Evening Star Newspaper, May 10, 1940, Page 11

Labor Board Rap at Court Decision Hit Agency’s Attitude On Rulings of Justices Cited By DAVID LAWRENCE. ‘The members of the United States Court of Appeals throughout the country must understand hereafter that they should not reverse the rulings of the National Labor Rela- tions Board—at least the board has started an unprecedented campaign of lecturing the courts, which is certainly a new way to tell the Fed- eral judiciary how to behave. If a private litigant issued a state- ment denouncing the decision of the Circuit Court of Ap- peals, it would probably create & sensation and everybody would be inquiring whether the company'’s coun- £ sel was in his right mind. The Labor Board statement says: “The language of the majority opinion (of the 3 ninth Circuit) is David Lawrence. both intemperate and unjudicial and has already been repudiated as | ‘unnecessary’ and ‘ill-advised’ by | one member of the court. The board | regards the majority opinion as in! reaiity a repudiation of and chal-i lenge to the decisions of the Su-| preme Court of the United States | which foreclosed the issue adversely to the majority opinion of the Cir- cuit judges in the Greyhound cases, and again in National Licorice Co. vs. N. L. R. B, decided in March | of the present term. “In the belief that the majority | opinion is both erronecus and wholly unwarranted, it is the intention of the board immediately to request of the Solicitor General that a review of the decision be sought in the Su- preme Court.” Board Not Too Meticulous. ‘What the board members forget, of course, is that the board itself has not been too meticulous about paying attention to Supreme Court decisions when they happened to be adverse. Thus, though the Supreme Court held in the Fansteel case that “sit-down” strikers need not be re- instated, the board has whittled down the language so as to fit its own notion about the use of vio- lence in connection with strikes. ‘The issue has to be fought over and over again because the board refuses to give full faith to the! precedent. The Ninth Circuit Court opinion | written by Judge Denman, a liberal | Justice, takes the board to task for destroying a workers’ union. He says: “One of the contentions of the board is that the union, organized | solely to bargain collectively with | the employer, is not destroyed be- the order does not | | to do with it. “To us this contention is as absurd as if old Proscrustes of the Greek myth had said to an athlete cap- tured on his journey to the Olym- piad, ‘You are not to be destroyed for the races for I am proceeding to cut off only the one leg which happens to protrude over the foot- board of my bed. If you are barred at the starting line it is only because you are indirectly affected. My sword runs against your leg not against you. Besides, I maintain, Lycurgus has given a decision that you are not a necessary party to the amputating process I adminis- ter’ Yet the board insists such was the congressional intent with respect to its and, necessarily, all the many other administrative Pprocesses created by Congress. * * * Board Rule Cited. “The case loses none of its im- portance because, during a recent congressional investigation, the board, for the time being, at least, divested itself of the power it claims Congress gave it to deny to a union its civil liberty of notice and oppor- tunity to be heard. This was done by the board’s promulgation of a rule granting that right. The right new exists, the board claims, solely by virtue of its grant. The strong and now repeated insistence, first, that Congress can create in the ad- ministrative process such adminis- trative absolutism of control over human relations, and, second, that it intended to create it in the labor board warrants our inference that the board may contemplate annul- ing its rule, abrogating the right and reassuming the absolute power when the pressure of congressional investigation is removed. Signifi- cant is the absence at the rehear- ing of any request by the board for & return of the proceeding for serv- ice on the employe's association to give it an opportunity to be heard MEN & WOMEN A Welcome to a Charge Aecount A charge account at Eise- man’s is a convenient thing to have . .. you may purchase anytime and charge it. One account serves the family. Charge accounts opened at time of purchase . . . no delays ...nored tape . . . no interest or extra cost. Pay only the regular cash prices, but chafge it on easy terms. Small weekly, semi-monthly or monthly