The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-02-28
Legal Foundation
 or NRA Is Staked
(Continued from Page 1)


 Indications were that the Weir- ton decision might also goad or- ganized labor, already restiye. to greater aggressiveness. It would be unlikely to accept any extension of MIRA which did not include the essentials of "A.
 The administration and congress had proceeded on the theory that by right of the power to regulate interstate commerce, the govern ment could regulate wages, hours, labor policies and myriad other aspects of individual business be- cause they affected interstate commerce.
 Yields Decision Hurts Federal Judge John P. Nieldss decision in the Weirton case, if up- held, would knock that theory into a cooked hat. He said the Weirton concern, although it is a great steel firm, buying and selling in inter- l state commerce, was essentially ln' trastate in its manufacturing oper- ations. Therefore. he ruled, the government could not constitution ally apply to 1t Section "A of the recovery act.
 Federal Judge Charles I. Daw- son in Louisville took the same view and ruled that coal mining is intrastate commerce and beyond the power of congress to regulate. Chairman Francis Riddle of the national labor relations board and acting counsel, Blackwell Smith, of MIRA, said efforts to enforce the recovery act. would continue as usual despite the Weirton and other adverse decisions. The jus tice department, which has the final say in prosecutions, declined all comment until it's lawyers make 8 thorough study of the decisions
 Other MIRA Tests
 It was uncertain how soon a su- preme court review of the Weirton l case could ebe obtained. Other equally vital tests of MIRA already are docketed for argument. Fore nose are these:
 l The case of the speilman Motor Company of New York challeng- ing the power of the federal gov ernment, through MIRA, to regulate price allowances.
 The case of the Belcher Lumber Company of Alabama in which Federal Judge William ]. Grubt held unconstitutional NRA,s at tempt to regulate wages and hours.
 Judge Grubb's ruling that tht Tennessee valley authority's grea' power sale program is invalid.
 The constitutionality ofthe com puIsory railroad pension. law passed last session, and certain aspects ol AAA, particularly it's milk licens ing program, are other cases ques tioning legality of the New Deal
 The Weirton decision has drawr the line most sharply betweef "strict" and "libera" interpreta tions of the constitution.
 The question depends on inter pretation of Article l, Section $, o the constitution. which empowers congress ito regulate commerce. with foreign nations and among the several states and with Indiar tribes"
 The New Deal contends the power to regulate interstate com merce implies power to reguiaie conditions which affect the well Those who interpret the constitu' tion narrowly contend the power extends only to regulation or ac- tual interstate commerce.
 Most Famous Decision
 The most famous supreme cour' decision giving marrow" inter- pretation to the interstate com i merce clause was made in the child labor case many years ago. The court, by to 4. held congress was powerless to forbid child labor IT industries. even though their pro ducts moved in interstate com merce. The decision was cited or ten in congressional debate ove' the original NRA bill.
 In later years. however, tne court has made broader interpre' tations. It's members now are con siderably more liberal than the3 were when the child labor decis ion was given.
 The court, for instance. has up held power of the interstate com merce commission to ban exces sively low intrastate rates because of their evil effect on interstate commerce.
 The theory entertained in con gresS during debate on NRA wal that fast transportation and othe' factors have brought the com merce of the nation into such cios' relationships that practices in on' section or in one company may al feet interstate commerce. There for, it was contended. congress could exercise power over detail of individual companies.
 Tn line with this reasoning ISmith thought the Weirton decis ion should have been based on th' question of how the company operations and policies affected in terstate commerce. He said tn judge seemed to have overlooked this in his finding that Weirtol Company itself was not engaged in interstate commerce.
 Il Labor Leaders Aroused . ,I While general interest in the de cision focused on the constitutions question. labor leaders wer aroused by the fact that Judg Yields held that the Weirton Com ] pany union plan conformed ' Section TIA. This was attacke , by President William Green of tn American Federation of Labor. Asserting "labor cannot accer the decision as final and concius ive," Green cohtinued:
 "The decision Is very disappoiEt ing and is evidently based upo either a misunderstanding or a mis ointernretatiOn of the facts. Ther