Evening Star Newspaper, July 27, 1937, Page 9

RuletoRequire 6-to-3 Decision Attacked Changing of Court Ma- jority Number Held Needless, Inconsistent. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. OTWITHSTANDING the talk among some members of the House of Representatives about enacting a law requiring & six-to-three vote by the Supreme Court when declaring acts of Congress unconstitutional, the full extent of THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON What’s Back of It All Roosevelt-Lewis Break Seen Looming—New Deal Steel Strike Stand Held Displeasing. BY H. R. BAUKHAGE. EHIND the fog that envelops C. I. O.'s charge that the administra- tion has been indifferent to the rights of labor in the “little steel” strike three things are hidaen: 1. There never has been a real split between the President and John Lewis. 2. There isn't any now, 3. There is one coming. By collusion, or coincidence, the first story several weeks ago of the break between the White House and Mr. Lewis, the man who claims that “labor won the election,” had all the appearances of stemming from both sides. Before long unofficial spokesmen (on both sides) were saying that no parting of the ways had been reached. Now the same sources (on both sides again) are predicting that the fork in the road is just a piece farther down and around the corner. legisiation affe ing the cour this session of i} Congress will be the passage of a so-called proce- dural bill affect- the lower only en the Sen- ate Judiciary? Committee turned down Vice Presi- dent Garner's suggestion that the motion to re- commit v.hr‘ cou P e “packing” bill be deferred until a new bill could be worked out, the Senators opposed to the court-packing idea pointed out that they were taking no chances with any new bills at this stage of the ses- sion and that they preferred to select a bill that had already passed the House. This measure, known as the Sumners bill, has now been amended by the Senate Judiciary Committee to include the half dozen points agreed | upon last week. When it passes the | Senate, the Conference Committee will naturally be limited by parla- mentary rules to the sections already in this measure and hence new sub- fects cannot be inserted. The Supreme Court reorganization proposal is dead for this session. Even | the idea of requiring a two-thirds vote of the Supreme Court to declare act. of Congress invalid would not get any- where in the Senate at this time were t to pass the House The truth mterfere wi teling the hold ac by a six-t regarded b S e of alaw to| Judicial power m; te Court it canr ss invalid, except vote, is generally | -inf d lawyers to | be beyond the constit Congress. The Constt Judicial power in the Su and the essence of wel e C power is | than 6623 per cent unless particularl; specified, Might Apply to Congress. There may be some ing the d 1 0f ity” hereafter to mea instead of 51 ves popular favor be made with equal rence to acts of Con; d a five-to-f cision be pos- | enacting a law in the first 5 1 week in the jcader- | t the majc party chose > man c ng a leader The vote in Barkley herea upreme s vote is really 56 per cent of the mem- bership of | Congress accustomed to| sne-man dec and the Constitu- tion especial con- iingencies Vice Pre vote in Ia tie | It would take a constitutional | amendment in all probability to put | 8 two-thirds rule in effect in the| Bupreme Court just as it would take | an amendment to the Constitution to require legislation to be passed by a | two-thirds vote hereafter instead of » simple majority. “Reasonable Doubt" Theory. Sentiment for a constitutional | amendment to support the six-to-three | Idea in Supreme Court opinions has | been gaining ground in Congress on the theory that ‘“reasonable doubt” exists in a five-to-four decision but that a six-to-three vote is more con- clusive. What is often overlooked, of | course, is that five justices make the | decision of the Supreme Court and not pne. There might be as much reason then I the future, too, for pointing out | that the justice who added his vote | to make a minority of three into a minority of four wields as much power | In the court as the justice who now mdds his vote to that of four others in order to make the majority of five. It will always be a one-man decision In that sense no matter what the majority definition happens to be. If Congress is really intent on abol- #shing the one-man decision idea, it will examine the vast discretionary powers it has vested in one man