Evening star., 1936-01-08

Smashing of A. A. A. by the Supreme
Court no. only demolisheS the New Deal
crop-control program. but mangleS ar
rangements on Capitol Hill. In the first
place, the duration of the session be-
comes wholly problematical, with chances
now favoring prolongation throughout
the Spring and into tie Summer. If
President Roosevelt decides to propose
a constitutional amendment to meet the
situation which confrontS him, bitter and
interminable discussion in Congress will
ensue and dominate its proceedings in
definitely. Should the administration
submit no constitutional project and
merely propose plans for something more
or less permanently to take the place
of outlawed processing taxes, that. too,
would precipitate legislative storm OF
immeasurable dimensions. The budget
would. of course, automatically be thrown
into disarray by any necessity to raise
the wind for farm bounties through new
taxation. In dozen directions A. A. AS
destruction has altered the whole con-
gressional picture with lightninglike sud-
denness. Prospects of brief and placid
session, never very well grounded. are
out of the window.
\
To the last, many New Dealers be-
lieved the Supreme Court would decide
in large measure at least to uphold the
constitutionality of the farm program.
In and out of the administration there
was a considerable body of lawyer opin-
ion of the same hue. Hardly anybody
looked for another unanimous decision
such as the one that obliterated N. r. A.
RooSeveltianS are deriving such COM
fort as they can from the fact that
one-third of the Supreme Court finds
A. A. A. valid. The minority's scathing
dissenting opinion denouncing the de-
cision as "a tortured construction Of the
Constitution" Is balm to New Deal
wounds. It is sure to figure conspicuously
in any scheme to seek constitutional
amendment and will become an out
standing Democratic talking point If re-
quired for campaign purposes. Expec-
tation is owAwideSpread that the Bank
head cotton act, the Guffey coal act,
the Kerr-Smith tobacco act and the War
rem potato act are doomed to go the way
of N. r. A. and A. A. A. Some author
tiles think q similar fate also awaits
the Jones CoStigan sugar act, portions
of the social security law and the revised
railroad pension act.
-
Political angles and implications OF
A. A. AS doom are innumerable. That
1t will ramify into the presidential con-
test and go far toward determining
President Roosevelt's fate in November
IS a foregone conclusion. Doubts are
already current whether the agricultural
West, chief beneficiary of the invalidated
program, can now be accounted as de-
pendably Democratic as it was a few
days ago. On that score, Of course,
much depends upon the success OF the
administration in securing prompt enact
ment of legislation designed in some
form to preserve the cash bounty sys-
tenn. The political situation. too. will
be affected by what the Republicans
think up in the way of program guar
anteed to stand the constitutional test
and bestow upon agriculture substantl-
ally the advantages enjoyed under the
defunct New Deal plan. That the Roose-
velt cause. by and large, has suffered
severe blow is pretty generally conceded.
+ x*
Most politicians acknowledge that
President Roosevelt Is stronger person.
ally than many of his policies. Thus It
is reasoned that, even though N. r. A.
and A. A. A. have been constitutionally
found wanting, this circumstance has
probably not undermined F. D. r.. s vote.
getting strength with those who believe
he has made valiant and successful Ct.