payments spread over 4 months. Come in ... we invite your account. - EISEMAN’S Men's and Women's Apparel F STREE | step up the country’s industrial machine t | to expect an allied defeat, it is also incredibly short- |in its petition for review, denounce THE EVE The Capital Parade State of U. S. Defense Called Shockifiy; Vital Supplies Reported Lacking By JOSEPH ALSOP and ROBEBT KINTNER. It is clearly possible that within a comparatively short timé most of the rest of the world will be dominated by ruthless, expand- ing military tyrannies. As this possibility slowly dawns on them, even the most willfully self-deceived are beginning to take some interest in American national defense. Every sensible man must pray that positive, comprehensivé action results, for the present state of our national defense is downright shocking. The leading officials concerned have just publicly confessed to Con- gress that our Navy is hardly more than adequate to hold the Japanese In check in the Pacific. The Jap- anese are building new ships more rapidly than we are, and we cannot increase our construction rate with- out opening new navy yards. Great expenditures would seem to be promptly indicated, yet out of pure- ostrich-headedness Congress has be- grudged the few million dollars re- quired to transform the island of Guam into a vitally needed advance base in the Pacific. Meanwhile the time may soon come when we can no longer rely on the British Navy to defend the Atlantic for us. The Mythical Army If the situation of the Navy is difficult to credit, that of the Army is plain hair-raising. Critical supplies, which take many months or even years to manufacture, are lacking in many departments. Take, for example, anti-aircraft guns, the importance of which .ought to have been suggested even to the most obtuse by the European experience since last September. Last September the Army possessed a total of exactly 174 fixed anti-aircraft, or about as many as the English use to defend a minor manufacturing town. Since then the magnificent number of 400 addi- tional guns has been ordered, which the Army officers frankly admit would make it just possible to defend New York City. In truth at the beginning of the war, the United States Army was a largely mythical organization. On paper it consists of nine corps, each composed of Regular Army units, National Guard units, and corps troops. Actually there were only enough Regular Army and National Guard units to make up four or five corps. And there were not enough corps troops, which are the Army’s skeleton, to make a full complement for even one corps. Despite the excellence of most of the professional Army personne:, and the undoubted devotion of their work, the Army was simply not ready to take the fleld except as an unequipped body. The fault lay partly in the personal feud still tearing the War Depart- ment to pieces, and'partly in an appropriating process which puts the Army professional men at the mercy of amateurs in the Budget Bureau, the White House and the Congress. Nor has the situation been greatly improved. as yet, by the appropriations requested this year, Immediate Needs As passed by the House, the Army appropriations bill is short by at least $70,000000 of providing the ordinary necessities for a minimum army of 462,000 men. This sum includes a mere $25,000,000 for such crucial supplies as anti-aircraft guns, machine guns and other artillery, tanks and air warning apparatus. And it does not include a penny for reserve material, which is almost as important to an army taking the field as initial equipment. An army of 462,000 men is ad- mittedly ridiculously inadequate to defend this hemisphere from the possible attack to which our naval deficiencies may some day lay us open. For the defense of the hemisphere, an army of between 750,000 | and 1,000,000 men would certainly be required. It would be composed, of course, of regular troops and trained reserves. And it would need an | additional appropriation of $740,000,000 for initial equipment and $500,- 000,000 for reserve material. Even if the appropriations should be made tomorrow, it is estimated that it would take two years to accumulate the reserve material. And the importance of having the reserve material | on hand may be judged by the fact that it would take 15 months to ) 0 a point where it could keep a million-man army ccntinuously in the field. It may seem alarmist to talk in such strong terms of the need for a strengthened national defense. It would be alarmist, if this country could still depend on the