Evening Star Newspaper, June 28, 1937, Page 11

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, Sit-Downs Hit by Appeals Court Apex Case Ruling Held Establishing Strike Lawlessness. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. RESIDENT ROOSEVELT s charged by the Federal Con- stitution with the obligation to execute faithfully the laws of the United States and among them is the law of 1890, which forbids any- body to conspire with anybody else to restrain inter state commerce. Ever since the § day the Supreme § Court of the 3 United States J handed down its decision uphold- ing the Wagner labor law, this correspondent v has contended that the Federal i Government had i the power to ,@\1@ prosecute the § i prime movers in a ‘“sit-down” strike and anybody else who under- takes to interfcre with the shipment of goods in interstate commerce, Now comes in corroboration a unanimous opinion by the United States Circuiv Court of Appeals for the third c t which, while in no way mentioning the duties of a Presi- dent of ti United States, clearly . establishes the lawlessness of the “sit- down"” strike as well as lawless picket- ing or interference with the opera- tions of industrial plants engaged in interstate commerce. This decision was handed down last week. but the full text of it did not come to my attention until today. A reading of the decision shows that there is Federal power to prosecute the conspirators who have endeav- ored to close down the steel plants and other companies through lawless methods. Democrat Wrote Opinion. The opinion was rendered by & three-judge court, namely by Justices Buffington, Davis and Dickinson. It is interesting to note that Judge DaV who wrote the opinion, was appointed to the bench by President Wilson and before that was a United States at- torney and prior to that appointment was a State Senator and Democratic Jeader in the New Jersey State Sen- ate. First descriding the lawlessness that was suddenly introduced in and around the Apex hosiery plant, where peaceful conditions had always pre- vailed, Judge Davis then said: “If there had been a strike or any | *labor trouble at the plaintiff’s {«\C- tory the law provides a remedy for its peaceful settlement. The main pur- pose of the Wagner act was to avoid industrial strife by providing an or- derly process of settling controversies and causes of unrest. It defines and declares the rights of labor and pro- vides machinery for enforcing them. “Underlying this case is the ques- tion of whether a few lawless indi- #viduals ignoring and condemning the Wagner act and in defiance of all law and order, and in ruthless disregard of the rights of others, should be per- mitted by assuming the name of a union, to deprive all others of their means of livelihood and compel them to contribute of their earnings to self- styled leaders, Wagner Act Provided Recourse. “A few ‘sit-downers' are keeping 2.500 persons who were entirely satis- fled with their positions from working | and from earning an honest living for | *themselves and their families. If an| employer had denied to labor any of Its rights, the Wagner act provided | an orderly way of calling him to nc-l count. Instead of resorting to this| act the defendants by force and vio- | lence sought to compel the employer and its employes to do what the ‘Wagner act does not countenance and what the judgment of every true friend of labor and of all good men condemns es wrong both in policy and principle. “Public opinion will sympathize with ~labor in using every fair, just and legal means to secure and protect its rights, but public opinion—and this includes the sane, sober, thoughtful the law-abiding element of labor— will feel outraged at the lawless con- duct of the defendants which, if tol- erated, would strike down American institutions, flout our long-cherished principles of even-handed justice and destroy the foundations of the Gov- ernment itself.” + Then Judge Davis proceeded to cite the Supreme Court decision in the Jones & Laughlin case, commonly known as the case that upheld the ‘Wagner act, and he repeated the language of Chief Justice Hughes as follows Intent May Be Inferred. “When the intent of those unlaw- fully preventing the manufacture or production is shown to be to restrain or control the supply entering and moving in interstate commerce . . . their action is a direct violation of . the anti-trust act. And the existence of that intent may be a necessary in- ference from proof of the direct and substantial effect produced by the employe's conduct.” Judge Davis continued to show the parallel, declaring, with respect to the “sit-down” strikers, in the Apex plant: “The defendants in effect argue that the purpose of the conspiracy here was not aimed at interstate com- merce, but at the plaintiff, to compel it to yield to their demand for a closed shop and check-off; that, how- ever unlawful their acts were, they » Wwere incidental, only as a means to an end, and do not constitute a conspiracy 4n restraint of interstate commerce. “This argument overlooks the fact that a strike, if lawfully conducted is in itself lawful and its lawfulness now has statutory recognition. There could be no conspiracy under the Sherman act or otherwise because of doing a lawful thing. It