The New York herald., 1922-08-29

said he believed it should be given a
fun and fair trial and that the law
should be thoroughly and honestly en-
| forced"
should be ample, however. to provide all
the financing required at a given time.
Il think il would be grave mistake
TO attempt to substitute new for existing
| agencies of distribution. and ! trust that
supervision only will be required. But
! il Is better not to interfere at all than
to attempt interference without adequate
power and energy, the possession Of
which may in fact make ii possible to
| exercise minimum of unusual powers.
Perhaps the most doubtful powers
suggested are those to buy and sell fuel
1 and to fix prices or margins OF profit
! Such powers are not suited to normal
times and conditions. but we are dealing
with an emergency. ! do not intend
any reflection upon either producers or
| distributors, but the public cannot be
! left to the mercy of any class group, or
/ individual however good tneir motives
Price fixing Is contrary TO all economic
! laws. but economic laws do not operate
/ in an emergency such as we are dealing
with. / am not unmindful OF the OBJ
Jections to grants of extraordinary power
such powers begets the habit and ac-
customs the people to dangerous inno-
! vations. Such powers will rarely In the
4 first instance be granted, except for a
! good purpose, but once exercised in time
! of emergency, they set the example and
\ furnish the excuse for the demagogue
1 to incite popular clamor for their con-
tinued exercise when there is no emerg-
| ency and no occasion for them. 1t is
/ Of rttff tey,a fnay1
to employ remedies which may do per-
manent harm. However, the Govern
ment should not in an emergency be
| left impotent to protect the very lives
OF the people for fear OF setting pre-
cedent. which may be abused. Our re-
| luctance to grant extraordinary powers
should yield, precisely as constitutional
limitations upon the exercise of such
power yield, to compelling public neces-
sity. / do not contemplate putting the
State in the coal business What !
propose is that the agency created by
us shall have power enough to make IL
unnecessary for the State to go into the
coal business.
The decisions of the Court Of Appeals
and of the United States Supreme Court
in the so-cailed rent or housing cases
appear to remove any doubt of the con-
stitutional validity OF the legislation pro-
posed; (People v. La Fetra, 2so N. Y.
429 Levy V. Siegei, $50 N. Y. 634;
Block " Hirsh, 256 u. s. 1876; Brown
Company " Feldman. 256 U. S. 100
OF Paramount Importance.
Those cases involved both the fifth
and the fourteenth amendments OF the
visions of the State Constitution to
which the exercise of the police power
to protect the public health and promote
the general welfare was held to be
superior. The present emergency direct
ly involves the public health and the
general welfare The temporary in
terruption of transportation due TO ter
minal conditions in New York harbor
has on two occasions within recent years
created conditions from lack OF fuel in
the tenement districts OF New York
which no one can calmly contemplate
I having repeated on a larger scale. The
courts have held that government is
not mpotent in such an emergency and
it Is for us Who are charged with re-
sponsibility to demonstrate its capacity
to protect its citizens.
81 am submitting to you the single
question of how to deal with the i'm
pending emergency due to shortage of
| fuel because l deem that of paramount
Importance at the moment and do not
think the consideration OF 1t should be
embarrassed by extraneous subjects
| This will enable you to consider the
measures suited to the emergency, ire
spective Of whether they relate to State
or municipal rower. The present
emergency is Statewide and must be
dealt with as such by a single State
agency which will naturally have local
representatives and possibly advisory
committees In every locality and will
cooperate with the Mayors committees
and local organizations and agencies,
and trust will receive their cooperation
as well as the hearty cooperation OF the
public. In the present emergency all
must unite for the common purpose OF
promoting the general welfare.
IF anthracite mining is speedily re-
sgmed and IL we are then favored with
maximum production, maximum trans
portation service and mild winter we
shall squeeze through without serious
discomfort. IL we are not thus favored
the public may have to submit to some
discomforts but. in any case. l trust
that IL we make the maximum use OF
all our resources equitably distributed
we shall be able to avert serious dis
tress. At any rate, we can do no more
than to create a suitable agency backed
by the power ana resources or the state
and In the present emergency / do not
think We can safely do less"
Up for Action To-day.
In both houses the administration bill
was advanced to second reading and
will come up for debate on the order
OF final passage tomorrow under an
emergency message from the Governor.
IL is expected that the bill will be
passed during the afternoon.
The Democratic bills were referred
to the Finance Committee in the Senate,
where they will remain. In the Assem-
bly, two of the Democratic bills were
not allowed To be introduced on the
ground that they did not come within
the scope Of the Governors message
One Of those rejected was the Hylan
bus bill and the other inorea sed the
city's borrowing capacity from So, zoe, 900
to $5.000,000. The other three bills we're
referred to the Ways and Means Com
mittee.
Assemblyman Cuvlllier refused unani-
nous consent for the Introduction Of the