British Navy and the French Army to maintain a friendly world dominance. But while it is hysterical, at this early date, 1 sighted not to begin at once preparing for the worst. (Released by the North American Newspaper Alliance, Inc.) on the charge of employer domi- nance.” The labor board, of course; can out in a public criticism of Chief Justice Hughes. J The New Deal commissions pro- test. that they are quasi-judicial, the court’s decision and comment |pyt they will be considered to have as broadly in reply, but it is rather unusual to find a public statement ever issued to the newspapers by any administrative commission in Washington calling Federal judges “unjudicial” or “intemperate” in departed from the usual amenities, not merely when they argue their cases in the press outside of their own formal opinions, but when they engage in verbal characteriza- tions of the Federal judges. their opinions. Perhaps the nearest (Reproduction Rights Reserved.) to a precedent was when Secretary Wallace—a political officer of the Government—but who was criticized for failing to give & fair hearing in & quasi-judicial proceeding, came I-l‘m#‘!-i“““l-“m‘: V77RUGS, SAVE UP TO 40% Fleven years ago Star Carpet Works presented te Washingteni L & Cleaning Servies at e ';‘1" 50 ned ...... ORIENTAL RUGS Washed and Repaired by Experis ALL RUGS FULLY INSURED FIREPROOF STORAGE [t mixcH, 2220 ] STAR CARPET WORKS X 33163318 P Street NW XK i g ; : % : : 3 ; % R ik drdede A A drde o dedr e e A A A e i e ke A A e de e A e e ok 24th at N Street Alse Sales Branch Dapent Circle Blds. e | T AT 7Tth ) THI opinions of the writers on this page are thetr own, not necessarily The Star's. Such opinions are presented in The sct:;: effort readers, themselves 0 give all sides By FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. This American is going to be un- neutral enough today to take his hat Off to Great Britain, which this week gave one of the most inspiring ex- hibitions of de- mocracy in ac- tion, since Runnymede. In permitting Par- liament to casti- gate to its heart's § content the gov- ernment’s bungle ay, and dence—that is a demonstrationof the Anglo-Saxon way of life, which marks a Frederic William Wile. milestone in history. Such a triumph of political self-discipline is the equal of a decisive battle. The nilt‘lon which won it is capable of surviving many a Norway. The Nazis will hardly understand it, for they are not allergic to the processes of de- mocracy, but the implications under- lying Neville Chamberlain's victory will plague the Germans, and even- tually, destroy them, no matter how long the day of reckoning is post- poned. * K % % Principle, Not Personalities. Chamberlain, Churchill, Halifax, Simon, Heare and Stanley, happen to be the beneficiaries of late events in ¥pndon. But the principle which was vindicated—the right of a free people to apply the lash of public chastisement to their official serv- ants—transcends any personality in- volved. One is almost tempted to question whether it could happen here. It certainly could not happen in Berlin, Rome, Moscow or Tokio, possibly not even in Paris. In totalitarian capitals it would have sent firing squads, assassination de- tachments or chopping blocks into action. Lloyd George, Atlee, Morri- | son, Sinclair and Keyes took their courage in both hands in Parlia- ment, because all this was arranged by the barons with King John in 1215. Magna Charta, temporarily in safe-keeping at the Library of Con- gress, sees to it that when Britons harbor a grievance against their rulers or their own representatives, they shall not be “abridged i the freedom of speech or of the press,” as the first Article of America’s | Bill of Rights has it. * ¥ % % Britain and Ourselves, Having doffed my hat to Great | | Britain, I venture a bit of ctitical | suggestion. It concerns the issue at | the root of much American think- ing—John Bull's complacent disre- gard of the $5,000,000,000 war debt. Once I said to a British Ambassa- dor at Washington that his govern- ment’s entry into the rank of debt | repudiationists had undermined Anglo-American friendship, and if it becamg a fixed policy, it might destroy that friendship. The Am- bassador explained that because of his country’s financial straits, any debt curtailments Britain could af- ford would be like “pouring water down a drain.” His Britannic ma- PACKARD WASHINGTON MOTOR CAR 0. 