Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-10-21
SEEN
HEARD
around the
NATIONAL
CAPITAL
By Carter Field y
BY Carter Field F"


Roosevelt's speeches on his western
trip, and by a curious coincidence it
is questions affecting federal powers
in this direction which are more I'M
portant, from the White House
standpoint, in the term of the SUI
preme court just opened, than ev-
erything else put together. AS a
matter of fact, the high court has
ruled on most of the questions af-
fecting New Deal legislation.
So that perhaps Mr.. Roosevelt
was not ignoring the high court en-
largement issue as much as some
commentators seemed to suspect on
that western trip. He made flank
attack, and it is generally conced-
ed by Washington lawyers that he
improved his position considerably.
He has now put the court in a
position something like this: either
the court must 60 all the way in
approving federal power policies,
or it will strengthen the Presidents
contention that the court needs re-
juvenation.
Every correspondent writing from
the Presidents train stressed the
apparent fact that the folks out West
didn't give a whoop about the SUI
preme court issue, but that they
were mighty strong for federal
spending in their own necks of the
woods. And they agreed very gen.
orally also that more water resource
developments ware wanted.
The President did not mention the
court fight, nor the senators who
beat him on it, but it just so hap
pens that many of the water re-
source developments are in the
states of senators who fought him
on the court issue, Montana, Ore
gon, Wyoming and Idaho particu-
larry.
Expect Court Backing
Putting all the pieces together, ex-
perts here are predicting that the
high court will sustain the govern
ment in every phase of its cleo
trio power program. For instance,
on the right of the federal govern
ment to substitute local governments
which desire to 60 into competition
with, or supersede, privately owned
electric systems, either by outright
grants of money or by loaning the
money at very low rates of interest.
For instance, on the right of the gov
eminent to engage in the electric
business. In the famous IVA case
the language used by the court held
that it was all right for the govern
ment to sell power incidentally
produced. That is, of course, pow
er produced by a project the main
reason for which was not the pro-
duction of current, but for some
clearly constitutional reason, such
as navigation.
1t is true that in all the IVA
dams-there is another IVA case
coming up before the high court be-
fore long-there is the possible con-
tention that electric power was not
the only reason for construction. But
sometimes this is a hairline de-
cision, and the government has been
uneasy about the attitude the court
might take.
This suspicion among experts
here that the court may take an ex-
pedient course is based very large
ly on the general acceptance of the
belief that at least two of the SUI
preme court justices Switched in
the Wagner labor act decision. The
very generally held view in Wash
ington is that at least two Justices
enough had they stood by their
original position to have overturned
the act-changed. The alleged rea-
son for the supposed change is that
the justices feared that if they did
not they would contribute impor-
family to President Roosevelt's case
against the court then pending in
the senate.
High Hopes
Always optimistic, the chaps who
have been predicting enormously
ever since 1888 that President
Roosevelt would "turn to the right
in the near future" are at it again.
This time they base their hopes on
his promises in western speeches
that he would balance the budget in
1899, and would do it by checking
spending. The implication of course
is that tax raises would not be nee
essary.
The process of reasoning which
arrives at the result that the Presi-
dent will turn to the right is a
little intricate, but rather interest
ing. First, the optimistic conserva-
tives point out that the President
cannot reduce spending appreci-
ably. They point out that in those
very speeches in which he promised
to balance the budget he made lavish
promises about bigger and grander
projects-"more dams on the Co.
lumbia river" etc. Whereas his
talk of economy was in most gen.
eral terms.
Further, they point out that there
is all sorts of pressure for increased
spending.
On top of this they point to the
well-known position of Secretary of
the Treasury Henry Morgenthau,
t. !,