Evening Star Newspaper, April 12, 1937, Page 2

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C MONDAY, APRIL 12, 1937. CHEMICAL FID Discovery Gpens Way to Production of Substances Non-Existent in Nature. BY THOMAS R. HENRY, Staff Correspondent o1 r'he Star. CHAPEL HILL, N. C. April 12— A chemical discovery which opens the way to production of hundreds of thousands of new substances which do not exist in nature was announced before the American Chemical Society here this afternoon by Dr. Claude S. Hudson, professor of chemistry at the National Institute of Health in Wash- ington. Due to its possibilities in the crea- tion of new medical and food products —none of which, Dr. Hudson em- phasizes, have yet been realized—the discovery is considered likely to be revolutionary in the whole field of organic chemistry The Washington chemist long has been recognized as one of the world’s foremost authorities on the chemistry of sugars and starches, the basic food materials which are “burned” in the body and thus provide the fuel for animal life. Most of those now known exist in nature. Makes New Discovery. In the past, Dr. Hudson emphasized in an interview, 1t hi been very difficult to get sugars and starches to combine with anything else. They are naturally rather inert substances from which it difficult to build up new materials. In the Washing- ton laboratory, however, he has found A new way, in itself extremely com- plicated and understood only by or- ganic chemists, by which certain sugars can be combined with oxygen, €0 that they are broken down into very reactive chemical substances known as aldehydes. By a further #tep In oxidation he produces various acids. These aldehydes and acids have not hitherto existed. The aldehydes especially. Dr. Hudson says, will com- bine with hundreds of substances with which the original sugars and starches could not be persuaded to fraternize The chemical structure of these aldehydes known precisely. The chemist can hang on other molecules at different points, constituting & substance unknown 1n the world. ; aldehydes and acids. Dr. gon stresses, are quite different in their chemical structure from the life fuels out of which they are derived, but these contain everything included in the new products, with the addi- tion of oxygen hitherto Have Long Sought Way. Organic chemists the world over ught a way to synthesize rials for more substances, but, Dr. probably has been impossible can be obtained only by the oxidation process The chief 1nterest complex They new of the Public Health Service. Dr. Hudson said, has | been in the possibility of creating new medicial preparations containing the basic elements of the sugars and starches, in all sorts of combinations. There is also the prospect of creat- ing new foods, although nobody knows at present how they might react in the body. A new method of chemical analysis by which it is posesible to detect metals in water in concentrations of only one part to half a billion was announced by Dr. Irving Langmuir, vice president of the General Electric Co. The method consists in placing on the surface of the water a drop of stearic acid, an oil-like material de- rived from animal fats. This has the property of spreading over the water | in a film only the diameter of one molecule—or about one ten-millionth of an inch—in thickness. Then this oil-like film is skimmed from the water and light reflected against it. The presence of the most in- finitestimal amount of a metal, Dr. Langmuir finds, produces a detectable difference in the reflected light, which varies specifically with the sort of metal with which the water is con- taminated This finding. organic chemists attending the session said, may give a clearer understanding of the basic mechanisms of life. It is known that very minute amounts of metallic elements in the body have very far-reaching eflects. lieve that the walls of cells, of which the body is composed, are oil-like films much like that of stearic acid on water. Hence, there may ccme a new understanding of the ways metals permeate into cells, sometimes with highly poisonous effects. *“B” HELD LACKING TN DIET. Chemist Cites Vitamin Theory Before Chemical Society. CHAPEL HILL, N. C., April 12.— Vitamin B hunger may be sapping the vitality of modern civilization. ‘The possibility that diabetes and nephritis, two of the scourges of modern civilized life, are associated with the deficiency of this elusive sub- stance wes stressed before the Ameri- can Chemical Society here today by Dr. R. R. Williams, research chemist of the Bell Telephone Co. Dr. Williams, who first isolated and synthesized this vitamin, which is best known in connection with the Criental disease beri-beri, pointed out that the bran coats of grain which commonly are destroyed in the manufacture of most cereal foods, are the chief sources of vitamin B in nature. Recent experimental work, he stressed, has indicated that the de- ficiency may be a significant factor in both cancer and the widespread mental disease, dementia precox. “Our knowledge is vet meager,” he &aid, “but I venture to call attention to the fact that although grain eating i& older than history, the practice of decorticating and degerminating grains for human food is a product of the machine age. It is reasonable to €uppose that modern trends in daily habits have much to do with modern trends in disease and physical defect. I am thinking particularly f the rise of such diseases as diabetes and nephritis. “Experience indicates more and more that the physiological function of vitamin B is required for the growth and well-being of all living things, both plants and animals.” Aside from