Evening star., 1935-01-08
"Hot OIL"

The Supreme Court has served no
tice that Congress must still continue
to do the legislating for the American
people. Laws must still be made in
conformity with the Constitution and
not by the Chief Executive or any Of
the agencies of the Executive which
may be set up. The opinion of the
court in the oil cases is salutary. 1t
comes at a time of widespread belief
that Congress had delegated, and
probably would continue to delegate,
many of its powers to the Executive.
including its law-making powers. An
executive authority that also legislates
smacks of dictatorship.
1--WE are concerned" said the court
in it's opinion, handed down by Chief
Justice Hughes and concurred in by
seven other members of the highest
tribunal, with only single dissenter,
with the question of the delegation
of legislative power" And further the
court said: THE question whether
such a delegation of power is permitted
by the Constitution is not answered
by the argument that it should be
assumed that the President has acted,
and will act, for what he believes to
be the public good. The point is not
one of motives, but of constitutional
authority, for which the best of mo-
tives Is not a substitute"
The Constitution is definite. The
first sentence Of section /, article l..
says: "All legislative powers herein
granted shall be vested in a Congress
of the United States" There Is no
exception, no provision for delegation
of such power to the Executive. In
its opinion the Supreme Court held
that the Congress could place in the
hands of the Executive authority to
carry out provisions of the laws it en-
acted; that merely to enact law and
let it stand with definite enforcing
power would be the acme of futility.
But to turn over q law-making au-
thority to the Executive is beyond the
power of the Congress.
Under the New Deal there has
grown up in the country more and
more of an opinion that the Executive,
imbued with the fullest concept of
the public good, should take command,
and that the powers of the Executive,
in the name of the public good, as
the Executive sees it, are practically
unlimited. This point Of view SEEM
ingly has found its way into the law
making body itself, until the Supreme
Court has had occasion to call the at
tention of Congress to its powers and
duties, which it may not delegate; to
stiffen up, perhaps, the legislative
backbone.
The opinion of the Supreme Court
in the oil cases stands, Of course,
apart from other opinions which the
court may make in other cases rest
ing on New Deal laws, even the
N. I. r. A., the administration of
one section of which the court has
now held unconstitutional. The ques-
ton which quickly arises in the pub
lie mind is whether the codes of fair
competition and their operation in
industry may not be held unconsti-
tutional. The court will decide all
these matters on the facts and the
merits If and when they come before
it. The court, it is pointed out in
N. r. A. circles, did not pass on the
constitutionality Of the petroleum
code itself in its opinion yesterday.
But the test Of that code is likely to
be the next step.
Many Of the rules and regulations
that are in effect as legislation have
been written for industry under the
operation of the national industry
recovery act. Whether Congress has
been sufficiently specific in its delinea-
ton of what these legislative rules
and regulations should be, in writing
the original law, remains to be seen.