in the executive branch of the Government. From 1789 to 1933, the most money that all Presidents of the United Btates had to spend in ways in which they could exercise their own discre- tion amounted to a total over all the _—_—m e - KEEPING COOL NO PROBLEM TO TROPICS EXPLORER! Mr. Anthony Fiala, noted jungle explor- | er,says:“When | T hit the jungle | trail tea is a| No. 1 necessity. I vitalize with | ¥ " tea to beat fa- | tigue, nervous tension, sweltering | heat. Tea is the jungle belt’s most opular drink. Tea gets you cool and Eeeps you cool far longer than other | go-called cooling drinks.” The difference between tea and other so-called cooling drinks is this: Tea does more than merely quench thirst. Tea actually LOW- ERS body temperature. Its cooling effect is more LASTING. . Besides its cooling, vitalizing ef- fects, iced tea tastes delicious. To get real flavor and VITALITY, select a good brand of Orange Pekoe that comes from India, Ceylon, and Java. Sumatra, pe v cast the deciding Anthony Fiala | Mafkachusetts farm and home week Mr. Lewis has been using & type of pressure on the White House somewhat suggestive of that which “a high official” recently pointed out hgd been used on the Supreme Court to keep their decisions “more on judicial than on legislative lines Al When the head of the C. I. O. ~ thought he wasn't getting what he felt he had coming from the ad- ministration he cast out a hardly concealed hint. Frequently all Mr. Lewis got in answer was an im- pressive silence. Sometimes he shared a gentle wallop with his : An opponents—the plague wished on his house, for instance, which he didn't like at all However, these little literary bruises were only signboards pointing to the fork in the road and the end of a beautiful friendship. x K x % As one friend of the administration puts it, “Some day John Lewis is gong to ask too much.” Cold-blooded associates of Mr. Lewis say the same thing in different words-—namely, that “'President Roosevelt is going to do too little.” They say the Democratic party platform promised protection to labor to organize without employer interference. The United Mine Workers declare that the administration is already indifferent to “flagrant and wanton” violations of labor in the steel strike. When the White House-C. I. O. split does come it will probably come on an epigram, Mr. Lewis will doubtless say again, “Life is not cushioned with sophistries”; ask for deeds, and, unable to summon them, turn his back on the pillared mansion on Pennsylvania avenue. He knows when he does that it will be giving aid and comfort to some of the administration's enemies. * *x x ¥ The answer seems to be the pursuit of a goal under the shibboleth borrowed from the English labor movement before it had a party of its own “independence.” Labor sympathizers point to certain cities where they say, as in Detroit and Akron, labor is geiting behind candidates. Openly and defi- nitely they are supporting these office seekers, not to run on a labor ticket, but under an old-line party banner while committed to a labor following. - xox ¥ Last week each member of Congress received on a card as big as the Saturday Evening Post a reproduction of a picture now almost as THIS 1§ famous as the “Nude Descending JRICHY the Staircase.” Tk It shows John Lewis, Mrs. Tewis and their son coming down the steps at the Soviet Embassy, where they had been invited to & reception to eat caviar and meet the first trans-polar fiyers. The picture bore the label of a union printer, but did not indi- cate who had sent it. S‘w members thought that perhaps Mr. Lewis had hired a Whcial secretary. Later they found out that the picture had been distributed by the Washington rep- resentative of the Citizens’ National Committee of Johnstown. PR n in the Department of the Interior: isit the department’'s recreation room. the office lets you down.” of Congress It picks you up when * % % % “The union,” wrote the United Federal Workers of America (W. H. P. Local No. 1), “has just learned that Mr. Hopkins is planning to leave town today for an indefinite period. We have wired Mr. Hopkins that he fulfill his responsibility to his employes by negotfating with the union before leaving town.” That was last Saturday. But Mr. s. with Skipper Jimmy Roosevelt, had a rendezvous with the presidential yacht Potomac that he had to negotiate, too. (Copyrig orth American Newspaper Alliance, Inc) vears of only $1,687.000,000. One man‘ in the White House since 1933 has had $15.428.000,000 placed at his discretion. The one-man idea extends also to Good Jury Duty Excuse. KANSAS CITY, July 27 (#).