Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1934-10-05
WASHINGTON
johnson Quits
The Big Error
embarrassing Insin-
uation
uation

General Hugh Johnson's resigna-
tion as Administrator of the NRA
has been accepted by tbs President.
his was nj of the things that
every competent observer here had
been expecting, but nobody knew
Just when it was coming. The Gen.
eral had been getting himself in
bad with the business interests con-
cerned under the NRA codes for a
long time. Everybody agrees that
ne did a splendid job of promotion
and organization, but there is
equally unanimous agreement that
as an administrator, now that the
codes are in operation, he rufled
too many feathers that ought to
be smoothed, and aroused too much
resentment by his d~ictatorial man
e
1t has been understood for some
time that the President was look
ing for a way to ease the General
out gracefully. The occasion
seems to have come because of the
Generals speech a couple of weeks
ago, in which he not only accused
the textile workers union of bad
faith and breach of agreement, but
took occasion to drag the name of
a justice of the Supreme Court
into a controversial matter which
may, and probably will, come be-
fore that tribunal for examination.
Johnson said publicly that he
had been in constant touch with
Justice Louis Brandeis, and that
Brandeis was opposed to the NRA
because it was 90 big. That in
discretion, the latest of many from
the Generals mouth was too serious
to be overlooked. Justices of the
Supreme Court are "untuchables."
They must not, by implication or
directly, be dragged into discus
sions Of controversial points.
Justice Brandeis is a philosopher
as well as a %jurist. AS a jurist he
is presumed, like all the other JUS
tees of the Supreme Court, not to
be influenced in passing on purely
legal questions-and no other sort
of questions come before the
Court. AS a Supreme Court its
members are not concerned with
whether a given policy is right or
wrong, whether it will work or
Won't work. They are only con-
cerned with the constitutionality of
laws enacted by Congress and the
legality of acts performed under
those laws. Whether they are good
laws or not is not for them to say.
The non-legal mind often finds
it difficult to understand how a
man can personally believe that
something is wrong, yet as a judge
decide that it was right, or at least
not illegal. The ability to take a
completely impartial attitude on
legal questions is what makes a
great ~jufist; and nobody denies
that Justice Brandeis is a great
jurist.
1t was, naturally, quite embar-
RAISING for Justice Brandeis and
even more embarrassing for the
President, to have General John
SON blurt out a statement which
could be used to back up an in
situation that the Administration
was playing politics with the Su-
preme Court. 1t is a common slur
upon the integrity of hat body
that 1.-THE Supreme Court always
follows the election returns" al
though nothing could be farther
from the truth. The last thing
President Roosevelt desires is to try
to influence the Supreme Court, or
to have the idea prevail that he is
trying to influence it, either direct
ly or indirectly.
Hence the belief that the latest
indiscretion of General Johnson's
was likely % prove the last straw,
so the Generals graceful exit had
been anticipated days ahead.
The men who will guide the des-
Continued on page four)