Evening star., 1937-04-17


winds and that consistency was the
primary virtue in Government cir
cles.
It probably Is permissible, if one has
. sense Of humor, to contrast some Of
the utterances and speeches Of the
President himself and also some of
the comments Of his spokesmen and
advisers in Congress short while ago
with what is being said now.
Some strange pieces of evidence
come to view. Here they are:
Variable wind number one: For near
~ three years the administration in
sisted that matters of national con-
Germ could not be left to the States
and that 48 States could not deal with
drought, duststorms, and working
conditions in industry" as the Demo-
cratic national platform Of 1886 finally
phrased 1t, could not "be adequately
handled exclusively by 48 States"
Then came this Winter the "sit-down"
strikes and administration leaders in
The Senate suddenly declared that what
happened in Michigan was local
uent had no power to intervene.
Wagner Supplies Another.
Variable wind number two: Senator
Wagner OF New York, speaking in the
Senate in February, 1888, said that the
question which had troubled the Ameri-
can people since the eighteenth amend
ment was added to the Constitution
was not at all concerned with liquor"
but was a question of government, how
to restore the constitutional balance of
power and authority in our Federal svs-
tenn which had been upset by national
prohibition" He then added these
significant sentences: mo one single
national standard can prevail. At the
bedrock Of this entire question lies this
mmovable truth: That there is MOTH
ing the Constitution can say, nothing
the Federal Government can do, which
will successfully impose a rule of con-
ouct upon community except by the
Will OF the people of that community"
AND yet today the nation labor re-
lations act fails to comprehend within
its terms that handful Of "sit-down"
strikers can impose a rule of conduct
on community against its will and
on many other communities in other
states and go unpunished by Federal
or State authority.
variable wind No. 3: President
Roosevelt. in Nationwide radio ad-
dress In March, 1890, said, "Wiselv
or nwisely, people know that under
the eighteenth amendment Congress
mas been given the right to legislate
on this particular subject, but this is
not the case in the matter of a great
number OF other vital problems Of
Government, such as the conduct of
public utilities, of banks, of insurance.
OF business, Of agriculture, of educa-
ton, OF social welfare and of a dozen
other important features. In these
washington should not be encouraged
to interfere"
witness now the last three years Of
legislation in every one of these fields
which now have been declared by Mr.,
Roosevelt to be pressing national
problems
Farley Seen rs Variable.
Variable wind No. 4: The Demo-
cratic national platform of 1892 de-
clared against Federal Intervention
IN many things and called for State
action. But Chairman Jim Farley
said that conditions" changed be-
tween June, 1882, when the platform
was adopted, and March, 1898, when
MI. Roosevelt was inaugurated. He
didn't say the winds changed, but it
amounts to the same thing.
A number of other instances can
be cited to show that Mr.. Roosevelt
has himself favored realistic an
proach, that is, taking the facts as
they come up from day to day and
making national policy in accordance
with the way things shape up at the
time. Gan Justice Roberts be blamed
then II prior to January, 1887, he
shared the view Of 50 many other
Judges IN our Federal system that
membership In q labor union was not
q direct effect upon interstate COM
merce, and II during the months of
January, February and March he was
given liberal education in how
interstate commerce can be tied up
BY = small group Of union workers in
side . plant with operations suspend-
Cd at key points, so as to paralyze
tho whole business OF a large scale
producer?
Five Votes, Not One.
Justice Roberts is obliged by his oath
to reach conclusions through personal
convictions and not by the suasion Of
Others on the Supreme Court His vote
doent swing the court. It takes five
votes to make q. majority decision and
there WAS no such division in many
other important cases so frequently
overlooked by the Roosevelt admins
tration in its desire to cast doubt on
the work Of the justices.
II there Is anything more uncertain
than the language of legal opinions,
whether Of Federal or State courts or
both, it is the language Of political ad-
dresses especially in the National Gov
ernment. It rarely happens that Su-
prcme Court justices swing from one
group to the other when the court
divides but it is customary happening
to see political government, including
the President and Members of Con-
gress in the Republican as well as the
Democratic parties, reverse themselves
presumably in the public interest.
Maybe Justice Roberts has q sense of
humor, too, and likes foot ball. Looking
about him he might well have come
to the conclusion that the White House
sets the styles nowadays in govern