grain hull, Dr. Williams said, the chief sources of vitamin B in diet are ripe peas, beans and lean pork. With the customary methods of boil- ing vegetables, he indicated, much of their vitamin content may be de- stroyed. . —e Poor erops in the halted Tunis’ recovery st year have depression. each combination | Many be- | Washington Wayside Tales Random Observations of Interesting Events and Things. GONE WITH THE WIND. X 7HEN We were very young we / were taught that a news- paper man never violates ! a confidence, but no one sald anything about one newspaper man’s violating another newspaper man’s confidence. There's honor among thieves, but among us boys | to the revelation of the sin of E. de S. Melcher, former drama critic (Time style) of The Star. In the newest installment of “My Life in Holly- wood and How it Grew,” which seems | to_have been running serially in this column, Eddie confesses that he has succumbed to the popular Hollywood | practice of if-your-name-doesn't sound-right-change-it. What has he | gone and done but dropped out the | middle part, and the distinguished | family name of de Selding has gone .ldown the drain. His reason: “Too tough out here.” Then he has the nerve to beg for | mercy and that his deed be hushed | up! * x v o« REVIVED. HE people who make stickers for automobiles—and who seem well on the way to becoming America’s wealthiest family as a result—have jumped into the Supreme Court squabble. Moreover, they've done it in a way that gives new life to those old Roosevelt stickers which have | been looking pretty pointless since last November | having seen the new and old stickers | in the following juxtaposition ROOSEVELT HANDS OFF THE SUPREME COURT. Put that way, the old sticker seems | to take on quite a new flavor. * k% x SAMENESS. Perhaps for convenience or per- haps it 1s by coincidence, but at any rate Judge Eugene Octave Sykes has the same phone num- ber as house number—Cleveland 3202, 3202 Cleveland avenie. | * % x | TRAFFIC ‘ONE of those antique “model T's” | which are fast becoming museum | pieces rattled down Massachusetts {avenue with the rush-hour traffic the |other morning. battered, ‘smoky and noisy. A tall and scowling farmer sat hunched over the wheel. | for a traffic light with his crank and glared at a taxi which had pulled alongside. “Well | &bout 1t?” demanded the farmer. “Mister,” grinned the hacker haven't said a word!" “But youTe thinking plenty,” the crank thought it!™ * x % x RIDICULOUS! Heard in the press room at the Treasury Newspaper man: “Have youw a release on something about simpli- fying the income tar?” Press contact man, in shocked tones: “Simplijying the income taxr? You must be mistaken.” * % ox % GAME. fourth streets beside an overturned bicycle about 1 inch from the front wheel of a parked automobile, two little girls presented & horrifying scene to passing motorists and pedestrians one recent afternoon. Traffic stopped! Passers-by were frozen in their tracks. Here were all the aspects of a tragic | accident. | Your Wayside scout happened by at |that moment, and sensing disaster rushed to the aid of the child “vic- tims.” He was greeted with a burst | of laughter. “We're playing accident,” said one | of the little girls, much to the relief |of the breathless crowd which had begun to gather ... “and we're waitin’ | for the ambulance.” | First aid was promptly rendered But, the victims refused to give their names and addresses. A. A. A, DEFENDS TREES Opposition to the uprooting of any Japanese cherry blossom trees around the Tidal Basin in construction of the Jefferson Memorial was expressed today by the American Automobile Association. Such an act would be “unpardonable and unwarranted van- dalism,” a statement of the associ- | ation declared. “The tremendous crowds that | poured into Washington over the week end,” said Russell E. Singer, A. A. A. reneral manager, “prove beyond ques- tion that the cherry trees are Wash- ington's No. 1 tourist attraction.” Congress in Brief TODAY. Senate: Considers routine business. Judiciary Committee hears Texas opponents of Roosevelt court bill. Commerce Committee considers Maritime Commisison nominations. House: District day. Decides whether to take up anti- lynching legislation tomorrow. Labor Committee considers Senate- approved resolution condemning sit- down strikes. TOMORROW. Senate: Program uncertain. | Education and Labor Committee | hearing on bill to make C. C. C. per- manent, 10 a.m, Judiciary Committee continues hear- ings on President’s court bill House: Considers Gavagan anti-lynching bill. Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee resumes hearings on War Department supply bill, 10 &.m. Education Committee meets, 10:30 am. Public Lands Committee meets, 10 am. Post Office Committee meets, 10:30 am. Judiciary Committee meets 10:30 am. Special subcommittee of District Committee beging ly of Collins tax bills, 10:30 am. ¥ no secret is sacred. This brings us | One of our intelligence corps reports | muddy, | = |shouted the farmer as he bent over | Western “~——1 saw you when you | his I YING close to the curb at the cor- |and his parents ~ ner of California and Twenty- |lery built in th | “I've known him to use a thousand | rounds of ammunition in one after- noon on the range at Congressional Country Club,” Rosasco explained. | Keeps Guns Spotless. | Byrne loved his guns and always PROBERS PUZZLED INBURNS KILLING Accident or Suicide Is Ques- tion as Police Probe Shooting. In the strange fascination firearms held for Byrne T. Burns, brilliant 18- year-old pre-medical student—a fasci- nation that gripped him in childhood and grew stronger every year—homi- cide squad