Evening star., 1936-11-29
Labor Leads Groups Seek
ing Federal Social and
Economic Laws.
MANY SEEK CHANGE
IN SUPREME COURT
President Silent on Demands for
Amendment on Wages and
Hour Control.
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.

A crop Of problems Is developing
for the Seventy-fifth Congress, which
meets January S.
These problems have to do both
with the legislative program under
which President Roosevelt is expected
to lay in the lap of Congress and
with measures which will be put for
ward by groups in and out Of Con-
gress.
Already organized labor has an
nounced its intention of pressing for
legislation which it believes will be
in its interest. The American Feder-
alton of Labor, it is reported from
Tampa, where the federation has
been in convention, will concentrate
on the passage Of the 30-hour work
week bill. This measure has been
sponsored in the last two Congresses
by Senator Black of Alabama and
Representative Connery of Massachu-
setts. There have been demands from
some labor leaders also for an amend
ment to the social security act to re-
lieve the wage earners from the pay
roll tax for old-age pensions.
Included in demands of labor. al
though it will probably be backed by
others, Is an amendment to the Con-
stitution to authorize the Federal
Government to deal with Nationwide
social and economic matters. In
other words. to legalize such measures
as the N. r. A.. the Guf1ey coal act
and the old A. A. A., which were de-
clared unconstitutional by the Su-
preme Court during the last Con-
greSs.
Move for legislation.
There is a group which still hopes
such legislation may be so drafted as
to avoid a declaration of unconsti-
tutionality. This. in itself, may prove
too tough a problem. unless, indeed,
the present personnel of the court
is changed or increased. Although
there are some Democrats in Congress
who would like to see the member
ship Of the court increased by the
appointment Of enough 'progressives'
to insure decisions upholding the New
Deal measure, the idea Is repugnant
to many. Certainly President Roose-
welt has given no indication that he
would approve such a measure. 9th
ers would change the present law by
making it impossible for a mere ma
jority of the court to declare an act
Of Congress unconstitutional. There
is grave doubt, however. that a law
of Congress undertaking so to limit
the authority of the Supreme Court
would itself be held constitutional by
that body.
The President himself has given
no indication as to his own attitude
toward a constitutional amendment
increasing the powers of the Federal
Government to deal with social and
economic problems He has been
asked repeatedly both before and
since the recent election whether he
favored a constitutional amendment
He has said nothing. In some quar-
ters it has been rumored that he
would prefer such an amendment to
come backed by demand of the
people and to originate in Congress
itself. If there is to be an amend
ment.
Foreign Policy.
The President is en- route to the
Pan-American Conference in Buenos
Aires. What he will bring back from
that conference in the way Of recon-
mendations for the next Congress
can only be a matter of surmise. The
policy which he may develop, if he
does, would be an important part
of the foreign policy of the admin
istration. He has been an earnest
advocate of the so-called good neigh
Dor" policy toward the other Amer
ican nations. Whether this will be
magnified in any way. looking to
peace agreements. remains to be
seen.
Advocates of American entry into
the World Court will become more
active with the assembling of Con-
gress. There are some who believe
that President Roosevelt will again
seek the advice and consent of the
Senate to protocols providing for
American adherence to the court. The
old group of irreconcilables in the
Senate has been materially thinned
in the last three or four years.
The European situation, with war