The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-04-13
Legality OF Wagner
 IlAct Foresees Truce
sIdsrabiy fewer, possibly to two.
 Kmhar. Industry Conference
Ccontinued from Page D

si0erably fewer, possibly to two.
 Labor, Industry Conference
 Secretary of Labor Frances Per- kans. meanwhile, called for April lt conference of representatives oi labor and industry to discuss stab- sliRatiOn of industrial relations in light of the courts decisions. The National Association of Manufactur- CTS expressed the hope that "har- 1ncnious working arrangements can be speedily worked out
 In an hour or so yesterday the court turned upside down iong-pre- vaili1g opinions on the scope of fed eral authority over industry.
 AS of today, the operator of a plant which buys or sells outside it's home state is more likely than not to be subject to directions from Washington with respect to certain employment policies hitherto be- ycnd the power of the federal gov- ernment.
 New Deal Cases Upheld
 In it's Wagner decisions the court maintained its record of upholding all New Deal cases which have come to decision in the session which be- gan last October.
 Senator Robert F. Wagner, demo- crat, New York. author of the labor relations act, said the latest deci- sion in favor of an administra tion measure accepted the broader view that our nationwide social and eco- homie system makes it imperative t0Streat that system on a national scale if the system is to be pre- served at all"
 Hopes for industrial peace scared because collective bargaining, now assured, has been a prime source cf labor trouble. It was the disputed point in 47.8 per cent of 1886 strikes compared with 5.7 per cent in 1881. New Dealers are joyous.
 Reversal of Lower Courts
 The national relations board pre- pared to obtain reversal of lower court opinions holding the Wagner act unconstitutional but conceded through it's chairman that yester- days decisions did not extend broad authority to all industry.
 Observers of New Deal policy pre- dicted that the Wagner legislation, devoted wholly to defining and en- forcing a so-called Magma Charta for labor, would have to be balanced by compensating advantage for in dustry.
 There is foreseen now an early approach to other problems with waich MIRA sought to deal through lesislation drafted in the light of supreme court opinions which have substantially clarified for congress the wider limits within which 1t may deal with national social and economic problems. The federal government already is moving on a wide regulatory front. The new Guffey bituminous coal control bill will go to the White House today. The house labor committee will con- siaer today the senate resolution witch condemned sit-down strikes, co!apany unions, labor espionage and refusal of employers to bargain collectively with their employees.
 I.aymen, Legalists Puzzled
 Laymen generally are puzzled and leealists are far from glib in explain ing how the court was able to dif- fe4entiate between the MIRA and Guffey cases and the Wagner cases which were deciced yesterday.
 An explanation heard most fre- Quently is that MIRA and the Guffey cdAl act not only improperly dele gated congressional and executive authority to che industry control boards, but undertook, also, to de- termine what actually was interstate commerce. rt
 sThe Wagner act undertook to avoid those hazards. The act does not declare any industry to be en- gagged in interstate commerce but holds, merely. that where court finds interstate commerce to exist, the Wagner act shall prevail.
 < Minority Arguments
 The minority justices, however, ill four of the five Wagner cases ar- gued that there was no difference between the NRA and Guffey cases on the one hand and the Wagner cases on the other. The majority, as. represented by Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, contended that the difference was obvious and distinct. Therefore, from the stand point of the minority justices the cnlIrf in effect. reversed itself. The