detectives today sought an | explanation of his death with a bullet | through the forehead. | The youth’s body was found yester- day by his father, Dr. William P. Burns, prominent diagnostician, on the floor of a locked bath room in their palatial home at 3100 ‘Ellicott street. At his side was a .38-caliber revolver, a8 World War trophy from his large collection of firearms. “It must have been an accident— | it couldn’t have been anything else,” | said Noel F. Rosasco, vice president of | Rudolph & West Co., & close friend of the Burns family. “Byrne had every- thing to live for—everything a boy could desire.” | Last Seen Alive Saturday. Byrne was last seen alive by his | father Saturday night. Before leaving to visit friends, Dr. Burns chatted with his son, who seemed in excellent spirits, Rosasco said. “Byrne told his father he had a grade of 93 in zoology and laughingly remarked, ‘They’ll have to make| grades higher than “A" for me to | shoot at,’ " Rosasco said. Shooting Probed BYRNE T. BURNS. by an act of Congress dictated by the President?"” “Some people think this would be revolution!” he exclaimed. Patterson advocated a constitu- tional amendment to fix the court permanently at its present number, nine justices, and set an age or term of service for compulsory retirement of future appointees. Senator Hatch, Democrat, of New Mexico announced meanwhile that he would introduce two amendments to the Roosevelt bill One would make the proposed in- crease in the size of the court tem- Yesterday morning a maid told Dr. | Burns his son’s bed had not been | slept in, and when he investigated he found the door of the private baih ad- | joining the bed room locked. Crash- | ing in the door, Dr. Burns found his | son’s nude body. In the bed room were a .22-caliber rifle, a cleaning rod and a can of gun | oil. The death gun had been newly | cleaned and oiled. | Mis. Persia Burns, mother of the! | youth, was aboard the S. §. California. | | returning from a cruise to Cuba and a | | radiogram notified her that he only | son had been “seriously injured.” She arrived here by plane this afternoon, unaware that her son was dead. Although a precocious student, | friends of the family said Byrne was a “regular boy.” He played foot ball at | Western High School and won a let- | ter, he was runner-up in the golf | championship at Congressional Coun- | try Club last year and had won | numerous honors in swimming meets. | Had No Worries. 1 The youth drove his | convertible coupe own smart was well supplied with pocket money and had no wor- | ries, Rosasco said He accompanied | his mother to New York when she | He choked his engine when he halted | sailed last week and stayed to see The farmer alighted | 8 number of new shows. He had already purchased his ticket for the Hudson said today, their quest|Griver eveing him from a sleek cab | opening base pall game. Scholastic difficulties were unknown vhat have you got to say | to the youth, his family pointed out. | He completed his courses in junior | and senior high school in three and | one-half years and was a member of | Phi Beta Rho, honor fraternity at He wouid have completed pre-medical course at George | Washington University, where he was an honor student and a member of | Phi Eta Sigma, honor fraternity. this ;Sprm: His application for admission | | to medical school next Fall already had been accepted. Last year he re- | ceived congratulations from the Na- | tional Honor Physics Society for his | scholastic attainments Byrne's interest in firearms dates | | back several years, Rosasco said, and | recently became almost a passion. | The youth was an expert marksman had & shooting gal- e basemeat of their | home for him kept them spotless. His father be- lieves he was preparing to clean the | revolver when it accidentally ex- ploded. Dr. Burns was prostrated with grief | over the death. Ironically, the family had planned a party for tomorrow to celebrate the return of Mrs. Burns and Dr. Burns birthday. Judiciary (Continued From First Page.) Defense Association represented here today.” Senator Logan, Democrat, of Ken- tucky. a supporter of the bill, said the election “ought to serve notice on some of those in opposition that they are not following the popular course.” Senator Van Nuys, Democrat, of In- diana said in reply that some opponents, like himself, “would rather sacrifice personal ambitions than suc- cumb to a popular movement which strikes at the very fundamentals of our Government.” John H. Crooker, Houston law- yer, told the committee that Supreme Court decisions have been overwhelm- ingly in favor of labor's rights. “Any one who follows closely the decisions dealing with human rights, social problems and economic ques- tions,” his prepared statement said, “should know that practically all those decision are well abreast of the most modern trend of our times. “Indeed there are but very few de- cisions that even the most progressive among us are cut of harmony with— while there are literally hundreds of strong and important decisions which form the very mud-sills of our cher- ished rights.” Dr. C. P. Patterson of the University of Texas called the bill “unconstitu- tional in spirit and in fact, if not in law, inadequate if there is a court problem, and dangerous as a prece- dent.” States’ Rights Question. Contending the plan would violate States' rights, he said the Supreme Court “has already stretched the Con- stitution to the 'nth degree in favor of the National Government.” “To force it to go further by con- trolling its powers,” he added, “would destroy the court as a judicial body, would make it & party agent and would lose the Nation's respect for