Evening star., 1935-03-15
BY REX COLLIER.

nursing humping, conceive mead
ache while it looks hopefully toward
that great untangler-the Supreme
Court.
A survey by the Department OF
Justice shows that approximately
400 cases involving New Deal legis-
lation. and running the gamut of the
alphabetical agencies. are pending in
Federal courts. from one end Of the
country to the other and extending
through appellate channels direct to
the highest court.
At stake in some of the major cases
are recovery revenues which will ag-
gregate perhaps a billion dollars OF
more before the vital issues in contro-
versy are decided by Chief Justice
Hughes and his eight associates.
More than that, there is involved
in the litigation the very founda-
ton Of President Roosevelt's ambi-
tiously launched plans.
To Replace Solicitor General.
Faced with its mounting problem
of litigation in which recovery agencies
have become embroiled the admins
tration is expected to facilitate ap-
pointment OF a successor to j. Craw.
ford Biggs, whose resignation as
solicitor general was announced yes
terday at the White House.
Attorney General Cummings has
had under consideration several out
standing lawyers as nominees for the
important post. Biggs' resignation
was not unexpected in official circles
as he had indicated desire to retire
to private life.
Stanley Reed, general counsel of the
r. F. c. and special assistant to the
Attorney General, is reported to head
the list of those under conSidera-
ton. Reed and Cummings are close
friends and it is known the Attorney
General regards Reed as one of the
ableSt lawyers in the Federal service.
The solicitor general has the task
of representing the Government in
litigation before the Supreme Court
where a number of highly important
| key" cases are due to be heard in the
next few months.
Cummings said he would send q
nomination for the job to the White
House very soon," but he declined
to discuss whom he is considering fol
the honor.
He paid tribute to the work of Biggs
Alphabetical Units Attacked.
The N. R. A., the A. A. A., the
cotton control act, the tobacco act
the T. V. A., the silver purchase act
and the railroad retirement act have
been contested in legal suits brought
in Federal district courts and in the
Court Of Claims
The Government has won and lost
in some of the lower court actions
and with each decision the disputes
have moved another step upward to-
ward the supreme bench. Attorney
General Cummings has adopted the
policy of appealing adverse decisions
with a view to having the Supreme
Court give the final word, and private
contestants invariably have carried
on TO appellate courts.
+ So far only two cases have been
passed on by the high court-thoSe
involving the celebrated gold clause
and the hot oil industry in the
Southwest. The attitude displayed by
the court in both of these cases has
not added to the peace of mind of the
Federal attorneys charged with de-
Tending the administration measures.
Attorney General Cummings expressed
qualification" over the gold decision
although it held unconstitutional
the repudiation of the gold payment
clause in Government bonds-his
qualification being due to the fact
that the court, by 5-to-4 vote, in
dicated the reputation was warranted
by conditions and there was nothing
those affected by it could do about it
Court Not So Kind on Oil.
The court was not so kind in the
hot OIL case, holding that section
9 (c) of the petroleum code, prohibit
ing transportation of oil in excess of
State quotas was invalid because it
delegated legislative authority to an
administrative officer.
BY far the greatest number Of court
cases now confronting the Govern
ment arise from the ramifications OF
the national industrial recovery act
and its labyrinth of codes.
The latest compilation of the De-
partment of Justice reveals 1872 N. r. A
cases in the courts. The agricultural
adjustment act cases are second in
number. with 46. All of these cases,
with the exception of seven A. A. A.
cases involving tax complaints, are
being handled by the antitrust divi-
sion of the Justice Department, headed
by Assistant Attorney General Harold
M. Stephens.
The N. r. A. cases. according to an
official of that division, raise, in gen.
eral, five major issues, three of which
involve constitutional questions:
l. Whether Congress lawfully en-
powered the N. r. A. with authority
to act-that is. whether legislative au-
thority was delegated by Congress to
an administrative branch of the Gov
ernment.
2. Whether the regulation or ac-
tivity complained of is within the
field Of interstate commerce or a
usurpation of intrastate functions Of a
State.
Due Process Of Law.
3. Whether the due process of law
clause has been violated in admins
tration of codes or other phases of the
act.
The two other issues are. first.
whether the regulation or activity in
volved is permitted under the statute,
and. second, whether the evidence of
a violation of the statute is sufficient
to warrant either the rendering of a
decree in equity or criminal penalty.
The majority of the A. A. A. cases
involve questions similar to those in
the NJ R. A. litigation.
Two of the N. r. A. cases that have
received Nation wide publicity are the
Weirton and Houde suits-both of
which attack the constitutionality of
section 7 (a) of the N. r. A. act, which
is designed to protect the right Of
employees to bargain collectively,
In the Weirton case the Govern
ment recently received a severe jolt
from the Federal District Court in
Wilmington, which dismissed suit
the Government had filed against the