, 1935-06-05
WASHINGTON
Nv Ray Tucker

MIred President Roosevelt &C
knowledged that hts batteries are
silenced for the moment. He has
drafted the finest legal minds around
him. He has sat through confer
ences from dinner 10 dawn with
Me6srs. Richberg. Frankfurter. john
son and Cummings. He has talked
by phone with Old Deal and New
Deal industrialists In every section
Iof the country.
But these surveys have produced
only negative results. They show 1D
that no effective NRA can be estab-
llshed through legislative mandate,
~ that business and industry can
not police their bad boys through
voluntary action: ~ that all New
Deal social and economic agencies
or control and reform stand III Ieo-
pardy: ~ that dIsintegration or the
structure bulwarked BY NRA codes
has sct In swiftly; f5l that the gov
crnment's %helpleSsneSs before this
himself movement
may cause chaos.
The New Dealers are still grooming
and cropping. But any immediate
and satisfying solution IN far distant.
More than n week has elapsed since
the historic vcrdicts. but an admin
istratlon noted for speed and ingen-
uity Is mircd In judicial mud.
Issue Mfr. Roosevelt's closest
advisers have agreed upon a long
time remedy. They are framing sew
cral constitutional amendments de-
signed ~ meet what the president
charactcrizrs as the courts horse
and buggy" attitude But Il VIII re-
quire several years for any or them
TO become effective.
The administrations leading law
vcrs have found that formulation on
language for An amendment IA a
herculean task. ANY proposal ~
bar the court from passing on the
ronstitutionality of MI act of con-
Fress. In their opinion. would not b.
accepted The court Still has many
friends. To re-define what cOnsti-
tutes Interstate commerce IN Euf-
ficicntly precise terms 10 OutWit the
present philosophy Of the court IN a
tough Job.
But Mr.. Roosevelt submits a clean
cut issue 10 his advisers He regards
the courts new attitude a. an Oh
stacle 10 orderly progress. He thinks
the Issue IA the most fatrful since the
Drcd Scott decision helped ~ strrw
the land with bloodahed He wants
10 withdraw n vast field of social and
economic problems from the courts
Jurisdiction How ~ do ID legally
and promptly IA the problem he has
posed.
Defiance III hts calm and calcu-
latlng lecture" OH the court Mr..
Roosevelt made political AZ well as
legal history. Everybody who heard
him. and listened to the subtle In
tonatlon of his voice. scnsed n. Al
though Ne emphasized that the issue
vas too national and deep NJ be
"parsitan" ne formed the lines for
the 1896 campaign. and perhaps Tor
many beyond that.
Administration men declared that
~ reelected himself with that plat
form" Historically and currently
he threw the COP on the defensive
The republicans were In line 10 cap
italize on the courts sharp rcbuke
or New Deal experimentation and
uncOnstitutionaiity. But Mr., ROOSe-
Welt more than accepted both the re-
buke and the challenge. He hurled
them back al the court 49, and az the
republicans. The only two other
presidents 10 bark such defiance
were Apdrew Jackson and Thomas
jefferson.
Mr.. Roosevelt has again revolu-
tionizcd political trends. IN the past
the COP has stood for a strong cen
trail government. and the democrats
for states rights" The Jefferson
lans - Carter Glass. All Smith. Owen
Yong. Newton Baker et MI now
have another FrudRe against the
man In the White House.
Delicate Political ways suggest
suggest that the court timed its
punches perfectly. They struck the
administration within a few weeks
NJ the expiration az NRA and the
Blue Eagles administrative brood.
But they landed Oh the COP at a
time when the Etalwarts were sight
ing their guns for n barraEe on the
white House from their trenches NJ
Springfield. III.
These tumultuous developments
nc the capital cramp the republic
cans style. There was fuming and
phoning III COP offices when the
supreme court crossed their plans.
Higher-upS urged that the li-Statc
convention nj Springfield BE- called
Off cr at least postponed. Others
begged that Midwest republicans
mute their political instruments. But
the convention callers intend 10 20
ahead with politics as usual"
Chairman Fletcher "a shivering.
The COP must handle these new
problems ~dellcately. and the ex-dip-