it. “Moreover, it would threaten the integrity of the judicial branches of the 48 State governments and under- mine the political and social order of the Nation. In fact, this is already a fait accompli.” Patterson said he had heard talk of revolution unless Roosevelt oonsti- tutional concepts prevail, and asked: “Is this propaganda to frighten the American peopleqinto accepting a radical change heir Constitution lby | duties have been rejected porary, with the membership going back to nine, as older members retired. The other would limit appointments | under the bill to one a year. 28 Dinner Meetings. John P. Devaney, president of the newly formed National Lawyers' Guild, announced that simultaneous dinner meetings in support of the court bill will be held in at least 28 cities on | April 30. Meanwhile, the Wagner labor rela- tions act, now before the Suprem: Court, was attacked last night in a radio address by James A. Emery, general counsel of the National Asso. ciation of Manufacturers. Blaming prevalence of sit-down strikes on interpretations of the act the National Labor Relations Board, Emery said: “No criticism of the union has come from the board in all the sit-downs in which it has been ignored. but em- ployers who pursued the pathway of | the law to ascertain their rights and cen Hits Lawless Seizure. ‘It was interpreted as a to coerce. In consequence, the coun= try has witnessed widespread syste- matic intimidation and violence, ulti- mately assuming the form of a law- less seizure of plants retained in pos- session by strikers, 1n many instances in contemptuous defiance of the order of a court directing their evacuation.’ (Continued From First Page ) ¥ ge problem to Attorney General Cum- mings, who adopted the latter view, and it is pursuant to that theory that the plaintiff in today's suit seeks to recover. It was thought probable that many similar suits would be brought in the near future by employes under the | old law. Miss Ruth Cornett, 1717 Seventeenth street, a waitress employed at “Dick’s Grill” 1219 E street, was the plaintiff in the Municipal Court suit Through Attorneys Warren E. Miller and C. L. Dawson. Miss Cornett told fthe court she worked in the cafe for | 55 weeks at & salary of $6.80 a week and two meals a day, each valued at 30 cents. making a total compensation of $1040. The minimum wage for | waitresses established under the mini- mum wage law was $16.50 a week, she stated, asking to be reimbursed for the difference, which, she said, amounted to $335.50. The young woman said she | was employed at the restaurant from January 13, 1936. to last February 13, except for one week. Minority (Continued From First Page.) and such intercourse is commerce within the meaning of the Constitu- tion. Interstate communication of a business nature, whatever the means of such communication, is interstate commerce regularable by Congress, under the Constitution.” Strike Effect Cited. Referring to the claim of the peti- tioner that editorial employes such as Morris Watson, a member of the American Newspaper Guild, are re- mote from any interstate activity and their employment or tenure can have no direct or intimate relation with the course of interstate commerce, the majority declared: “We - think, however, it is obvious that strikes or labor disturbances amongst this class of employes would have as direct an effect upon the ac- tivities of the petitioner as similar disturbances amongst those who oper- ate the teletype machines or as a strike amongst the employes of tele- graph lines over which petitioner's messages travel.” Directing himself next to the issue of freedom of the press, Justice Rob- erts declared flatly that the majority holds the opinion that the statute does not abridge the guarantees of the first amendment. A. P.’s Contentions Outlined. Reviewing the contention of th petitioner, Justice Roberts continued “It is insisted that the Associated Press is in substance the press itself, that the membership consists solely of persons who own and operate news- papers, that the news is gathered solely for publication in the newspa- pers of members. “Stress is laid upon the facts that this membership consists of persons of every conceivable political, economic and religious view, that the one thing upon which the members are united is that the Associated Press shall be wholly free from partisan activity or the expressions of opinions. “The conclusion which the peti- tioner draws is that whatever may be the case with respect to employes in its mechanical department it must have abeolute and unrestricted freedom to employ and to discharge those who, like Watson, edit the news, that there must not be the slightest opportunity for any bias or prejudice personally entertained by an editorial employe to color or to distort what he writes.” 