3 1o7Rg ojoes | GEATLMTOR | “ERERLYEIS, o0 | ssrag aproseamer, ST TE | OIS o0 | Bop NoToR, o0 LR TS | CWESLESGE | oo o sog oo although such opinions and directly opposed to i | she may be able to finance war pur- of questions of interest to its be_contradictory among 'he Star’s. Washington Observations ° Would Allies Hand Over Bases in Africa And Caribbean as Debt Payments? I Jesty’s excellency also opined that any “token payments” London could make would not satisfy American public sentiment. I disagree with this thesis, but the envoy said it was London’s firm belief. * ok ok % If No Cash, Why Not Islands? Let's admit Britain obviously is less able today than ever to make Secretary Morgenthau any pay- ments on account, and that soon chases only through fresh credits. The Johnson and Neutrality Acts, and, at the moment, public senti- ment, prohibit anything but C. O. D. transactions. That spirit is chang- ing. After the November elections, it may have vanished. What can Britain do to hasten the change? In my judgment, there’s *nothing she could possibly do, approximating in persuasive power an offer to transfer tothe United States some of her surplus insular territory for air and naval bases on this side of the Atlantic. * k% * Africa Now a Factor. . It is, of course, not a new. idea that the British should hand over certain Caribbean possessions, of strategic importance to our Panama Canal and “hemispherical defense” plans. But, with rapid development of air power, the relative nearness of territory in Western Africa is & matter of mounting concern to American military and naval stra- | tegists. Were the great “bulge” in Western Africa—including territory now in possession of the British, French, Spanish, Belgians and Portuguese to pass to powers hostile to the United States, they could control the whole South Atlantic and keep the American Navy con- tinually on the defensive. A. Y.| Jackson of Toronto, has just written (in the New York Times) that “a| bolder solution of America’s problem | than obtaining control of Britain's | West Indian possessions would | seem to be to get established on the | G " STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, MAY 10, '1940. This Changing World U. S. Watches Japan and Mexico as Nazis Blast Way Into Low Countries By CONSTANTINE BROWN. The White House and the State Department are busy building fences to continue to maintain American neutrality and are watching, with in- creased attention, developments-in the Par East and on the Mexican e memorandum published by Hitler's government to the effect that the Netherlands and Belgium need have no fear as to what will happen to their colonial possessions after the “protection” period is over is being carefully scrutinized by administration officials Berlin has informed the Brussels and Hague governments that the invasion of their countries “to forestall an attack against Germany by the allles through their territories” does not mean that Holland and Bel- glum will lose their colonial possessions. Holland's welfare is due to a great extent to the wealth of Java, Sum- atra and Borneo, while thé Belgians derive important income from the Belgian Congo. The Dutch East Ipdies are coveted by Japan and the Germans frequently have spoken of the Belgian Congo as an adequate replacement of the colonies they lost after the first World War. m'l'oh}llltrl:lnzn Coalition Seen. ven Holland in regard to her Malayan possessions are believed in high quarters in ‘Washington to be son.-so:,p to American public opinion, to soften the shock the United States was bound to suffer at news of the invasion of the low countries. It is said in responsible quarters that it is not within the power of the Reich to prevent Japan from making a dash toward the East Indies :{, a ulxene when all the western powers are engaged in a life and death Information reached official The assurances 1 quarters in Washington some time ago that there is a definite tnderstanding between the four mmuunfn powers about the division of the world after they have succeeded in break- ing gxe md}ver of the western democracies. ccording to reports which are considered reliable, Ja; was prom- ised supremacy in the Pacific. She has been promised not ::lly the %uwh East Indies, but also French Indo-China. In order to prevent friction between her and the U. S. S. R. the latter will be offered Eastern China— now under Chiang-kai-shek—and Northern India; Northern Africa will be Mussolini's reward, while the Reich will dominate Europe and exer- clise controlling influence over the other three totalitarian states. The plan at first sight seems fantastic, but there are strong reasons to believe that it represents the basis of the agreement which has brought together such strange bedfellows as Russia, Japan, Germany and Italy. e ;]FS Fleet on Guard at Hawaii. V ritain and France engaged in a deadly struggle an fgs};t;x;:i thehbn.