Evening star., 1935-06-03
WILSON'S DEFENSE
OF STATES CITED
N. R. A. Decision Recalls
Constitution Support
Against Expediency.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

OuJ Vi lIlC tiIObDoAAAO va 80
passed by Congress since the founda-
ton of the Republic less than go have
been declared unconstitutional by the
Supreme Court.
Much of the comment on the de-
cision of a week ago now being made
bv various New Dealers, who are
chagrined at the way their plans have
been frustrated, proceeds from the
notion that the Supreme Court has
been constantly multiplying the will
of Congress and that the court some
how passed on the merits Of the New
Deal itself.
Nothing of the kind Is to be found
in the unanimous opinion of the
court, which summed up the whole
N r. A. controversy in a brief para
graph toward the end of the decision:
1T is not the province of the court
to consider the economic advantages
or disadvantages of such centralized
system. It is sufficient to say that
the Federal Constitution does not pro-
vide for it."
wilson's Opinion.
What President Roosevelt said at
his conference last Friday with the
press about returning to horse and
buggy" days might give the impression
that the court introduced novel
idea. Actually the point at issue has
been discussed hundreds of times by
constitutional authorities and the best
exposition Of 1t was written by Wood
row Wilson, Democrat, liberal, a
defender of human rights and one Of
the keenest students of the Constitu-
ton who ever sat in the White House.
He wrote:
The Constitution was not meant TO
hold the Government back to the
time of horses and wagons. the time
when postboys carried every com
munication that passed from mer-
chant to merchant, when trade had
few long routes within the Nation and
did not venture in bulk beyond
neighborhood transactions.
THE United States have clearly
from generation to generation been
taking on more and more OF the
characteristics of q community: more
and more have their economic in
terests come to seem common inter-
ests; and the courts have rightly en-
deavored to make the Constitution a
suitable instrument of the national
life. extending to the things that are
now common the rules that it eStab-
lished for similar things that were
common at the beginning.
Temptation to Overstep.
'T'he real difficulty has been TO draw
the line where this process of ex-
pansion and adaptation ceases to be
legitimate and becomes a mere act OF
will on the part OF the Government.
served by the courts. The temptation
to overstep the proper boundaries has
been particularly great in interpreting
the meaning of the words commerce
among the several States
'Manifestly, in q commercial ma
tion, almost every item OF life di-
rectly or indirectly affects commerce,
and our commerce Is almost all OF II
on the grand scale. There is vast
deal Of buying and selling, of course,
within the boundaries Of each State.
but even the buying and selling which
is done within single State constl-
tutes in our day but a part OF that
great movement Of merchandise along
. lines Of railway and water course
. which runs without limit and with
out regard to political jurisdiction.
State commerce seems almost I'M
possible to distinguish from inter-
state commerce. It has all come to
seem part of what Congress may un-
ouestionably regulate, though the
makers of the Constitution may never
have dreamed of anything like 1t and
the tremendous interests which 1t
affects. Which part of the complex
thing may Congress regulate?
Saw Regulatory Limits.
CLEARLY, any part Of the actual
movement OF merchandise and per-
sons from State to State. May 1t
also regulate the conditions under
which the merchandise is produced
which is presently to become the sub
ject matter of interstate commerce?
May it regulate the conditions of
labor In field and factory? Clearly
not. I should say: and should think
that any thoughtful lawyer who felt
himself at liberty to be frank would
agree with me.
For that would be to destroy all
lines of division between the field of
State legislation and the field Of Fed
eral legislation. Back Of the condi-
tons of labor in the field and in the
factory lie all the intimate matters
of morals and of domestic and busi-
ness relationships which have always
been recognized as the undisputed
field of State law. and these condi-
tions that lie back Of labor may easily
be shown to have their part In de-
termining the character and efficiency
of commerce between the States.
IF the Federal power does not end
with the regulation OF the actual
movement of trade, 1t ends nowhere,
and the line between State and Fed
eral jurisdiction Is obliterated.
Nations Conscience Guide.
But this is not universally seen or
admitted. 1t Is. therefore, one of the
things upon which the conscience OF
the Nation must take test of itself
to see If it still retains that spirit of
constitutional understanding which is
the only ultimate prop and support
of constitutional government"
After pointing out that one OF the
principal reasons for radical sugges-
tions of change" in our Federal system
is the loss of confidence in State
Legislatures. he urges that more
thought and energy be devoted to i'm
proving State governments. He adds
1T would be fatal to our political
vitality really to strip the States oi
their powers and transfer them to the
Federal Government. II cannot be
too often repeated that it has been thu
privilege of separate development Sc
cured to the several regions OF the
country by the Constitution, and moi
the privilege of separate development
only, but also. that other more fun
damental privilege that lies back Of
It. the privilege of independent. loca
opinion and individual conviction
which has given speed, facility, vigo'
and certainty to the processes of oul
~oI;t{naI or0uyth