8o it is said that any regulation pro- tective of union activities, or the right to collectivgly bargain on the part of such empl is necessarily an in- license | TRAPPING OF DOG WILL GOTO COURT Hearing Ordered on Right to Protect Lawn in Plant- ing Time. A Police Court hearing was ordered today to test the right of a Chevy Chase resident to set rat traps on his | lawn to discourage canine trespassers | during the Spring planting season. | The hearing was set for Wednesday by Assistant Corporation Counsel George D. Neilson after he received a | complaint from Christopher W. Dufly, | 3215 Jennifer street, a dog owner. | Neilson ordered summonses issued | for George W. Wells, 4221 Jennifer | street, who is alleged fo have set three | traps to protect his flower beds, l.ndi for various neighbors acquainted with | the circumstances. Wells contended | the traps were not dangerous and, in addition, had been removed. | A policeman from No. 8 precinct, | who investigated Duffy’s complaint, told Neilson he had “advised” Wells against setting the traps, and had returned again to find them still in | place. The officer said when he re- | turned a third time the traps had been sprung, but were still on the lawn. In “Dog-Trap” Case Ogden (Sonny) Dufly, son of Christopher W. Duffy, with his Irish setter, Paddy, for which a neighbor is alleged to have set rat traps. —Star Staff Photo valid invasion of the freedom of lhe! press. “We think the contention not nnIy! has no relevance to the circumstances | of the instant case, but is an unsound generalization “The ostensible reason for Watson's | discharge, as embodied in the records | of the petitioner, is ‘solely on the grounds of his work not being on a basis for which he has shown capa- bility.' The petitioner did not assert and does not now claim that he had shown bias in the past. It does not claim that by reason of his connection | with the union he will be likely, as the | petitioner honestly believes, to show bias in the future. The actual reason or his discharge, as shown by the un- | attacked finding of the board, was | | his guild activity and his agitation for collective bargaining “The statute does not preclude a ! | discharge on the ostensible ground for | the petitioner's action; it forbids dis- | charge for what has been found to be | the real motive of the petitioner. These | | considerations answer the suggestion | that if the petitioner believed its pol- | y‘uy of impartiality was likely to be | | subverted by Watson's continued serv- ice, Congress was without power to interdict his discharge. No such ques- tion 1s here for decision. Neither be- fore the board, nor in the court below nor here has the petitioner professed such belief.” | | Watson stin May Be Discharged. | Justice Roberts next emphasized { that the act does not require reten- tion of incompetent or unfaithful employes The restoration of Watson to his former position,” the majority opinion | continued, “in no sense guarantees | his continuance in petitioner's employ. | The petitioner is at liberty, whenever | occasion may arise, to exercise its un- | doubted right to sever his relationship for any cause that seems lo it proper | save only as punishment for, or dis-| | couragement of. such activity as the! | act declared permissible ™ | | Emphasizing the fact that the As-| sociated Press and its member news- | papers are subject to such regulation | as laws of libel, taxation and anti- trust statutes, Justice Roberts con- tinued, “the regulation herein Qques- tioned has no relation whatever to the impartial distribution of news. The order of the board in no wise circum- | scribes the full freedom and liberty of the petitioner to publish the news as it desires it published or to enforce policies of its own choosing with re- spect to the editing and rewriting of news for publication, and the peti- tioner is free at any time to discharge Watson or any editorial employe who | fails to comply with the policies it | may adopt.” Other Claims Answered. Other contentions of the petitioner as to invalidity of the act were an- | swered in a concluding paragraph of the majority decision, which follows: | “The contentions that the act de- | prives the petitioner of property with- | out due process, that the order of the board deprives petitioner of the right to trial by jury, and that the act is invalid on its face because it seeks to regulate both interstate and intrastate commerce, are sufficiently answered in the opinion in Texas and N. & O. R, Co. vs. Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, supra, and in Na- tional Labor Relations Boards vs. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., No. 419, decided this day, and need no further discussion here.” | Conviction that freedom of the press | is endangered by the national labor relations act marked the dissenting opinion of Justices Sutherland. Van Devanter, McReynolds and Butler. “We shall confine ourselves to that question,” Justice Sutherland said in presenting the dissent, “the gravity of which is evident; but we do not mean thereby to record our assent to all that has been said with regard to other questions in the case.” Turning then to pronouncing the rights of freedom of speech and of the press, as set forth in the first amendment to the Constitution, Jus- | tice Sutherland continued: “No one can read the long history which records the stern and often bloody struggles by which these cardi- nal rights were secured, without realiz- ing how necessary it is to preserve them against any infringement, how- ever slight. “Experience should teach us,” Jus- tice Sutherland quoted from another decision, “to be on our guard to pro- tect liberty when the Governments purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest danger to liberty lurks in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning, but with- out understanding.” i Closing the quotation thus, the | minority spokesman continued: “A little water, trickling here and there through a dam, is a small matter in itself, but it may be a sinister men- ace to the security of the dam, which those living in the valley below will do well to heed. Would Halt “Least Approach.” “The destruction or abridgment of & free press—which constitutes one of the most dependable avenues through which information of public and gov- ernmental activities may be trans- mitted to the people—would be an event 50 evil in its consequences that the least approach toward that end should be halted at the threshhold. “Congress