Evening star., 1934-03-19
ACTION ON A|RMA|L
CALLED INDICATIVE
Roosevelt Could Take Dicta-
toriaI View in Any Indus
trial Case.
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

Several aspects of the airnail mat
ter have Importance going beyond this
particular incident These can be
discussed without taking account of
the degree of guilt or innocence of
the airmail companies or the merit
of the present controversy in any
respect.
When a nation has a large degree
of personal government, peremptory
action by the individual exercising
the government is not only possible
but likely, even inevitable Under the
widespread powers Mr.. Roosevelt has,
he can take peremptory action similar
to that taken about airmail in any
one OF scores Of fields.
For example, Mr.. Roosevelt under
N R. A. has power to put the whole
of any industry whatever under presi-
Dental license Once he does that
no concern within that industry shall
carry on business without a license.
This license the President may sus-
pend or revoke" at pleasure 1t is
true he may do so only after notice
and opportunity for hearing" This
qualification means nothing, for the
President Is the sole judge of whether
the hearing justifies his action. ANY
person who without license
carries on any such business" is sub
ject to fine of $500 and Imprisonment
for six months. Each day such vio-
lation continues shall be deemed a
separate offense."
Power Expires June l6.
Under this provision of N. r. A.
the President can today take, as to
any industry in the country, per-
emptory action as drastic as he has
This provision Of N. R. A. expires
June l6, next. The President has said
he will ask Congress to renew it.
Under other provisions of N. r. A.
the President possesses and has exer-
cised widespread, drastic powers TAX
ing away from specific individuals and
classes of persons the right to bid
for Government contracts or to sell
goods or services to the Government
Such personal powers are scattered
all through the new deal legislation
Just now the President is asking for
a similar personal power over all
tariffs. Under this tariff power. as
originally proposed, it would have
been possible, and it would be paral-
lei to the airmail case, for the Presi-
dent to decide, without hearing. that
certain industry had procured its
tariff from Congress through lobbying
or colluSive bargaining. and on that
charge, without hearing, take tariff
action which would wipe out the in
dustry with stroke of his pen. The
proposed tariff power has been, how
ever. materially modified by the Ways
and Means Committee of the House
Under the changed form the Presi-
dents power is modified to the extent
of requiring assent by the Tariff Com
mission.
Dangers Pointed Out.
If the country wishes personal gov
ernment instead of government by
law, and if Congress wishes to abdi-
cate its law-making function in favor
of personal government, then both
country and Congress should under
stand the conditions that are insep-
arabic from personal government
That some degree of personal govern
ment has value in emergency cannot
be denied, But the country should
understand its costs and its dangers
These costs and dangers vary with
and are inherent in the personality
of the individual upon whom personal
government is conferred
This brings up the second point
Under personal government, the per-
sonal traits of the individual function
ing as the government, his mental
processes. his temperament. his sus-
ceptibility to impulse, the sort Of mo-
tive that habitually moves him-all
that becomes, under personal govern
ment. as important as the laws and
principles which personal government
displaces. Personal government can
become on occasion. in William r.
Hearst's angry and therefore extreme
phrase, government by personal
whim" The personal traits of any
individual exercising personal govern
ment anywhere in the world in 1884
become as important as the personal
traits of an autocratic monarch in
any country before constitutional gov
ernment was introduced Peoples
must study these personal traits and
guide their actions by them as under
a normal government they study laws
and abide by them. To say what per-
sonai traits Mr. Roosevelt has shown
in his series Of actions about airmail
would be beyond both the scope and
the spirit of this dispatch.
Conviction Without Trial.
The third point involves what seems
an argumentative assertion, though
in fact no one denies it. OF the air
mail contracts Cancelled, no charge Of
any sort was made about the bulk Of
them. Those against which charges
were made were but a small fraction
of the whole number The President
Cancelled all the contracts indiscrimi-
nately with one summary stroke OF
his pen.
This action runs counter to habit
of mind deeply imbedded in Anglo
Saxon law and in American usage.
EV6Il III IlOIl-lcSdl dCtlOllS, III lli1Ol hleA
proceedings in churches, associations,
unions, clubs and the like, there is a
rule, instructive rather than statu-
tory, which dictates how charges
shall be treated. The rule prescribes
a sequence in the following order:
Charge, notice to the accused, presen-
tation of evidence, trial, conviction
if conviction be-and finally punish
ment. This sequence Mr.. Roosevelt
ignored His action was preemptory
punishment.
This must be regarded, not as an
isolated episode, but as a feature in
separable from the revolution through
which the country is being conducted.
The revolution does not contemplate
violence in the sense Of physical force.
I am sure no person within the ad-
ministration contemplates that. Prof.
Tugwell, the leading advocate of bold
and drastic action" formally disap-
proves violence by physical force. Il
have never found myself" he says,
greatly in sympathy with the revo-
lutionary tactic"