—Carl told P. Werner's lawyer hundreds of laws where the powers of | Werner couldn't serve on the jury in | the presidency are greater today than | a mail fraud case they ever have been before. It istrue| “wWhy not?” asked Judge Collet these powers can be revoked by Con-| “He's one of the defendants,” the gress, but between elections much | attorney replied. damage can be done to the economic system as well as to the fiscal system of the country. Incidentally, to repeal an act of Congress requires not & slm-t ple majority but two-thirds. So a President of the United States is really nowadays more powerful than twe thirds of the Senate and more power=- ful than the House of Representative when it casts one vote less than two- thirds for a proposal. For it takes a full two-thirds of both houses to over- ride a presidential veto, (Copyright. 1837.) ELIOT TO SPEAK Charles W. Eliot, chairman of Pres- ident Roosevelt's Commission on Na- tional Resources, will discuss “State and Federal Planning” tomorrow at| AND NEW YORK a special conference on taxation l"di (COMPLETELY AIR-CONDITIONED) planning, held in connection with the | Ofe-WayFareinln vidual Seat Coaches 10 New York Lv. Washington 3:45 P.M. ° Phone District 3300 —National 7370 ONLY STREAMLINED AND DIESEL POWERED TRAIN TO PHILADELPHIA at Amherst, Mass. Mrs. Lydia Anne Lynde, extension specialist in parent education, Depart- ment of Agriculture, and O. E. Reed, chief of the department's Bureau of Dairy Industry, also are included among the speakers. DOTHIS every week Rub’Vaseline’ Hair Tonic liberally into the scalp before every shampoo. .. massage vigorously to stimulate cire culation...loosen scalp muscles...thoroughly cleanse. the judge | D. C, TUESDAY, JULY 27, 1937. rI'HE opinions of the writers on this page are their own, not necessarily The Star’s. Such opinions are presented in The Star’s eflort to give all sides of questions of interest to its readers, although such opinions may be contradictory among themselves and directly opposed to The Star’s. Court Issue Still Alive Country Should Know Exact Stand of Public Figures on Issue, Observer Says. BY MARK SULLIVAN, UST as the court fight collapsed following the President’s sur- render, there was begimning to foll up throughout the country a wave of opposition to it, organized and spontaneous. What will now hap- pen to that surge of emotion? Al- though the fight is won, yet it seems likely the issue will still be a liv- ing thing in next 3 year's primaries and elections— the beginning of the primaries is scarcely eight months away. It is hard to con- ceive that any new future issue will be so vital as the memory of ¢ the court one. If it turns out that the record of the court fight is an issue in next year's elections, it is desirable the country should know just what the record is, just who was for the court measure, who against it. Up to a certain point this can be known. It cannot be known exactly because there was never a roll call directly on the measure. But a list can be made of about 42 Senators whr)‘ in one way or another went on rec-| ord against the measure. Ten mem- | bers of the Senate Judiciary Commit- tee did it by signing an adverse re- port against the measure. Others made speeches against it, others brief | public statements. Another list can be made of about 40 Senators who one way or another went on record in favor of the measure. | There remain about 14 Senators who | never took a position publicly. Haw | obscure the position of some is is illus- | | trated by Senator Wagner of New York. The day before the fight ended | Senator Wagner received a letter from Gov. Lehman of New York asking him | to vote against the measure. Senator | Wagner answered the dav after the | | fight ended, but he did not state how | | he would have voted had there been | 8 roll call " Among the 42 who were on record against the court measure it would be difficult to make distinctions. Credit for Bill's Defeat. To try to assign relative credit for | defeat of the measure would be futle | and could not be accurate. Different men had different opportunities Much credit would go to Senator Burke of Nebraska for having con- ducted the struggle in and before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Very much would go to Senator Wheeler of | Montana, because his opposition led many liberals ang even radicals first| to doubt and then to