has no power to regulate the relations of private employer and employe as an end in itself, but only if that be an appropriate and legiti~ mate m to a constitutional end, which hel” is the regulation of inter- | the press the term freedom is not | judgment of Congress—or. | by state commerce. Assuming that the statute upon its face satisfies this test, does the present application of it satisfy the requirement that the free- dom of the press shall not be abridged? Preedom is not a mere intellectual abstraction: and it is not merely a word to adorn an oration upon occa- sions of patriotic rejoicing. It is an intensely practical reality, capable of concrete enjoyment in a multitude of ways day by day. When applied to to be narrowly confined: and it ob- viously means more than publication and circulation “If freedom of the press does not include the right to adopt and pursue a policy without governmental restric- tion, it is misnomer to call it dom. And we may as Well den once the right of the press free adopt a policy and pursue it, as to concede that right and deny the lib- erty to exercise an unscored judgment in respect of the emplovment and dis- charge of the agents through whom the policy is to be effectuated Fairness, Accuracy Stressed. “In a matter of such concern, the suli less the judgment of an administrative censor—cannot, under the Constitu- tion, be substituted for that of the press management in respect of the employment or discharge of employes engaged in editorial work. The good | which might come to interstate com- merce or the benefit which might re- sult to a special group. however large, must give way to that higher good of all the people <o plainly contemplated the imperative requirement that ‘Congress shall make no law . . abridging the freedom . of the press’ " Emphasizing the bulk of labor-in- dustry news, the minority stressed next the importance of “faimess and accuracy” in such coverage “Strong sympathy for or strong prejudice against a given cause of the efforts made to advance it has too often led to suppression or colore- tion of unwelcome facts. It would seem 10 pe an exercise of only rea- sonable prejudice for an association engaged in part in supplying the pub- lic with fair and accurate factual in- | formation with respect to the contests between labor and capital. to see that those whose activities include that | service are free from either extreme sympathy or extreme prejudice one way or the other.’ Reviewing the newspaper service of Watson, whose discharge by the Ac- sociated Press led to the case, Justice Sutherland cited the findings of the National Labor Relations Board that Watson was active in the growth of the American Newspaper Guild and “his sympathies were strongly en- listed in support of the guild's policies whether they clashed with the poli- cies of petitioner or not.” “We do not question his right to assume and maintain that attitude But. if petitioner concluded, as it well could, that its policy to preserve its news service free from color, bias or distortion was likely to be subverted | by Watson's retention, what power has | Congress to interfere in the face of the first amendment? “And that question may not be de- termined by considering Watson only; for the power to compel his continu- ance in the service includes the power | to compel the continuance of all guild members engaged in editorial work, with the result that the application of the statute here made, if carried to the logical extreme, would give oppor- tunity for the guild to exercise a high degree of control over the character of the news service. Circuit Courts of Appeals in the above cases as “terse. well considered and * sound.” the minority expressed’ the view that the Supreme Court “de- parts from well-established principles” followed in the Schechter and the Carter Coal Co. cases “The three respondents,” the minor- ity said in reference to the present cases, “happen t0 be manufacturing concerns—one large, two relatively | small. The act is not appiied to each upon grounds common to all “Obviously what is determined as to these concerns may gravely affect a multitude of employers who engage in a great variety of private enterprises— merchantile, manufacturing, publish- | Ing, stock raising, mining, etc. It puts |into the hands of a board power of | control over purely local industry be- | yond anything heretofore deemed per- missabie During the argument of the case | counsel for the Government had asked the court to hold that labor dispute; | even though their effect on commerce be indirect, resulted in such substan- tial obstruction to the f of commerce that they should proper!y be within the power of Congres | Counsel for the steel corporation, how- | ever, had expressed confidence court would follow former rule that the effect must be direct before coming within the scope of congres- sional power | Effect of Labor Disputes. { fter asserting the right of ployes to bargain collectively | their employer, the court then | down the rule that the determin | principle in deciding the validi the act in this case must be the na the en ~ | of the effect of labor disputes on inter- Court (Continued From First Page ) h— den Harriman, mentioned for appoint- ment as Minister to Norway; Mrs. Gif- ford Pinchot. wife of the former Penn- sylvania Governor, and Mabel Walker Willebrandt, former Assistant United States Attorney General The Jones and Laughlin case opin- fon reversed a ruling by the Fifth Cir- cuit Court of Appeals, which had held the activities of the steel corporation constituted intrastate commerce and therefore were not subject to regula- tion by Congress The Jones & Laughlin