Evening star., 1937-06-06
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

ment. They are: the measure for the
reorganization Of the courts, the meas
ure for Executive reorganization
(Which greatly increases the authority
of the President, largely at the ex-
pense Of Congress), and the so-called
new N. r. A." which, among
other effects, tends to deprive the
States Of their identities and the State
Legislatures of many Of their powers
and functions.
All three of these bills are long and
intricate. Any bill that would set
out forthfightly to change the form
Of Government would be long and in
tricate under any conditions These
three measures are long and intricate
for the additional reason that the
purpose is not revealed. To achieve a
purpose indirectly takes many more
words than to achieve it directly, and
many Of the extra words must be what
Theodore Roosevelt called weasel
words"
Because Of this. public understand
Ing Of these measures takes a long
time. The process consists Of, first,
careful reading by students and other
persons equipped to understand; then
careful analysis and discussion, In
Congress, in newspapers and maga-
zines, and over the radio. Finally
comes understanding by the public.
Public Finally Reacts.
The arrival Of considerable por-
tion Of the public at understanding OF
the court measure took over three
months; the measure was first sent to
Congress by Mr.. Roosevelt February
s.; it Was the first Of May before any
large proportion of the public grasped
it. Most Of the early weeks were de-
voted to consideration Of that part of
the court measure which has to do
with the Supreme Court That, when
understood. was sensational. But real
concern only came after the students
and authorities got around to putting
their microscopes upon that part Of
the measure which had to do with
the lower Federal Courts.
AS to the measure for executive
reorganization, greatly enlarging the
Presidents powers, and taking much
power away from Congress, that is
not yet understood Because the
students and authorities have been
busy with the court measure. few of
them have even read the measure
for executive reorganization When
read, that measure will turn out to
be almost as startling as the court
measure
Before either the court measure or
the executive reorganization measure
were fully grasped, the President, on
May "a, sent the new N. r. A. to
Congress. That again is long and
complex. It contains some 10000
words. 1t IS vague. Much Of the
vagueness, think, is deliberate. It
Is deliberately. vague for the reason,
think, that the writer's Of the meas
ure must have known they were try
ing to bring about something utterly
unconstitutional.
Gen. Johnson Clasps At Powers.
There Is one man who ought to
| come nearer to understanding the
new N. r. A. than any other. He Is
Gen. Hugh 8. johnson, formerly head
OF the old N. R. A., the Blue Eagle
| one. Gen. johnson wrote most Of
the old N. r. A. and administered
all of it. When the present new
N. R. Al came out, Gen. johnson
read it, read it many times, put his
mind on it most earnestly After
several days of study he told me he
had a headache. But Gen. Johnson's s
study of the new N. r. A. arrived
fairly promptly at one conclusion. He
found the new N. R. A. to be more
drastic than the old one. He writes:
THE new N. r. A. bill is being
commented upon as very mild and
not at all arbitrary. N I. R. A.. the
old measure, compares with it in feroc-
! ity about as Little Red Ridinghood
with the Big Bad Wolf 1t is an out
right delegation of almost unlimited
Notwithstanding power to an ex-
ecutive board Of flve, with penalties
so severe that violation is a sentence
OF economic death. :. . The board has
almost complete discretion to fix any
wages and hours anywhere for any
class at any time"
Now If, as Gen. Johnson says, the
new N. R. A. is more ching
than the old one, how then can Mr.
Roosevelt expect the Supreme Court to
uphold it? The old N. r. A. was held
unconstitutional, not by divided Su-
preme Court, not by any 5-to-4 decision
The decision against the old N. R. A.,
handed down May 81, 1885. was unan-
imous. And after all nine justice had
united in condemnation Of the old N
r. A., one Of the three so-called lib
| eral justices, Mr.. Justice Cardozo, was
moved to give 1t an extra slap. He
said, This Is delegation running
So how can Mr.. Roosevelt expect the
court to uphold the new N. R. A.?
| think the answer is that he can't
| and he doesn't. think he does not
expect that any one Of the nine JUS
tices now on the bench would find
the new N. r. A. constitutional.
have not yet read the new N. r. A.
closely enough to compare it in detail
with the old one, and haven't studied
the recent decisions Of the Supreme
Court with sufncient care to say how
far they have modified the former
position Of the court. (To read all
the important documents that emerge
at Washington, and keep abreast with
developments, takes more time than
the average reader would suppose }
But, speaking with that limitation, it
seems to me fair judgment that
not one justice Of the Supreme Court
Is 1t now exists would approve the
new N. r. A. It seems to me 1t would
be dkapproved as much by the So
called liberal justices-Mr Brandeis,
Mr.. Cardo1o and Mr.. Stone-as by
the so-called conservative justices.
II this opinion Of mine Is sound,
then we can understand why Mr..
Roosevelt wants to appoint six new
justices to the Supreme Court, and
why he insists on his court measure
being passed, even after an apparent
majority Of public opinion Is against
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