The Washington times., 1936-11-06
ISSUE UP SOON
ON COURTS
Continued from Page II

| troll OF the legislative SITUATION is
wellnigh complete.
The third branch Of the Gov
eminent, the judiciary, alone re-
mains aloof to the expression of
the popular will, unaffected by
the massed voice of the country
that spoke on Tuesday.
What Mr.. Roosevelt proposes
to do about the Supreme Court
if anything-is the most engrossing
question in capital discussion. 1t
may not be necessary to do any,
thing if, as one wag put it, the
Supreme Court read the election
returns.
But the court, as constituted,
remains the sole possible stumbling
block in the advancement of the
New Deal and the things for which
Mr.. Roosevelt in his Madison
Square Garden speech said I'VE
have just begun to fight"
Anti-New Deal
The anti-New Deal complexion
Of the court was Strinkingly mani
tested in the invalidation of the
National. Recovery act, the Agri-
cultural Adjustment act and in the
Guffey coal decision. In those de-
ciSions, the court held that the
general welfare clause of the Con-
stitution could not be stretched to
cover Federal regulation of indus
try and agriculture. In still another
decision, the New York minimum
wage law, the court held that the
States, too, were without power
to regulate wages and hours of
labor.
The court now has under con- |
sideration still another New Deal
law which attempts to reach the
labor problem by new avenue.
This is the National Labor Rela |
lions Act, which imposes collective
bargaining by majority rule. and
sets up quasijudicial commission
to enforce its provisions.
Prior to last Tuesday, the belief
was generally held in Washington
that this legislation was destined
to follow the NRA and the triple
A into the discard. Since last
Tuesday, those who make bets
about Supreme Court decisions are
not so certain. They believe, with
the late Mr.. Dooley, that the court
may be impervious to politics, but
that it does follow the election
returns. And those of Tuesday
were very Illuminating concerning
what the people want.
Something to Be Done
If the court should find against
the Government in the labor rela-
tions case, there is no doubt what |
ever in inner circles of the New
Deal that Mr. Roosevelt will do
something" about the court. The
act was drawn with Supreme
Court objections, as stated in the
MIRA case, particularly in mind.
If it again fails to please the mar
row majority of the court, the
dormant question of a constitu.
tional amendment will become a
live issue overnight.
Three avenues are open to Mr..
Roosevelt in approaching the mat
ter of the Supreme Court, if it is
to be approached at all.
l. Enlargement of the courts
membership which could be &C
complished by a simple act of
Congress. this to be followed by
appointment of younger and
more liberal justices.
2. Enactment of Federal
statute specifically prohibiting
the court from declaring an
act of Congress to be unconsti-
tutional.
3. Submission to the states
of constitutional amend
ment specifically endowing the
Federal Government with
powers to regulate industry
and agriculture for the general
good. These are powers the
court has explicitly stated the
Federal Government does not
now have.
Serious objections would be
raised to the first two alterna-
tives. Enlargement of the courts
membership would be open to
the charge of packing the
court