Evening star., 1935-11-09
The Utility Decision.


The public utility holding company
act has been declared unconstitutional
in its entirety, in ruling by Judge Will
liam c. Coleman in the Federal District
Court in Baltimore. This is the latest
of the New Deal laws to meet court
rebuff. 1t begins to look as though the
New Deal conception is not in line with
the American system of government,
system which grants to the Federal Gov
ernment certain powers and leaves the
rest to the States. a system which also
undertakes to safeguard the interests OF
the individual American.
The ruling of Judge Coleman makes 1t
possible to expedite final determina-
ton of the consttutionality of this act
by the Supreme Court of the United
States Surely the speed with which such
a decision may be reached is a matter
of interest If the law is put into full
force and effect and then long afterward
held to be unconstitutional, irreparable
wrong may have been done to many
people.
The administration, however, seems to
take a different view. 1t appeared in
the case as friend of the court and
Government attorneys hold that since
that was the case it cannot bring an
appeal from the court ruling. Burco,
Inc, company formed to protect the
rights of the bondholders of the Ameri-
can States Public Service Company,
which challenged the constitutionality
of the act, appeared in the case as the
defendant, upholding the validity OF the
law. And Burco, Inc, apparently has
every intention of appealing the case
and carrying it to the Supreme Court
for final determination and has the
legal right to do so.
During the hearing of the case John
j. Burns, general counsel for the Secur-
tiles and Exchange Commission, filed
brief in which he charged the litigants
in the case with collusion to obtain an
opinion on the constitutionality of the
act. Here, indeed is a strange charge.
1t is difficult enough, under all the in
tricacies of the law and its delays, to win
a prompt decision on the constitutional
ity of law Judge Coleman, in his rul-
ing, said 1T is not forbidden 'collusion'
for the parties to case, by agreement,
to put it in such shape that the rights
and obligations of the parties can be
the more readily determined by the court,
especially when matters of public mo-
ment are involved requiring speedy
settlement regardless of the adverse
effect upon the Governments interest"
Mr.. Burns, speaking for the Govern
ment charged that the same utility in
terestS which opposed the bill before Con-
gress were furthering this case to test the
constitutionality of the act. That is prob
able. If the country must wait for the
proponents of the act to make the test
it might have to wait long time. Mr..
Burns went further and advised the
court to proceed cautiously in view of
the suspicious circumstances surround
ing the case. This led Mr.. John w.
Davis, one of the attorneys against
whom Mr.. Burns had brought his
charges, to remark that the Burns brief
was below the dignity of police court"
Judge Coleman, speaking Thursday, said
that the attempt of the counsel for the
Government to disparage the motives of
both investors and their counsel sis not
only baseless, but unworthy of any rep
"unwarranted reflection" upon the court.
Judge Coleman dealt exhaustively in
his opinion with the public utility hold
ing company act. He held that Congress
lawful power under the commerce clause
of the Constitution. He held that the
act sought to regulate all things that the
electric power companies may do, intra-
state as well as interstate. He denied
that any national public interest" per-
mits the Government to control any ac-
tivity Of the people, unless the power
for such regulation is delegated to the
Federal Government by the Constitu-
tion He held that the Congress, by
denying the use OF the mails to any per-
son who refused compliance with the
terms of the holding company act. had
exceeded its authority under the postal
power granted to Congress by the Con-
stitution.
The country has witnessed delays in
the past in bringing New Deal acts to
final decision by the Supreme Court.
Why should there be delay?