Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-02-28
R|GHT:TURN ORIGIN
IS SEEN IN COURTS
Federal Courts Are Held
Unaffected by HySteria
of Politicians.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

DAVID LAWhENSEs
The turn to the right-toward the
side which believes in conserving the
Constitution and not overthrowing it
will come henceforth from the judicial
branch of the Government.
Unaffected by the hysteria Of poll
ticians or demagogues, the Federal
courts have again demonstrated that
the Constitution is not to be over
ridden by the acts Of Congress.
This time the entire structure Of
the N. r. A. has been called illegal
in a sweeping decision by Judge Nields
at Wilmington, Del, and in another
by Judge Dawson in Kentucky, both
of which will unquestionably be up
held if ever appealed to the Supreme
Court of the United States.
Based on Precedents.
The reason for this prediction is
that both judges based their verdictS
on cases handed down by the Supreme
Court in the past defining what is
and what is not interstate commerce.
1t never has been expected by any,
body besides the New Dealers that the
courts would regard manufacturing as
coming within the commerce clause of
the Federal Constitution. But then
the New Deal lawyers have preferred
to ignore the presidents and deci-
sions. believing that the same po-
litical hysteria which swept the Con-
gress into enacting unconstitutional
laws would affect the judiciary.
The Weirton Steel Co. makes steel
The Kentucky companies mine coal.
Neither mining nor manufacture OF
products of the mine is interstate
commerce. The Supreme Court has
said so again and again, pointing out
that the same ton of coal coming out
of the mine doesn't get into interstate
commerce until railroad carries 1t
across q State line, and then the
carrier alone is engaged in interstate
commerce as a shipper.
So also has the Supreme Court held
that, while the transportation of cleo
tricity across State lines is interstate
commerce, its Distribution by an oper-
ating company is not interstate COM
merce. Hence the proposed holding
company legislation which attacks the
owners of securities in operating COM
panies Is plainly unconstitutional, too.
New Interpretation Tried.
The brain trusters have been trying
to engraft upon the judicial side Of
things an Interpretation that every
thing which affects interstate COM
merce" comes within the Federal
power to regulate interstate commerce.
But Judge Nields in Delaware called
this Interpretation fantastic.
1t is vital decision because the
same effort to usurp power has been
written by the New Dealers into other
pending legislation. Thus the Wagner
labor bill tries the same thing and
goes even to the question of trying to
regulate who shall or shall not be a
member of a union organization and
what relation the employers may have
with members of a union or employe
organization.
The Weirton case is body blow to
the laborites. The National Labor
Relations Board was created by an act
separate and distinct from the famous
Section Ia on collective bargaining,
but 1t, too, has no warrant under the
Constitution to tell companies not en-
gagged in interstate commerce that
they must deny to minorities among
their workmen the right to be separ-
Ately represented from the majority If
they choose.
Summed up, what happened in the
two Federal courts on wednesday Is
In some respects more important than
the gold clause cases in giving busi-
ness and industry a stimulus to go
ahead. For, by the removal Of some
Of the interferences by the Federal
Government in businesses that OPP
crate wholly within State lines, an
important milestone has been passed.
Indeed, the entire code system may
be said now to have been transferred
from a compulsory to a voluntary
basis.
Individual Freedom Remains.
The code organizations can, OF
course, agree among themselves to ban
child labor, to set minimum wages
and to regulate hours of work. but
minorities cannot be forced to comply
and individual freedom still remains.
It is an open secret that the De-
partment of Justice was never hope
full of winning the Weirton case. But
the brain trusters have been prodding
the Attorney General and arguing he
wasn't liberal enough, just because he
saw in advance that a weak case
had been set up for argument.
It would be supposed that the brain
trusters might learn by this time that,
unless the Supreme Court and the
Constitution are to be abolished, there
is no use passing laws in contraven-
ton of the Constitution and the
precedents of the court. But the
pending bills in Congress give no sign
that the lesson IS being taken seri-
ously. Hence the courts must be re-
lied upon to protect the business OF
the country from being despoiled by
arbitrary laws, the uncertainty con-
corning which is doing more to retard
recovery than any other single cir
cumstance today.
tCopyright. 1850