could not become a conspiracy unless the means employed were unlawful. “It may be that the ultimate intent of the conspirators in this case was to force the plaintiff to sign an agree- ment for & closed shop. . This would be perfectly all right if the defendants had used lawful means to bring it about, but when they used unlawful means—the commission of crimes and the restraint of interstate commerce— | they knew exactly what they were doing and must have intended, as rational beings, to do exactly what they did. The ultimate object which they had in view in no way exculpates * them from the violation of the Sher- man act. Knew They Were Restraining Trade. *“The defendants knew full well that the silk and cotton used in making hoslery came from outside of Pennsyl- vania. They also knew that when David Lawrence. What’s Back of It All Officials Going to Alaska to Probe Reports of Japanese Activity on Islands There. BY H. R. BAUKHAGE. HIS is the season for fishing expeditions. Before the now famous one on Jefferson Island was over, an- other, quite as significant but far less talked about—hardly men- tioned in fact—was well under way. Three important officials are taking part in this one. They left separately last week for Sesttle, where they will board a Depertment of Commerce boat for Alaskan waters. One is a member of the Bureau of Fisheries—these trips are nothing to him. Another is a member of the Navy Intelligence Divi= sion. That sounds quite natural, @ naval man should be interested in the deep and its denizens. ‘The third is & member of the State Department. Like many fishing trips, little fishing will be done in the literal sense. ‘The Japanese are attending to that in the littoral sense, the Alaskan littos to be specific. Officially, the Navy and the Bureau of Fisheries are just interested in routine matters, charts and shoals and, perhaps, our semi-official seals that live so happily with the members of the Coast Guard on the Pribilof Islands. Officially, the Navy will not be interested in the copy of a tele- gram which it hasn't received yet, but will, which states that natives have just found again tents and other things with Japanese mark- ings on one of our islands. The Navy will not even be surprised. It -has heard that surveyors' stakes with Japanese marks have also been found on our islands. But then it's said that Japanese fishermen are versatile and some of them have taken up surveying as a hobby. The presence of the State Department official on the expedition is simple to explain. In a few days, though it hasn't been announced yet, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold & hearing on Senate Resolution 48, introduced by Senator Bone of Washington. The resolution politely re- quests that the State Department get a less unsatisfactory answer from the imperial Japanese government as to just what those fishing boats are fish- ing for beyond (and, it is insisted, sometimes inside) the three-mile limit in Alaskan waters. Are they fishing, for instance, for salmon? Or just crabbing? What they are crabbing, the Alaskans insist, is the Alaskan salmon industry. Only <0 many salmon can be taken under the law: some must be left to go up the rivers to spawn. The Japanese government claims no interest in salmon, their love- life or anything else illegal or unpleasant—just crabs. To this the Alaskans retort: 1, Whenever an American approaches a Japanese fishing boat all activities cease. o 2. Observers have seen salmon nets spread at night. 3. The Japanese are selling salmon on the world market which are supposed to have come from whence no salmon ever came before. To stop all this, the Alaskan Delegate to Congress, Mr. Dimond, drew up & bill and introduced it in the House. Senator Bone wrote an identical measure for the Senate. They would push foreign fishermen far out into the Bering Sea. Both bills are in their respective committees awaiting the reports of the departments concerned, Commerce and State. ‘What Messrs. Bone and Dimond are more interested in is the fish story which the member of the Naval Intelligence Division will tell his chief when he gets back. They'll never see his report. But they are waiting its effect, Tax evasion hearings continue to engage the Nation with examples of how the rich slip through the fingers of the Internal Revenue Bureau and avoid their income taxes. At the Department of Justice they can tell a tale of how they stopped one of the simplest and easiest methods of tax-dodging by means of “Wwash sales’—selling stock at a loss With the understanding it as to be Teturned. THE opinions of the writers necessarily The Star’s. on this page are their own, not Such opinions are presented in The Star’s effort to give all sides of questions of interest to its readers, although such apinions maz themselves and directly oppose be contradictory among d to The Star’s, The Grouse Moralizes Temporizing With Gangsters Brings Them Into the Parlor, He Thinks. BY DOROTHY THOMPSON. 