‘;,e{ele war in her long warlike h}llswry.“there dcaGne Te":z b ¢ ng hand in Europe to prevent Japan fr she %nts in the Southel":\e Plc!l,nc. b o i e order issued to the fleet to remain in the Pacific was this week when every indication pointed to an early attack ngn‘iv:; e}:;ll)-' land. 1t is hoped that this warning will have the desired effect in Tokio, but, of course nobody knows what Tokio may want to do at a time when it need fear the intervention of only one power—the United States. There also are increasing indications that the trouble which has been brewing in Mexico for the last few months is about to boil over. The German hand is more obvious there th . hemisphere. e than anywhere else on this out things across the Rio Grande the war materi allies necessarily will be kept ar materials intended for the in this country because of a major emergency. Purse Snatcher’s Head ‘Drum’ Nomination In Grasp of Roosevelt But He Would Risk Loss of Prestige In Third Term By CHARLES G. ROSS. If there remained, after the Texas “compromise” that gave the Garner people the core of the apple and not much of that, any doubt that the President has a third-term nom- * ination in his grasp, that doubt was re- moved by the sweeping victory of the third- termers over the Garner slate of delegates in the California pri- mary. There never was any sub- 3 stance to the 2 Garner Presi- Charles G. Ress. dential can- didacy, as such. There was never a chance that the Democratic party would commit the blunder of offer- ing the country on a New Deal plat- form—for that is what the platform has got to be, in any case—a man who has provided, in himself,. a rallying point for much of the Democratic opposition to the New Deal. But the Garner candidacy, at the outset, did have a cerain validity as a handy vehicle for the effort to take the control of the Democratic party from the New Dealers. Then as the third-term movement grew, as the New Dealers behind it were joined by an ever-increasing number of politicans with a bread-and-butter interest in getting the Roosevelt name at the head of the ticket, the Garner campaign naturally became synonymous with the effort to stop Roosevelt. The collapse of the one signifies the collapse of the other. Radical Revision of Thinking. The failure of the anti-Roosevelt defenses to stand up against the blitzkrieg of the third-termers has compelled a radical revision of in- formed practical thinking about the Democratic convention. When the chance appeared good that the third-term movement would go no bulge in West Africa first.” Either | in settlement of existing war debts | |or for establishment of new wlr} A tom tom player In a ladies’| credits, Mr. Jackson thinks, Great | Oriental band beat a tattoo last| Britain or Prance would cede us| night on the head of a colored purse | territory. | snatcher who fled with 40 cents as | West Africa is closer to South | if for his life. | America (in Brazil) than the United | Mrs. Helen Luckett, 57. of 1210 States is. The Germans have con- | Orren street N.E.. and Miss Grac | ducted numerous experimental | Andrews of 200 Massachusetts ave- | plane flights over the shorter route. | nue N.W., were going home ufter Iri addition to the West Indies and | participating in a concert by the Strong, assistant chief of staff of | America. the United States Army, has just The two women were carrying pointed to Newfoundland, “which | their tom toms and drum sticks ' offers practicable facilities as an | at Eleventh street and Florida ave- air base from which operations can | nue N.W. when the thief seized the United States as far south as | cents. | the Potomac.” Gen. Strong says “an| Mrs. Luckett held to the purse and | enemy once established in (British- | Was jerked from her feet. She fell | owned) Newfoundland would consti- | to the pavement. Meanwhile; Miss | tute a very serious threat against|Andrews, a stenographer in the War | either Canada or the United States.” Iaell)(lrbment. unlimbered her drum- | sticks, For Woman Tom-Tom Pl West Africa, Brig. Gen. George V.