Evening star., 1937-05-24

as distinguished from commerce that
is strictly within State boundaries.
In this country today. however, the
vast proportion Of goods goes into
interstate commerce.
State Aid Declared Essential.
He said in this connection: AL
though q goodly portion OF the goods
OF American industry move In inter-
state commerce and will be covered
by the legislation which we recon-
mend, there are many purely local
pursuits and services which no Federal
legislation can effectively cover" The
President added that 1t was the duty Of
States to come to the aid Of the
workers in those services, and that
they should not sit idly by and expect
the Federal Government to do it all.
The Federal legislation, he said, should
be stimulus to State action.
Taking shot at those who hold the
theory that private initiative may be a
cure for deep-seated national ills, the
President gave four reasons why they
fail.
He said that they "see the problem
from the point Of view of their own
business; they see the problem from
the point OF view Of their own 10.
cality or region; they cannot act
unanimously because they have no
machinery for agreeing among them
selves: they have no power to bind the
inevitable minority Of chislers within
their own ranks"
THE overwhelming majority Of this
Nation" the President said" has lit
tie patience with that small minority
which vociferates today that PROS
perity has returned, that wages are
good, that crop prices are high and
that Government. should take holi-
day."
The clear implication from the
Presidents message today was that
the breathing SPELL" which he prom
ised business more than q year ago,
Is over. Legislation is to be pressed.
and it will deal not only with min
imum wages and maximum hours,
but also with industry and with agri-
culture.
legislative Forecast.
A forecast that legislation will be
enacted to cure the conditions dis
closed by the La Toilette committees
investigation Of espionage in industry
was made by the President. "The
abuses disclosed by the investigations
Of the Senate must promptly be cured"
he said.
The President said that enlightened
business is learning that competition
ought not to cause bad social conse-
quences which inevitably react upon
the profits of business ITSELF" And he
added: "Al but the hopelessly reac-
tonary will agree that to conserve out
primary resources Of man power, Gov.
ernment must have some control over
maximum hours, minimum wages, the
evil Of child labor and the exploita-
ton Of unorganized labor"
Quoting at considerable length from
the dissenting opinion handed down
by the late Associate Justice Holmes of
the Supreme Court in the child labor
law cause nearly twenty years ago,
the President said: "Although Mr.. JUS
tiee Holmes spoke for a minority of
the Supreme Court, he spoke for a
majority Of the American people" The
court, by q 5-to-4 decision, at that
time held the child labor act uncon-
stitutionh.
interstate Commerce Issue.
In his dissenting opinion, Justice
Holmes had declared that under the
Constitution, when goods are sent
across State lines, the Federal Gov
eminent has the right to regulate such
commerce. The Interpretation Of
what actually constitutes Interstate
commerce" has been . stumbling
block.
The Presidents contention today, as
was that Of Justice Holmes 20 years
ago, is that the Federal Government