Evening star., 1937-03-16
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY G.. GOULD LINCOLN.

| from the Federal Trade Commission it
was because the commissioner did not
see eye to eye with him on matters OF
| policy. The Federal Trade Commission
is an independent" agency of the Gov
ernment, quasi-judicial agency, set up
by Congress in the days of Woodrow
Wilson to see that fair practices, rather
than unfair prevail in industry and busi-
ness. 1t was very evident that if
member of the Trade Commission could
be removed by the President, without
any charge Of wrong or i'll doing the
independence of that agency was gone
like the SHOWS of yesterday.
The President went ahead and re-
moved Humphrey. 1t was his method
of dealing with quasi-judlclal BODY,
which was supposed to be independent
and to be beyond the pale of politics
and the influence of the Chief EXecu-
tive. He is now tackling the independence
| of the Supreme Court-a completely Ju-
dicial and completely independent body,
it has been supposed He is not taking
| tile Sdtllt llltlllOu do lildG Willoil IlC t'oCN
| in the Humphrey case. That would
| clearly not be constitutional. But 1t is
constitutional, it is generally conceded,
| for Congress at the request of the Presl-
| dent, to increase or decrease the member
| ship of the court. BY placing half
dozen new justices on the bench, men
who will see eye to eye with the Presl-
dent, there can be wrought change in
| ba
any change brought about in the quasi
judicial Trade Commission by the re-
| moVal of members of the commission.
| X
The Presidents correspondence with
the removed commissioner throws light
on the present-day struggle of the Chief
! Executive to bring the Supreme Court
into line with his policies, the opponents
of the Roosevelt court bill maintain. For
| example, on July 25, 1888, when he was
| intent upon getting new trade COM
| missioner the President wrote to
Humphrey: without any reflection upon
| you personally or upon the service you
| have rendered in your present capacity,
I find it necessary to ask for your resig-
| nation as member Of the Federal Trade
| Commission. l do this because I feel
| that the aims and purposes of the ad-
miniStratiOn with respect to the work
| OF the commission can be carried out
| most effectively with personnel of my
! own selection"
Commissioners Humphrey not only did
| not see eye to eye with the President
| or so the President Said-but he also
| did not consider that the President had
| the right to remove him from Office
| under the law which set up the COM
mission and provided that a commission
| er could be discharged only because of
| some Wrongdoing or because Of incompe-
| tenCe-and no charge of either had
been filed against him. He declined TO
resign. And that was that. The next
move was up to the President and he
made it. On August 81, 1888 the Presi-
dent wrote to Mr.. Humphrey: II do not
feel that your mind and my mind go
along together on either the policies or
the administration of the Federal Trade
Commission, and frankly I think it is
best for the people of the country that
I should have full confidence IN the
members of the commission" And on
that note he summarily dismissed
Humphrey from Office.
The removed commissioner. however,
took his fight to the courts, claiming his
salary for the rest of the term for which
he had been appointed. He died. But
the case eventually reached the Supreme
Court of the United States, and without
exception the nine justices handed down
a unanimous opinion that the President
had exceeded his authority in removing
Humphrey. 1t was too late to bring
about the restoration Of Mr.. Humphrey
PIlr RI IN
of the President in that regard. And
now, under the Presidents plan for the
reorganization of the executive branch
of the Government, he has proposed TO
place the Federal Trade Commission,
| the Interstate Commerce Commission
and other independent" quasi-judicial
agencies of the Government directly
| under various cabinet officers "for ad-
ministratiVe purposes" But once that
| is done the independence of these COM
| missions will be just about as great as
| will be the independence of the Supreme
| Court after the President has packed"
it, say his opponents.
y X X x
AS hearings before the Senate judiciary
| were resumed today on the Presidents
court bill, there was move under way
also for a constitutional amendment
which might run alongside. There
seems far more support for a constitu-
tional amendment right now than for the
court bill With Senator Robinson of
Arkansas, Democratic leader Of the Sem
ate, and Senator Norris of Nebraska,
ardent Rooseveltian, saying there was
no reason why a constitutional amend
ment should not be supported, the plan
seemed to have gained ground. How
| ever, there has been no agreement on the
| kind of amendment or what it shall con-
tain. Norris, for example, has offered
an amendment which would do away
with the life tenure of places on the
Federal bench by the judges appointed
| and limit them to nine-year terms
| Senator OMahoney has pinned his faith
| on an amendment which would make a
| two-thirds vote of the court necessary
to declare law unconstitutional. And
| so it goes.
The hope of some of the supporters of
the constitutional amendment plan is
| that if Congress submits an amendment
| tGs the States for ratification the Presi-
dents plan to revamp the court will be
allowed to die. So far there has been no
indication, however, that the Chief EX-
ecutive would consent to let Congress
| pass up his bill. On the other hand, if
Congress finds that it has passed law
permitting the voluntary retirement of
hprc of S11prenoa Count