Evening star., 1935-07-01
j. s. DICTATORSHIP
IS SEEN FORMING.
Assault on Courts Would
Deprive Citizens of Redress
of Wrongs.
BY DAVID LAWRENCF

era of exploitation of thed Of vast
the politicians. For, possf accumu-
political power, through fnnd the
lation Of a 4,ooo,oooa has en-
Roosevelt administrsctatorshin the
barked on a political are becoming
implications of whnistration policy
clearer as every ar
is unfolded. ,....
shin is the in'tent demand by the
sxap,,t;r. snp 20 .le sh of the Government
thot tha ,o.Iative branch, which it
dominates nd controls, shall join it
in dire, assault on the judiciary.
Two .ajor proposals now pending
would leprive the American citizen
of r. use of the courts to redress
prieances or to obtain a remedy in
the form of compensation when in
i,.ed by Government action. One
alates to the right to recover dam
ages If the Government repudiates in
terest or principal on Government
bonds. The other relates to the re-
covery of processing taxes.
Ostensibly both these proposals have
been advanced to prevent few from
enriching themselves or from "specu-
lating" at the expense of the Govern
ment. But actually the move Is a
confession that the executive branch
of the Government does not dare to
risk its case before court of law and
justice and wishes to prevent any
verdict unfavorable to itself from be-
ing rendered.
Implication in Attitude.
The theory of being willing to sub
NIT a controversy to q fair court is
as old as Anglo-Saxon justice itself
and while it is technically true that
no government can be sued without
its consent, it is also true that re-
fusal to permit suit implies an un-
willingness to allow its own acts to be
reviewed by an impartial tribunal
Already consequences of the gravest
sort are flowing from the administra-
tion's attitude. Thus in the amend
ments to the agricultural adjustment
act is to be found a provision which
forbids any citizen from suing in court
to recover any processing taxes COL
1ected on various agricultural prod
ucts. About s7o0. 100000 has been
collected from these processing taxes
which are really sales tax paid by
the people of the country when buy
ing necessities of life.
The Supreme Court of the United
States in the N. r. A. decision cast
doubt on the administrators right to
collect processing taxes, but, instead
of repeating them or making them
subject to collection as a simple sales
tax payable by all the people instead
Of the direct users of the particular
commodities, the Department of Agri-
culture merely moved to get around
the decision by asking Congress to
refuse citizen; the right to sue to
recover the improperly imposed taxes.
Here Is the provision of the proposed
law which has been passed by the
House Of Representatives and has
been favorably reported by the Senate
Committee OF Agriculture for action
this week:
mo suit or proceeding shall be
brought or maintained, in, nor shall
any Judgment or decree be entered, by,
any court for the recoupment, set
off, refund, or credit of, or on any
counter claim for, any amount of any
tax assessed, paid, collected, or ac-
crued under this title prior to the
date of the adoption of this amend
ment.
mo suit, action, or proceeding shall
be brought or maintained in any court
If such suit, action, or proceeding is
for the purpose or has the effect Of
preventing or restraining the assess
ment or collection of any tax imposed
or the amount Of any penalty or in
terest accrued under this title on or
after the date Of the adoption of this
amendment"
Helplessness Of Courts.
Thus with one fell swoop the courts
are to be made helpless to grant in
functions to American citizens against
improper penalties or taxes assessed
by the Department of Agriculture, and
this applies to every farmer, producer,
professor or handler of agricultural
products from the farm to the retail
store, all of whom come under the
jurisdiction Of the A. A. A. in one
form or another under the old and
new law called the agricultural ad-
justment act.
Recognizing this situation, many
companies which have been paying
processing taxes have rushed to the
courts and within the last three DAYS
many injunctions have been granted
restraining the tax from being COL
lected by the Government. The taxes
are to continue to be paid, but they
will come into the custody of the
court. to be paid out after the decision
Is reached as to their validity. This
applies, however, only to taxes being
paid now and no further suits will be
possible in week or so when once
the amendments have been adopted.
The money alreaay collected for
processing taxes cannot be recovered.
Money being paid in during the in
terval between last week and the
passage of the new law can be segre-
gated and possibly recovered. Once
the law is passed, however, COM
panies will be compelled to pay the
tax or, if they refuse. their proper
ties can be attached by the Govern
ment and their EWciness operations
tnterfered with.
Thus does the cycle Of compul-
sion complete Itself, and once again
the power to tax or to penaIize and
coerce by the use of the taxing power
has brought crisis in American life.
The Supreme Court of the United
States will unquestionably holi the
processing taxes an unconstitutional
levy, but it may be a year or two
before a case can reach the high
court and before decision is rem
dered. BY that time the New Deal
dictatorship may have developed q
way to circumscribe the action OF the
Supreme Court itself. All things now
become possible when Congress, at
the behest Of the Executive, votes to