Corp., ac- cording to findings by the Labor Re- lations Board, had been guilty of un- fair labor practices in discriminating against employes belonging to a union affiliated with the Amalgamated As- sociation of 1Iron, Steel and Tin Workers The labor board had found th steel corperation, although ha two principal plants in Pennsylvania, used the instrumentalities of inter- state commerce in shipping raw ma- terials to its mills and in transporting its finished products to various sections of the country. The Supreme Court opinion pointed out that these findings by the board were not in dispute so far as the challenge of the validity "of the act was concerned The steel corporation chalienged the Wagner act in its entirety as an at- tempt to regulate all industry, thus invading the rescrved powers of the ates over their local concerns he company also argued that the legislative history of the act showed an essential universal purpose in the Lght of which its scope cannot be limited by either construction or by the application of the separability clause. This clause permits the court to sustain valid features of an act while declaring unconstitutional pro- visions invalid Chief Justice's Words. Referring to these contentions. Chief Justice said “If this conception of terms ent and consequent inseparabilit ere sound. the act would necessarily fall by reason of the limitation upon the Fed- | eral power which inheres in the con- | stitutional grant. as well as because of the explicit reservation of the ten'h amendment “The authonty of the Federal Gov- |ernment may not be pushed to such an extreme as to destroy the distinc tion. which the commerce clause itse! establishes, between commerce among | several States and the internal con- cerns of the States. That distinction between what is national and what is local in the activities of commerce is vital to the maintenance of our Fed- eral system “But we are not at liberty to deny effect to specific provisions, which | Congress has constitutional power to enact, by superimposing upon them inferences from general legislative dec- | larations of an ambiguous character, even 1f found in the same statute. “The cardinal principle of statu- tory construction is to save and not to destroy | that as between two possible interpre- | tations of the statute, by one of which it would be unconstitutional and by the g its the | the other valid, our plain duty is to | adopt that which will save the act. Even'to avoid a serious doubt, the rule is the same.” | Seen Reply to President. This language by the Chief Justice | was construed as a direct reply to the | President and those of his supporters — | considered,” the Chief Justi ‘We have repeatedly held | | tinued “Due regard for the constitutional | #ho have charged that the Supreme guaranty Tequires that the publisher | COUIt, in passing on the validity of or agency of the publisher of news |2cts of Congress. had failed to follow shall be tree from restraint in respect | the rule that the law should be pre- of employment in the editorial force.” | sumed to be constitutional until the : ‘ation | CONUrary is clearly shown. He added: e i s e press Mssociation (| uwe think it ciear that the national misinterpretation of the news before | 12P0F relations act may be construed it can act is to compel it to experiment | ¥ 85 t0 "p"]“e (;"'hm e #phiersiol with a doubt when it regards certainty | COStitutional authority. a Discussing the avowed purposes of 88 essential,” Justice Sutherland eon- | "o "4 e opinion pointed out that “the grant of authority to the board Rights Not Jeopardized. | does not purport to extend to the re- “Affirming then that the rights of | lationship between all industrial em- employes to organize, bargain collec- | ployes and employers.” tively and otherwise protect them- “Its terms.” the opinion continued, selves is not jeopardized by their in- |“do not impose collective bargaining terpretation of the first amendment, | upon all industry, regardless of effects the minority concluded upon interstate or foreign commerce. “The conclusion that the first It Purporis to reach only what may amendment is here infringed does not | b¢ deemed to burden or obstruct that challenge the right of employes tc or- | commerce, and, thus qualified, it must ganize, to bargain collectively with |be construed as contemplating the thier employers about wages and other |eXercise of control within constitu- matters respecting employment, or to refuse to work except upon conditions they are willing to accept. Nor, the first amendment aside, does it chal- lenge the act in so far as it is an allow- able regulation of interstate commerce. All affirmations in respect to these matters may be fully conceded with- out prejudice to our very definite view that the application of the act here has resulted in an unconstitutional abridgement of the freedom of the press. “Do the people of this land—in the providence of God, favored, as they sometimes boast, above all others in the plentitude of their liberties—desire to preserve those so carefully protected by the first amendment: Liberty of religious worship, freedom of speech and of the press, and the right as freemen peaceably to assemble and petition their government for a redress of grievances? If so, let them with- stand all beginnings of encroachment. For the saddest epitaph which can be carved in memory of a vanished lib- erty is that it was lost because its s failed to stretch forth a m:m while yet there was time.” tional bounds. | "It is a familiar principle that acts | which directly burden or obstruct in- | terstate or foreign commerce, or its free flow, are within the reach