113 ND the moral of it all is,” said the grouse, “that if you temporize with the ideas of gangsters, by and large you have the gangsters in the parlor.” “The moral of all what?" “The moral of the news in this morning's paper,” replied the grouse. “And yesterday morning's, and probably tomor- row’s.” “Internationally speaking”he continued, “this whole business began in Man- churia. Everybody bad signed certain sorts of agree- mente. They agreed to respect the territorial in- tegrity of other nations, even of other nations that they didn't approve of. They agreed not to resort to war as an instrument of national policy. Then one of them said, ‘There are a lot of bandits running around in China, and also a lot of capitalistic interests exploiting them, and also there is a lot of loot to be gotten out of China in the shape of land and resources, and, therefore, it becomes our historic mission to preserve order there, and that historic mission is more important than mere agreements. The welfare of the na- tion. after all, takes precedence over such trifles as international law or international contracts.’ Ethlopia Next. “And the other nations were quite upset and said, ‘Tst, tst, tst’ But that's all they said or did. And good | people all over the world said, ‘War is the worst evil. At all costs we must avoid war. Besides, the Japanese need more room. And Manchuria is a long way off. It can't happen here. “And then,” continued the grouse, Dorothy Thompson, other nations, looking on, said, was a fine idea on the part of Japan.’ And one of them said, ‘Look at Ethiopia. It's & terrible place. There 18 human slavery there, and the most backward civilization. Besides, it located in an elegant, strategic posi- tion, and in a lot of places we can | grow food that is badly needed, and the national welfare demands that w take it. And the national welfare | takes precedence over international | contracts, as is illustrated by Japan. | So Italy invaded and conquered Ethi- | opia. And a lot of good people said, | ‘War is the world's worst evil. Any- [ how, the Ethiopians are a lot of | barbarians. This is & white man's “if T may further elucidate the primer, | ‘That | world. It can't happen here.’ nothing was done about it. “And then,” continued the Grouse, “Germany said, ‘What right has the rest of the world to tell us that we can't do as we please on our own territory? And what's the good of spending & lot of time in futile talk? “And the world said: ‘After all, the Germans were badly treated.’ Can War in Many Ways. “Well, and then the Spanish peo- ple began going through a bad in- ternal struggle. It was their own struggle and there isn't any clair- voyant gifted enough to tell how it might have come out. And now no- body will ever know. Because Ger- many and Italy said, ‘Maybe they are going to get communism in Spain. Communism must at all costs be pre- vented. “And the good people of the world said, ‘War is the worst evil. At all costs it should be prevented. It can't happen here.’ “And that,” said the Grouse, “brings us down to the morning papers; to the speech of Mr. Chamberlain, and to the article of Mr. Farinacci. By a perfectly logical process, the events which started in Manchuria are now gathered up in & cyclone to shake the world. A little while ago a few people, in countries that don't want war, were saying, ‘War is evitable; real large scale, world war, unless we insist right now. right this minute, that agree- ments mean what they say. It's bet- ter to risk a small war right now for the sake of agreements, than a big war which will surely come if this process of breaking treaties is allowed to go on.' “But most people in those coun- tries that don't want war seid: 'Keep cool. Watch and wait.’ | “And now it's the other side which is saying, ‘Better risk war right now than wait until the people we shall have to fight are armed. For now we are strong: we have taken posi- tion after position: but there is a limit to human patience and so let's strike before that limit has been reached.’ That is the sense of Fari- nacci’s article Domestic Like International Affairs, “I suppose you know what to do? | I suppose you would be willing to risk war now | “The point where war could be | risked has, I fear, passed. It was | passed long ago. But that is not what the moral is for us. “The moral for us is that domestic | affairs proceed just as international affairs do. If they are going to be governed by law, then the time to | risk a fight is the moment the law | is broken.” And (Copyright, 1037.) When the A. G.s boys started * their fight the courts had tradi- tionally held a sale legal even if the evidence showed that it was done for the purpose of avoiding the tax. The first D. of J. man to plead a case was accused of mak- ing a New Deal speech with “one eye on the law and the other on the election returns.” In 1934 the task of winning a verdict was recorded in an official report as “almost hopeless.” They fought for two years. Today “wash sales” wiped out. are virtually Two men did it. With the host of idle men in Ohlo and Pennsylvania, it's for- tunate for the State unemployment compensation funds that the laws providing for insurance for the Jobless don’t go into effect until 1938. However, even if they were in effect now, the strikers wouldn't benefit. Only those not participating in the strikes, but who are deprived of their jobs “through no fault of their own” by such methods as picketing, forcible closing of plants, or such outside interference with their employment would rate bene- fits. (Copyright, 