Evening star., 1937-05-22

ing subject for n.y;a Lawrence.
banter, the fact
that Mr.. Roosevelt sends a message to
Congress upholding the constitutional
precedents is a cause for appreciation.
It is a sign that the campaign which
has been waged for the last two years
against the executive branch OF the
Government because it has held too
lightly the basic precedents Of con-
stitutional law is at last having some
effect
Not long ago, it was said by sup
porters of the President on Capitol
Hill that the attack on the Supreme
Court was having a salutary effect on
the justices opinions, but not until
the message on the New York Worlds
Fair was disclosed could it also be
contended that the controversy over
constitutionalism had made deep
impression at the White House, too.
Acted on Cummings Advice.
The legal points involved were not
disclosed in any detail, though the
President said the members could have
a copv of the Attorney Generals opin-
ion for the asking. There was enough
in the message, however, to reveal that
Mr.. Roosevelt was by no means con-
cerned so much about the wording OF
this particular measure as he is about
the powers of Congress in general.
The President signed bill almost
Identical with that of the New York
fair when he approved the Texas Cen
tennial bill. In that case, however,
the delegation Of power to administer
the affairs of the Federal commission
which takes care of Governments
official representation in fair was to
an individual known as commissioner
general and he was appointed by the
President.
The commission itself was composed
in the Texas case of cabinet officers
and it had practically unlimited au-
thority to spend the public funds as it
pleased The Texas folks are reported
to have really needed only about
$l.5OO.OO0 and they got S3,O0O,ooo
The New York delegation in Congress
asked for S5,OOO,O00 and they will get
about S3,OO0,000.
propriated, the interesting thing IS
that in the Texas case the Congress
merely delegated it's powers to a COM
mission to be appointed by the Presl-
dent and only cabinet officers we're to
serve on the commission. In the Meow
York case, on the other hand, Con-
Rress decided to delegate the spending
to a commission composed of seven
members, only three OF whom we're
cabinet officers and four OF whom
were members of Congress.
Spending Discretion With Executive.
According to the New Deal concept
OF constitutionalism, the members OF
Congress are not to be trusted to sit on
commissions which have plenary
power to spend money. Indeed, under
the rules nowadays even the Congress
isn't permitted, so to speak, to pre-
scribe how it's funds shall be expended,
and the bulk of appropriations IN the
last four years have been discretionary
with the executive branch OF the Gov
ernment.
The Attorney Generals opinion
quoted by the President states that
the method of spending the FUNDS
stipulated in the bill amount to an
Unconstitutional invasion of the prov
ince of the Executive
This is not altogether new. 1t will
be recalled that President wilson
vetoed the first budget bill early IN
1921 because it contained clause
whereby Congress delegated certain
powers to the controller general, who
was to be in effect appointed by Con-
gress.
Later on, with some slight changes,
the measure became law under the
Harding administration, but the point
always has been discussed as OF doubt
full constitutionality.
May Be Arming for Battle.
It may be that Mr.. Roosevelt Is
getting ready to have battle on
this very principle when he proposes
to do away with the Office of controller
general in the legislation whereby a
reorganization of the executive de-
partments of the Government is to
be effected. Anyway. there was no
reason for levity in the House when
1t turns out that Mr.. Roosevelt is
endeavoring to obey the Constitution
as he understands it. So far as Con-
eress is concerned, it may we'll Won
der why it can delegate to an official
the right to spend S3000,000 as he
pleases and it cannot delegate the
spending to anybody appointed by an
executive commission Of seven, of
whom members of Congress happen to
be in the majority.
AS a matter of fact, Mr.. Roosevelt
might even at this late day have raised
the whole question of why members
Of Congress should ever sit on execu-
tive commissions of any kind For
there is a clause in the Constitution
which says:
mo Senator or Representative shall,
during the time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any civil
Office under the authority of the
United States, which shall have been
created - during such time"
Literal obedience to this might have
cut off members of Congress from
various travel junkets in the past and
this probably would be going too fal
As precedent in view of the ap-
preaching Summer months.
Copyright. 1879