oppose. Much | credit would go to Senator O’Mahoney | of Wyoming, because of the fidelity to | conscience which led him to forego personal loyalty to President Roose- | velt and National Chairman Farley Much would go to Senator Glass of Virginia for the hour-long radio speech | that he rose from a sick bed to make. The Republican Senators should not | be forgotten. Particularly should they not be forgotten because, with eon- scious self-sacrifice, they invited for- | getting and invited it for the purpose of helping the cause. The day after Mr. Roosevelt gave Mark Sullivan. DOTHIS everyday.. Brush a few drops of 'Vaseline’ Hair Tonic on the hair before grooming. . . it keeps unruly hair neat... supplements natural scalp oils . . . corrects dryness. aseline HAIR TONIC R9S.U. 5. PAT. 049s A Cope. 1997, Chasebrongh Mty. Co., Cons'd. 4 \ out his measure—February 5—the Re- publican Senators saw where their greatest opportunity for service lay. They realized there were only 16 of them in a Senate of 96, and therefore they could not be the backbone of the opposition. They realized that in proportion as Republicans refrained from taking the lead against the measure, so would it be easier for Democrats to take the lead. Just who were the Republican Senators who first saw this condition and brought about a program of self-sacrificing silence, no one can say certainly From some things that occurred it seems likely that Senators Borah, Mc- Nary and Vandenberg had something to do with {t. Because of the way the fight ended, in flasco and surrender by the Presi- dent and his friends, several Senators | opposed to the court measure have lost opportunities which probably they would have prized, and which would have given them, in the eyes of the public, an additional esteem that they cannot now have. For example, who can doubt that Senator Burke of Nebraska, had the fight gone on, would have made a notable speech against the measure. He has the ability. Normally it would have been | appropriate for Senator Burke to make | the opening speech against the meas- ure. Probably the fact that he did | not means that he placed generalship above personal advantage and gave | the opportunities for the early speeches to other Senators. And who can doubt that Senator Borah would have made one of the great speeches of a carcer already great? Or that Senator Vandenburg would have made a notable speech? | Quite possibly some of the younger | Senators might have been able to make speeches which would establish them in Senate and national esteem. | And who can have any doubt that | the veteran Senator Hiram Johnson of | Calffornia might have crowned his| career Wwith an impassioned plea of | the kind he used to make against the | Leagie of Nations? He was deeply | moved by the court measure. One of | the most touching scenes I have ever observed on the Senate floor occurred | two days before the fight collapsed. | Senator O'Mahoney of Wyoming had concluded a speech against the court measure, and a most excellent one— | it was probably the analysis of the measure as a whole made by any one. Senator O'Mahoney, slender and boyish looking, was gathering up his | papers. Across the aisle and up to| his desk came Senator Johnson, walk- | ing slowly. One noticed, a little poig- | nantly, that Senator Johnson is no| longer young. Gravely, aflectionately, | with emotion restrained and yet ap- parent, the older man shook the younger one’s hand, turned siowly, and went back to his seat. A few days‘ later, when the fight was over and won, Senator Johnson arose., He said “Glory be to God!” Those were the | | last words spoken in a debate on a | hatched from an egg on Nelle ner'’s farm. great issue, a debate that would have SMALL KITCHENS ... We, the People Capital and Labor Stop Transportation Systems, but Reactions Are Found Widely Different. BY JAY FRANKLIN. WO recent events in the Eastern part of the United States are recommended to those who want to know what makes the wheels g0 round—or stop—in American industry. ‘The first has been well advertised by the “Thar she blows!"” boys at Nantucket. The Morgan-controlled steamship line which links the old whaling port and its army of S8ummer visitors to the mainland was tied up by a seamen’s strike. Twenty thousand people on the island were seri- ously inconvenienced and food supply was menaced as a result. There were the usual loud cries from the volunteer harpooners of organized labor. They took the amusing form of a “threat” to secede from the