of the | congressional power. Acts having that effect are not rendered immune be- ;canse they grow out of labor disputes.” Combining their dissenting opinions in the cases of the Jones & Laughlin Corp., the case of the Pruehauf Trailer | Co. and the case of the Friedman- | Harry Marks Clothing Co., Inc., the four justices declared “It seems clear to us that Congress has transcended the powers granted. “The right to contract is funda- mental and includes the privilege of selecting those with whom one is willing to assume contractural rela- tions. This right is unduly abridged by the act now upheld. A private owner is deprived of power to manage his own property by freely selecting those to whom his manufacturing operations are to be intrusted We think this cannot lawfully be done in circumstances like those here dis- osed.” After terming the decisions by three State commerce, not the character | work in which a particular emplox | may be engaged | “Although activities | state in characte epa ce if they have such a close and sub stantial relation to interstate merce that their control is essential ¢ appropriate to from burdens and obstructios gress cannot be denied to exercise that control.” The opinion then proceeded to hoid that discrimination against worker because of their union affiliations the refusal of employ to gain collectively with esentat chosen the employes tended to re- sult in kes having a substant effect on free flow of int commerce f the five cases invol act €e manufac concerned a question of fu importance to the New Deal and the Nation— the Fed- eral con commerce an . ters indirec commerce between the tes Constitutional Provision The Constitution provides mercy that Congress shall have power to regulate commerce among the States. The Supreme Court has interpreted this to mean that congressional con- trol extends only to matters havir a direct effect on this commerce Arguing that the tremendous dustrial development in the count must now be taken into consideration |in interpreting the commerce elause, |attorneys for the Government argued during the hearing of the Wagner cases thai Congress should be given control of any industrial aectivity which affects commerce indirectly, if | that effect is a substantial one | Under previous definitions announced | by the high court, & big steel plant is ess. But even if this | an intrastate busin Government lawyers com- re e ner be true, the | argued, & strike shutting down the | plant must necessarily have far~ reaching effects on interstate eom- merce. They pointed out that most of the big industries operate their own transportation systems and alo employ the regular channels of inter~ state commerce in hauling vast quan= tities of raw materials to their plant from all parts of the country, and repeat this process in shipping their finished products to buyers in ¥ire tually all the States In such a situation, they contended, the courts should not apply hair- splitting definitions in upholding & | conception of commerce that waa evolved during the “horse and bugzy " era. Argument on Strikes The position taken by attorneys for the companies was that a strike is the direct result of labor troubie, and that the effect on commerce is, | therefore, secondary or indirect. This | has been the attitude adopted by the | court in the past These suits have been treated test cases. the court having rejected several subsequent petitions to review similar employer-empioyee versies contro- | Law in Effect in 1935, | The challenged law went on the statute books July 5, 1935 after a slow trip through Congress in which | its constitutionality frequently was | challenged. It guaranteed workmen | the right to select representatives for collective bergaining with their em- ployers on wages, hours of labor and | working conditions. The National Labor Relations Board was created to administer the law President Roosevelt, in signing tha | bill, said the measure “should serie |85 an important step toward the | achievement of just and peaceful ia- | bor relations in industry.” William Green, president of the Americar Federation of Labor, said the law was “labor's magna charta.” In August, 1935, the President ap- pointed a three-man board to admin- ister the act. It was made up of J. Warren Madden of Pitssburgh, a col- | lege law professor: Edwin 8. Smith of Boston, former State labor commis- sloner, and John M. Carmody, an in- dustrial engineer. Carmody resigned after a year's service and was replaced by Dooid Wakefield Smith, a Washington at- torney. Since its creation the board has handled 2,072 cases of industrial dis- putes, involving 745,702 workers. Among these it listed 378 strike cases, involving 67,932 workers. T! board said 249, affecting 35805 workers, were settled, and that 101 threatened strikes had been averted Of the 2,072 cases handled, the board said 1,579 had been closed leaving 493 pending on March Agreements between employes and management were reached in 737 cases, involving 97,919 wor' »s. Therr were 230 cases dismissed by the board and 470 withdrawn by the petition- ers The board said that in 754 cases employers were charged with discrim- inating against workers because of their union activities, and in 636 employers were alleged to have re- fused to bargain collectively. The Majestic Flour Mills, of Au-| rora, Mo, brought the first cour action against the board, asking Fed eral Judge Merrill E. Otis of Kan sas City to enjoin the board froi holding a hearing on a complaint tha | the company had interfered with it employes’ collective bargaining righ In His decision December 21 Jud ’nu gtanted the injunction and h the Whgner act unconstitutionsl.