Evening star., 1935-01-16

When President Roosevelt delivered
his message at the opening of the
regular session Of the Seventy-third
Congress, in January year ago, he
may have had somewhere at the back
of his mind such conditions as now
have arrived in connection with Su-
| preme Court consideration of New
Deal legislation. Note was taken at
the time of his candid appeal to the
Federal bench to do its part in pro-
| noting the process of recovery. In
| light of present-hour circumstances,
it's interesting to recall the Presi-
! dents exact language. He said:
"Civilization cannot go back: civiliza-
ton must not stand still. We have
undertaken new methods. 1t is our
task to perfect, to improve, to alter
! when necessary, but in all cases to
go forward. To consolidate what we
are doing to make our economic and
social structure capable of dealing
| with modern life is the joint task of
the legislative. the judicial and Nthe
executive branches of the national
Government"
Washington's favorite indoor sport
| at the moment, as it will be until
further notice, is guessing how the
Supreme Court will rule in the gold
cases. A common view is that the
Governments position will be Sus-
tanned by five-to-four vote. although
| some dopesters think there will be
much more impressive majority.
Nearly everybody expects notable
switches in the lineup of the usual
liberal" and conservative" groups
The general belief is that the courts
decision is sure to be made before
Washington's birthday. At no time
within the memory of the current
Capital generation has a Supreme
Court finding been awaited with
keener interest. In some quarters,
| there is not only interest, but anxiety.
Lawyers are pointing out that it
would be a mistake for the public to
deduce too positively from the ques-
tions asked by members of the bench
! that these denote an unmistakable
trend of court opinion against the
/! legality of the gold act. 1t is explained
that often such queries from judges
merely reflect the eagerness OF the
bench to acquaint itself more COM
pletely with the. reasoning of counsel
and explore the true inwardness Of
Its arguments.
\ X x
One result of the Supreme Courts
"hot oil" decision, some members of
Congress think, may be the pro-
longation of the session. In broad
effect, the court reminded House and
Senate that they did not look suf-
ficiently before they leaped when
enacting emergency legislation two
years ago. The consequence. it is
predicted at the Capitol, will be that
from now on every New Deal measure.
without exception. will be scrutinized
inside, outside and upside down, both
in committees and on the floors of
either house, with corresponding de-
lay in final enactments. The SHOW
me" mood at the other end of Penn
sylvania avenue may also persuade
the White House to make haste slowly
in the submission of new measures,
in order that Congress may have
ample time to digest one proposition
before it is asked to get its teeth into
another. The net Of all this may
be that the session will stretch into
the early Summer, instead Of wind
ing up in May or June, as some
optimists have hitherto been think
ing that 1t would. Meticulous de-
liberation over President Roosevelt's
demand for a $4,000, 100000 work