1937, by the North Americaa Newspaper Alliance, Inc.) All funds raised in taxing gasoline | used in aviation in Hawaii will be used in airport development. in that factory and refused to allow $600,000 worth of finished hosiery to be sent to the purchasers they were restraining trade and the free flow of interstate commerce. This was a necessary and direct consequence of their acts and they must be held to have intended it.” The foregoing not only lays the basis for the recovery of triple damages in a civil suit if the employers wish to pursue the matter in the Federal courts, but it furnishes a prima facie case for the President of the United States and the Attorney General to institute prosecutions for violations of the June, 1934, statute relating to the use of force to induce an agreement in any matter affecting interstate com- merce. This statute places the discretion as to prosecutions solely in the hands of the Attorney General and it specifi- cally conserves the “rights of bona- fide labor organizations in lawfully carrying out the legitimate objects thereof, as such rights are expressed in existing statutes of the United States.” Here, however, is a unanimous opinion by a United States Circuit Court of Appeals, that force and vio- lence were used to induce the signing of an agreement and to interfere and restrain interstate commerce. Will the President and the Attorney Gen- eral now make an example of “sit- down” strikers and ask for indictments as required by the 1934 statute? (Copyright, 1937. even your fine clothes! longer period. TRADE MARK Large Storage Sale Household Effects of Every Description At Public Auction T SLOAN’S 715 13th St. WEDNESDAY June 30th, 1937 At 10 AM. By order of the Colonial & Storage Co. and Others. TERMS: CASH. C. G. Bloan & Co., Inc.. Aucts. Established 1801 RESISTERED they seized and stopped the operations ad Today, science brings you marvelous washday help. Chipso “SUCTION SUDS” washing. They give you glistening white washes and brilliantly clean colors—yet they are safe for “SUCTION SUDS” work on an amazing prin- ciple. They engulf dirt particles and draw them out —gently. Not a thread is injured—not a washable color is faded. Clothes washed with Chipso “SUC- TION SUDS” actually wear and look new, for a RESTORES WHITENESS: Tests show that Chipso restores whiteness to even dingy, gray clothes—far better than other soape tested. BRIGHTER COLORS: Because “SUCTION SUDS” wash clothes 8o clean that colors look brighter. As safe as water alone for colors. 25% MORE SUDS ... ECONOMY: Laboratory figures show that Chipso gives at least 25% more suds than ordinary package soaps. CHIPSO JUNE 28, 1937. This Changing World Hitler and Mussolini Ready to Fight Barefisted. Warn Britain as Referee. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN. HE Leipzig incident is closed, but the prospect of serious troubles in the Mediterranean is greater than in the past. A few years ago we had a major political crisis every six months; during the last three years we had one every quarter; last year they were succeeding each other on a monthly basis, and now we expect them almost every day. * & % Hitler and Mussolini have entered the international ring willing to take their gloves off and prepared to disregard the admonitions and the warnings of the referee—Great Britain. They are determined to punch their opponents when they have them against the ropes—fouls count—and are serving notice on the referee that if he comes too close he might get a few punches, too. * % x X ‘The German and Italian men- of-war are swarming in the Mediterranean. They will no longer patrol the Spanish coasts on behalf of the London Non-Intervention Committee, but on their own account. They will see that everything Franco needs gets to him and will endeavor to prevent the shipment of arms and ammunitions to the Valencia government, x % x % Despite the tension in the Mediterranean and the increasing chances of Franco to become the sole ruler of Spain, Prance continues to be unsettled. At a time when foreigners are flocking to see the unfinished international erposition in Paris, the hotels, restaurants and the cafes which play such an important role in the tourist's life have decided on a lockout as a protest against the 40-hour week for their employes If this decision of the employers is put into effect, it is likely that the tourists will be lured to some other countries in Europe where they will be sure of their food and drinks. Paris has lovely public parks, but the benches are still without mattresses. * % ¥ & George Bonnet, the French Ambassador to Washington who has agreed to take over the ministry of finance and national economy. is & brave man, Few French politicians would have dared, under the present circumstances. to tackle the difficult problem of getting France out of the red. It appears that the French people, as a whole, have confidence in their new financial and economic dictator. The news of his acceptance of the job has pushed up the French 3 per cent ‘‘rentes”—government bonds—by about 80 cents. On the day when Chautemps accepted the premiership they were quoted on the bourse at 54 francs. The next day they were 67 francs. x K ok ox Premier Van Zeeland and Secretary Hull have had a love feast. The