Union or at least to annex themselves to New York State unless the Governor of Massachusetts “did something” about the strikers at once. Joking aside, inconvenience to 20,000 people is a serious matter, when coupled with a possible food shortage, suspension of mail service and other fine points of a stoppage of organ- ized communication. Judging by the dense silence in which later de- velopments in this particular strike have been shrouded, a settlement satisfactory to the strikers must be on the way * k% x At the same time that the sun- tanned tories were gnashing their tennis-rackets at the striking sea- men, a Federal court in New York City alrily issued a writ to a United States marshal for the seizure of a fleet of buses operatig on Staten Island. The writ was in satisfaction of an unpaid debt of the bus corporation, due to the two automobile companies which had supplied the vehicles for the Staten Island transportation system. (Yes, General Motors was one!) As a result of this judicial strike, 20,000 Staten Islanders were compelled to walk to work, to be late at their places of employment or to pay $2 and $3 taxi fares to take them to the ferries. The incon- venience of 20,000 people is not a small afiair and for a Federal court to assume the responsibility 6f depriving them of their means of transportation would seem to be fully as serious as for the scamen to tie up ferry communication between Nantucket and New Bedford. Yet there were ro demands that Staten Island secede from the Union or annex itself to the State of New Jersey unless the Governor of New York State or the Mayor of New York City “did something” at once abo the Federal court. There was only a short newspaper item about the inci dent and afterwards a silence so dense that one can only conclude that transportation facilities have been restored to State Island commuters. Two islands, two transportation eystems, 20.000 people in each case, one inconvenienced by a strike of labor, the other by a strike of capital, the first widely advertised as spot news, the second buried so hastily as to suggest foul play This raises the question: When is a strike not a strike? To say that a strike is not a strike when ordered by a Federal judge is 1o substitute empty legalism for the facts. Ij the convenience and welfare of the general public is to be the paramount consideration in industrial disputes—as is argued by the Nantucketeers—wchy dors it mot apply to a stoppage such as that staged on Staten Island by the creditors of the local bus company? ‘What seems to be urgently needed in this country is a vitalized concept of the general welfare as the controlling force in civilized society. Capitgl Vs. labor generally settles its disputes at the expense of the public at larg The worker is interested in higher wages, shorter hours: capital is inte: ested in higher profits and monopoly prices, the farmer wants higher prices for food. The result is a spiral so vicious that it breaks through the cycle of and demand with constantly increasing living costs until the pul is unable to buy and the answer is either inflation or collapse. Where is the man who will dramatize this situation and redi- rect our economic, financial and judicial institutions into greater production, lower prices and higher purchasing power? Henry Wallace has been toying with the idea of “balanced abundance™ for the last few years but has been diverted by the price-raising demands of his agricultural constituents. Until we get away from the notion that money is wealth we are doomed to revolve in the squirrel cage of boom- and-crash economics which gave us the great depression of 1929 and sweeping us toward the depression coming in the 1940s, if not sooner. (Copyright, 1937.) been gone on. flxhl‘ Employes’ Meeting Canceled. Cancellation of the meetin United Civil Service Employ uled for Thursday was ann day. The national offices of the organ 7ation are being moved from the tional Press Building to the McGill Building. 908 G atreet ever greater had the (Copyright, 1837.) e It's Twins. LYONS, Kans. (#.—Twin AMOUNT .. LESS IS THE MODERN WAY A beer can is shaped like this D It exactly An American You Should Know Stewart McDonald Aids Thousands to Own Their Homes. BY DELIA PYNCHON, HE Federal Housing Adminise tration has an attractive busie ness proposition to offer pros= pective home owners. A man can now own his own home for less outlay per month than rental, if he can pass the F. 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