The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-06-26

Washington, June 2e - Four members of the house have achieved new and special dis tinc.ion.
 They have become known to the president as "The Four Horsemen.'
 Reason for this label is that this quartet was chiefly respon. sible for hamstringing the legis- lation closest to the presidents heart - the holding corporation bill. They did their stuff in the privacy of the house interstate commerce committee.
 Members of the rough riding squad are:
 EoRGE HUDDLEsToN, Alabama democrat, who des- pite loud protestations of devotion to the cause of liber. alisn has waged bitter war usually behind the scenes-on some of the presidents key reforms.
 SAMUEL B. PErrENGILL, Indiana democrat, lawyer who considers himself q con. stitutional authority.
 CARL E. MATES, Michigan republican, who campaigned for reelection last year as New Deal supporter.
 CHARLES A. WOLVER. TON, New Jersey republican, who not only did likewise but
 has been bcsicging tho PWA for funds to enable his home town. Camden. to erect municipal power plant.
 Heart Trouble
 Heart of the holding company bill-as written under the per- sonal direction of the president and passed intact by tho senate --are two provisions, Sections II and IS.
 SECTION ii Is the so-called "death clause" It provides for the eventual elimination of util- fly holding companies.
 SECTION 13 is designed to put an end to abuses in the widely denounced "service charges" a practice under which holding corporations take h u ge profits from subsidiaries by compelling th.n to pay for ingeniously de. vised management services"
 Repeatedly the federal trade commission has denounced thls system as mulcting the public.
 Huddleston fathered the amendment in committee which riddled Section 13.
 In its place he substitted an authorization for the federal power commission to determine what constitutes a reasonable profit" on management service charges.
 Such blanket delegation of power, administration experts assert, is patently unconstitu- tional. And they cite recent su- preme court rulings in the "hot oip' and "sick chiken" cases as irrefutable evidence of their con- tention. In both decisions, the court threw out the law chiefly because congress had delegated undue power to administrative agent les.
 Death Clause" Demise
 Huddleston and Pettengill pooled forces in scuttling the death warrant" section.
 Their substitute strikes out this provision and replaces 1t with another blanket authority device. Under their wording, the securities and exchange commits sion would be empowered to de- eide which holding companies companies should be abolished and which should not.
 Against this proposal admins. tratlon leaders raise not only the issue of constituti0nality but that of practicabilify. Even if constitutional - which is most unlikcly--it would be physically impossible for the SEC to pass judgment on the hundreds Of giant holding company combines throughout the country.
 Notwithstanding these argu. mems Huddlest0u and Petten- gill. seconded by New Deal republicans Hapes and Wolver- ton. tut these utility-approyed amendments through the Inter- state commerce committee and pushed the presidents bill before the full house in form that ad. miniktrati0nltea regard as 0bvi- otfnlv unoonsfltntf0nnl