Secretary of State found great pleasure in talking to an understanding soul about his theory that nothing but an improvement of economic condi- tions throughout the world would prevent another catastrophe. The youngest prime minister in the world agreed with him, provided the cumbersome economic machinery can be set in motion before Europe explodes. P Van Zeeland informed the Secretary of State of the frame of mind of the British and French regarding an eventual—still very distant—interna- tional economic conference. He wants to tell his British and French friends approximately what could be expected from this country. Of course, everybody knows that Mr Hull is in favor of reducing tariff barriers—the only way to bring about a freer exchange of goods between nations. But the question is, will the United States Congress and the people of this country give their whole-hearted support to such a policy? It all depends. Mr. Hull has been able to conclude & number of reciprocal trade agreements Which have worked out as well as could be expected. But neither the farmers nor the basic industries have been seriously affected by them. How will the country take some sweeping changes in our tariff policy when, in the event of a successful economic conference, the entire tariff policy may have to be overhauled. That is a matter which people in Great Britain and in France would like to know. Van Zeeland is coming back on Tuesday to find out something more definite from Mr. Hull. TTHEVVE | be | ably Who’s Who Behind the News Senator Van Nuys Is a a Liberal Edged Pretty Far to the Right. BY LEMUEL F. PARTON. ENATOR FREDERICK VAN NUYS of Indiana is Georgs Ade’s county chairman—having been just that in George Ade's County. He goes to the Democratic revival meeting on Jefferson Island and he joins a few of the hallelujas, but he just won't get saved when it . comes to this Su. preme Court re- organization. Tip- ping over the formidable Jim Watson, old-time Republican bat- tler and Hoover floor leader, he entered the Sen- ate as a figure of considerable poe litical bulk. Back in Hoo- sierland, he wore the liberal in- signa, but Wash- ington goings on have fudged him over pretty far to the right. He is noted here as a pos- &ibly significant personage when and if the new cleavage, which will ally conservative Democrats and Republi- cans, shapes up around 1940. Sixty-three years old, short and heavy, he is of the old-line gilver- tongued school of statesmanship. He grounded Jim Watson mainly by big- caliber, multi-syllabic voesl artillery, which they still appreciate in Indiana. He was a small-town lawver, moving up to the post of district attorney of Indianapolis, making more or less & career out of battling and eventually overcoming Senator Watson. He was the law partner of the late Senator Samuel M. Ralston. He is ambitious skilled political cral n't calling Senator Van Nuys. and capable, a sman, who proba shots at Jefferson Island. but knows just what they will He was educated at Earlham College and the Indiana University | Law School. Harry J. Anu nger, chief of the United States Bureau of Narcotics, returns from the Geneva Opium Con- trol Conference with word that the United States is crowding China for first place “in the {llicit traffic in nare cotics.” Our League standing was much lower 20 years ago when I was a young reporter. The old U. §. A, it seems, keeps shoving ahead. Mr. Anslinger has been with the Treasury since 1926, acting commis- sioner and then commissioner of the Narcotics Bureau since 1930, Pre- viously, he was in the consular service, serving in Germany, Venezuela, the Bahamas and other countries, (Copyr 237.) 'READ ABOUT THE MAGIC ACTION OF GHIPSO “SUGTION SUDS LAYES... rrese SUCTION SUDS "DRAW DIRT OUT. THEY WORK FAST BUT NEVER HARM A SINGLE THREAD / EASY ON HANDS: Tests show Chipso is as mild as many toilet soaps in effect on hands. Try Chipso for your white wash, table and bed linens. See the actual difference in whileness with are extremely fasi- these modern blue-and-yello' without riskin, Tested and approved by Good Housekeeping Inatitute DRAWS DIRT OUT WITH “SUCTION SUDS” “SUCTION SUDS.” Ask for Chipso, the fine-flaked soap in the big w package. One trial of “SUCTION SUDS” will convinee you. “Through with harsh powdered soaps,” say women Chipso is so speedy, 20 safe that women everywhere are turning from strong powders and gnnulated soaps. These safe Chipso “SUCTION SUDS” give them the fastest washday they’ve ever known— g faded, wash-worn materials. WOMEN OF WASHINGTON! Chipso is made especially for water of this city. That means it gives more suds . . . washes clothes faster . . . gets them cleaner than other soaps not 80 well adapted to local water conditions. DRAWS DIR OUT WITH LOOK AT THIS TOWEL— SO GLORIOUSLY WHITE! THERE'S NOTHING LIKE “SUCTION SUDS” FOR THE WHITE WASH ! COLORS LOOK BRIGHTER, TOO — BECAUSE THEYRE CLEANER! /M SOLD ON CHIPSO “SUCTION SUDS” SIMPLE! You see that cloth is not a flat, easy-to-clean surface. It’s a criss-cross of fuzzy fibres that hold dirt—like s trap. Harsh substances can eat this dirt out. Rubbing ean grind it out. But the Chipeo way is safe—*‘SUCTION SUDS”" engulf dirt particles and draw them out. Marvelously easy for you—gentle on the clothes. "SUCGTION SUDS'