Evening star., 1936-04-16
lob INSURANCE
UPHELD BY COURT
New York Supreme Tribunal
! Gives FiVe-to- Two
4 Decision.
BY the Associated Press.

ALBANY. N. Y. April 16.-A foun-
dation stone in the New Deals social
security program-New York States
unemployment insurance law-was
held constitutional yesterday by the
Court of Appeals,
In a five-to-two decision the court
said bluntly that it could see nothing
unreasonable or unconstitutional in
the legislative act which seeks to meet
'the evils and dangers of unemploy-
ment in the future by raising a fund
through taxation of employers gen.
orally"
The law was passed last year by
the Democratic controlled Legislature,
under the insistence of Gov. Herbert
H. Lehman. who has since declared
that the social security program is
~'the most progressive piece of social
and humane legislation ever enacted
In this country"
In the majority opinion, Chief Judge
Frederick Crane said the fact is that
in the past few years enormous sums
of State and Federal money have been
spent to keep housed and alive the
families of those out of work who
could not get employment"
Says Help Necessary.
Then declaring that help was
absolutely necessary" Chief Judge
Crane asserted that ''it would be a
strange kind of government-in fact.
no government at all-Which could not
give help in such trouble"
Two cases were at issue. One in
. volved the appeal of the w. H H
Chamberlin. Inc. and E. c. Stearns
& Co. of Syracuse, and the other the
Associated Industries of New York
State against the State Labor Depart
ment
This act in brief" Judge Crane
said, taxes a certain type of employer
per cent on their pay rolls. This
class of employer includes those who
have employed at least four persons
within each of 13 or more calendar
weeks in the year 1885, or any subse-
quent calendar year. The employ
ment of farm labor, of ones spouse or
minor child or employment in certain
charities are excluded
senting opinion expressed the opposi-
tion to the law when he said ''the tax
or contribution is not against indus
try or employers. 1t is against a GER
tain class of individuals and corpora
tlons who are engaged in employing
wage earnerS.
People Must Live.
1T is placed not alone upon those
who have unemployed wage earners."
he wrote, but also upon those who
~have no unemployed workers. No one
questions the obligation and duty of
the State. That question is not in
volved. The question here is whether
the State may place that burden upon
that class of individuals and corpora
tlons for the benefit of another class
for whose condition they are in no way
responsible"
In answer to this objection, Judge
Crane said in the prevailing opinion
that people have to live and when
they cannot support themselves some
one has to look after them.
I When able bodied, willing men
cannot find work they NAV be
treated as class irrespective of their
particular calling or trade" he said.
The peril to the State arises from
unemployment generally. not from anv
particular class of work So likewise
employers generally are not so unre-
lated to the unemployment problem
as to make moderate tax upon their
pay rolls unreasonable or arbitrary"
Industrial Commissioner Elmer F.
Andrews said the decision will be
welcomed by almost 100000 wage
earnerS whom the law was designed
TO protect in some measure against
the effects of future unemployment"
Will Take Appeal.
NEW YORK, April 16 IP.-Henry
s. Fraser of Syracuse, counsel for
W. H. Chamberlin and E. C. Stearns.
plaintiffs in test case against New
York States unemployment insurance
law, said last night an appeal would
be taken to the United States Supreme
Court at once.