the “Berlin-Rome axis.” (Copyright, 1937.) THE EMERSON AUTO RADIO Hes Cveryfs (BUYIT FROM ROSS 75°AWEEK A powerful 6-tube superheterodyne with built-in electro dynamic speaker. has all of the latest This set scientific improve- ments, and guarantees you home-like per- formance when traveling on the highways. Especially designed remote controls to suit your individual make car at no extra cost. Enjoy week end trips more than ever with this fine auto radio that will bring to you your favorite programs, no matter where you are traveling. See and hear it on dis- \\Q play at both stores. Custom-built control mountings mcluded—no extra cost . NO INTEREST OR CARRYING CHARGES hing]