The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1917-03-23

the business of interstate commerce
carriage subjects the carrier to the
lawful power to congress to regulate
. it follosw that the very absence
of tie scale of wages by agreement
and the impediment and destruction
Of interstate commerce which was
threatened called for the appropriate
and relevant remedy, the creation of
? standard by operation of law bind
ing on the carrier.
Not Absolute Rights.
CAS- to the employer: Here again
it is obvious that what we have pre-
viously said is applicable and decis-
i've, since whatever would be the right
of an employee engaged in private
business to demand such wages as
he desires, to have the employment:
| if he does not get them and by con-
cert Of action to agree with others to
leave upon the same condition, such
rights are necessarily subject to limi-
tation when employment is accepted
! in a business charged with a public
! interest and to which the power to
regulate commerce possessed by con-
gress applied and the resulting right
to fix in case of isagreement and dis
pute a. standard of wages as We have
seen necessarily. =.
Having thus adversely disposed OF
the contentious as to the inheren
want of power, we come to consider
| all the other propositions which group
! themselves under q common heading,
| that is:
Such an abuse of the power if pos
sessed as rendered its exercise un-
constitutional.
"The want of equality is based upon
two considerations. The one is the
exemption of certain short line and
electric railroads. We dismiss It be-
cause it has been adversely disposed
of by many previous decisions. The
second rests on the charge that un-
lawful inequality results because the
statute deals not with all but only
| with the wages of employees engaged In
! the movement Of trains. But such
employees were those concerning
whom the dispute in which wages ex-
listed, growing out Of which the threat
Of interruption of interstate COM
merce arose-a consideration which
establishes an adequate basis for the
| statutory classification.
The chief juctice dealt at length
with the argument that the law was
unavoidable" and after disposing or
this argument he said:
A workable Law
considering the extreme conten-
tions relied upon in the light of this
situation, We can discover no basis on
which they may rest
when It is considered that no con-
tentlon is made that in any view the
enforcement of the act would result
in confscation, the misconception up
on which all the propositions proceed
becomes apparent.
Being of the opinion that congress
had the power to adopt the act IN
question. whether it be viewed as
direct fixing Of wages to meet the ao-
sence of a standard on that suoJect
resulting from the dispute between the
pa rites or as the exertion by congress
of the power which 1t undouDteoiy
possesses to provide by appropriate
LEGISLATION for compulsory arb1tratlon,
a. power which inevitably resulted
from it's authority to protect interstate
commerce in dealing with situation
like that which was before tive
conclude that the court bt low erred
in holding the statute was not WITHIN
the mower of congress to enact ana IN
restraining its enforcement and lts
decree must be and it is reversed and
the cause remanded with olrecI1ons
to dismiss the bill"
Following is the synopsis Of the DIS
senting opinion of Justice P7tney'
ioined by Justice Vandeventer: !
"Mr Justice Pitney, for himself ana
Mr. Justice Vandeventer, delivered u
dissenting opinion expressing concur
renee in the views Of Mr.. Justice LAY
that the Adamson law Is unconstltu-
tional because congress, aithouen
confessedly not in possession OF tne
information necessary for intelllgenI
and just treatment Of the controversy
between carriers and trainmen, arDl-
trarily imposed upon the carriers tne
entire and enormous cost OF experl.
mental increase in wages Wltnou'
providing for the compensation 70 De
paid in case the investigation snoulo
demonstrate the improperly OF the
increase.
"That the act can not be sustained
by analogy to the hours Of service &c e
act. the safety appliance acts or tne
employers liability act, for each OF
these has a direct and substantial re-
lation to effect upon the commerce ~
self, while the Adamson law na'
none. .,o
"That it can not be sustained on the
theory that increasing the wages OF
trainmen will encourage prompt anu
efieient service but benefit ahKe
those who are efficient and those Whd