|Ladies’ Oriental Shrine of North 'N X\rx,ther than the wishful thinking of a little group of New Dealers, the outlook was that Mr. Farley, {Mr. Hull and Mr. Garner would | 80 into the convention with suffi- | cient strength among them to con- trol the selection of the ticket. Mr. | Roosevelt was not ignored in this calculation, but he was relegated to a comparative minor role. The idea seat in front of Miss McTwiggan, a | Was that the “big three,” with the young man dashed from the church | Wishes of the President in mind, and fled north on Seventh street! but not under their domination, W, | would get together at an d:pproprl; Elizabeth Lindsey, colored, clerk | ate stage of the proceedings an in an ice cream sp,zre at 1643 Ver- | pick for the presidential nomination mont avenue N.W., was held up at| 8 middle-of-the-roader whose se- the point of a knife last night and ! lection would be duly ratified by A purse contnlnlngyl similar amount of change was stolen last night from Miss Margaret McTwig- gan, 19, of 4518 Fifth street N.W. while she was in St. Gabriel's Church, at Grant Circle. Catching up the purse from the | be launched against vital areas in | Mrs. Luckett’s purse, containing 40 | TObbed of $7. The man took the | the delegates. Such was the theory a year ago. It seemed entirely plausible. But in the months that have intervened events have changed the picture. Thanks in large part to the on- | coming of the war in Europe, the third-term bandwagon has gained money from the cash register and | fled. ENGLISH SUITINGS Custom Tailored In the same connection Strong men- tions that south of the Caribbean, “the great hump of South America Jjutting out in the Atlantic offers in Natal (a province of the Union of | South Africa) the nearest approach | She beat at her friend’s mafl-l ant until he fled and then chased | him several blocks. Miss Andrews | expressed indignation today at the | reluctance of passing motorists and | $35 $40 $45 Summer Suitings, $79.50 (o $10.00 Rexn Lid. an impetus that hardly anybody in May of 1939 would have dared to | predict. At that time, remember, | it was widely felt that Mr. Roose- velt on a suitable occasion would to American shores from the Afri- pedestrians to join in the chase. The | can continent.” | thief escaped. A record that shouts “COME IN!” THE REASONS BEHIND THE RECORD 1k SMARTNESS that wins beauty-seekers 2. PERFORMANCE that thrills action-lovers 3. BIG CAR SIZE that provides roominess 4. RIDING COMFORT that tops the field 5. LOW UPKEEP that pleases the thrifty 6. PLUS—a “good deal” that is a “good deal” + « « always a Packard policy . Come jp and let's gy %"50:::' .Iu)v loday — | declare himself out of the race. There were open feuds, too, among | the Democrats, that were yet' to be glossed over by the party truce in the special embargo-repeal ses- | sion of Congress last autumn, and by the subsequent omission of the | President, at the start of the pres- ent session, to recommend anything | in the way of provocative legisla= | tion As the election has approached | there has been a gradual drawing | together of the factions. Now as | always, the great majority of the | politicians of both parties find it | possible to rise above principle in the interest of party success at the polls. 1748 M St. N.W. NA. 7800 Third Term Effort Aided. All that Mr. Roosevelt has done or left undone in the last year is ex- plainable, it is true, in terms of a general wish for Democratic success in November, whoever may be the nominee, but it is equally true that his whole course has aided the third-term effort. Without his pas- sive acquiescence in the maneuver- ings of the third-termers, the conspicuous result of which has been to give him his impressive victories over the Garnerites, it is inconceivable that the movement in his behalf could have reached its present proportions. There is only one man who stands effectively in the way of his again Tunning for President on the Demo- cratic ticket, and that is Mr. Roose- velt himself. Events have conspired with his own political sagacity, whatever the end to which it may have been directed, to produce this strange result. In the face of what may seem per- suasive evidence to the contrary, the prediction is again ventured in this space that Mr. Roosevelt will not take the nomination. A clue to one of the considerations which will weigh with the President may be found in the current fight in Con- gress over his proposal to shift the control over civil aviation back to .| the Commerce Department. This is no issue of overwhelming import- ance in itself, but it illustrates what Mr. Roosevelt is now up in Congress and what he will be up against for four years if he is re- elected. He has lost on the aviation issue in the House. If he wins out “deaI" u’l] be. n’t Sign of four sterile and perhaps em- bittered vears.