Evening star., 1934-10-22
US. SEEKS DELAY
|NPERK|NS CASE
Wants N. R. A. Violation
Charge Postponed Until
After Election.
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

DI MANN SULLIVAN.
At the present writing the case of
the Government of the United States
VS.. Fred Perkins is on the calendar
for trial in the United States District
Court at Scranton, Pa, tomorrow.
Efforts are being made by the Gov
ernment to get poStponement until
December !. The defendant, Mr.
Perkins, and his lawyers are resisting
the poStponement Among some fol-
lowing the case closely there Is sur
mise that the Government may prefer
not TO have the case tried during
political campaign. This surmise may
be quite wrong; the Government may
have perfectly good reasons for ask
ing postponement. Considering the
public importance Of the case, the
public attention centering upon 1t
and the probability it will be a test
case on which much Of the New Deal
will stand or fall-conSidering this.
it is perhaps as well that the trial
should not take place during the tur-
moil of a campaign.
Regardless of when the trial occurs.
the case is developing into one of
those momentous ones which become
turning points in both law and pub
lie opinion. The Perkins trial may
rank witt such cases as the Dart
mouth College case in 1919, which
was a la 1dmark in the relations be-
tween Government and business.
Reed Volunteers Services.
The Perkins case has attracted the
attention Of important lawyers, in
cluding Democratic ex-senator James
A. Reed of Missouri, who, in an As
ISOLATED Press dispatch from Kansas
City, has said that he would be glad
to volunteer his services to the de-
fendant. 1t has been suggested that
the trial be broadcast by radio.
Briefly, the basic facts are: Fred
c. Perkins is manufacturer Of
storage batteries with little factory
on the outskirts of York, Pa, en-
ploying about 20 workmen. He paid
smaller minimum wages than the 40
cents an hour which is fixed by the
storage battery industry code. Appar-
emily 40 cents an hour was adapted
to the conditions Of large concerns
located in large cities. In a small
city like York a materially smaller
wage rate would be the equivalent.
Mr.. Perkins applied to the NJ r. A.
code authority for an exemption per-
mitting him to pay the smaller wage.
The exemption was refused. Mr..
Perkins continued to pay the smaller
wage for the reason that he could
not pay more and continue in busi-
ness-his total net income last year,
after 10 years in business, as shown
by his income tax report, was 81 2531.
Presently a United States marshal
came TO York and arrested Mr..
Perkins on a warrant issued from the
United States Court on a complaint
made by the division of litigation
of N. r. A. Mr.. Perkins was unable
to give the $4,000 bond demanded.
He was committed to Jail at York
and remained there 18 days, until a
local business man, moved by what
seemed to him the cruelty of the
case, provided bail.
workmen Were Satisfied.
Just who itlstigated the prosecution
is not known. 1t is presumed to have
been one of Mr.. Perkins large COM
petitors. No complaint was made by
the workmen in Mr.. Perkins fac
/ tory-they were as shocked as Mr..
Perkins himself and his neighbors.
Some of the interest in the case at
taches to Mr. Perkins personality. He
| is the best type of small business man
| and the best type of American. Born
in New England, a descendant Of Miles
Standish. he attended Phillips Andover
| Academy and graduated in the engi-
neering department of Cornell Univer-
! sity. At Cornell he played foot ball in
famous Pop" Warner team One of
his classmates was Mr. Walter Teagle,
| now president of the Standard Oil Co.
of New Jersey. Another contemporary
at Cornell was Mr.. Frank E. Gannett,
now one of the most important news
paper publishers in the country.
Mr. Perkins is big, simple, likeable
man whose integrity and dependability
shine out of his face. He is the kind
that composes the backbone of small
American communities and Of small
business men as class. 1t has been
said that if the Government prevails
in its prosecution of Mr. Perkins, and
! if this case becomes a precedent fol-
lowed up by the Government-in that
event small manufacturing can hardly
continue to exist in America. There
is hint of admission of this in a sem
tence in the radio speech made by
President Roosevelt on September 80:
I'VE also question the wisdom of ex-
tending code requirements suited to the
great industrial centers and to large
employers to the great number of small
employers in the smaller communities. !"
In spite of that attitude of the Presi-
dent, the mills of the gods, in the
| shape of N. R. A, are grinding down
remorselessly on Mr.. Perkins. Gov
ernment agents, intent on getting all
the details Of Mr.. Perkins business,
are interviewing possible witnesses as
far South as North Carolina. Involved
in the case is the constitutional ques-
ton whether Congress can legislate
about manufacturing business car
ried on wholly within one State.