Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1937-04-13
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN,

~S~~N~S SS~SSAN~J PAAAS0 VAC 6AAAP OuI "a
the demand for passage OF President
Roosevelt's bill to increase the mem
bership Of the court by upholding the
legality OF the Wagner labor relations
act in five separate cases. The law has
stood the test. Labor should be con-
WINGED that the highest court is not
inimical to its interests.
The President has two courses open
to him. The first is to continue the
fight for his judiciary bill, with its pro-
visions for increasing the membership of
the Supreme Court unchanged. The
second is to permit the bill to be so
amended as not to call for an enlarge
ment of the highest court. There is no
slightest doubt that many Senators and
Representatives who have been support
Ing the bill would heave sigh of relief
II ne withdrew the demand for an
enlarged court. There are those, how
ever, who will contend that the decisions
IN favor OF the Wagner act are not
enough-that there is other New Deal
legislation which may be outlawed by the
court as now constituted. and that there
would be danger to future New Deal
laws. These will continue to press for
the passage OF the Presidents bill intact
Since the President sent his surprise
message to Congress asking for the pas
sage OF his judiciary bill, the situation
has changed materially. First Congress
put through and the President signed
the bill permitting justices of the Su-
preme Court of the United States to
retire on full pay at 10 years of age,
after ten years on the bench. Second
the court has shown itself not averse to
liberal laws, when they are properly
drawn. BY its recent decisions in the
Washington State minimum wage law,
including its reversal Of thirteen-year-
OLD opinion In case involving the mini
mum wage act OF the District of Column
bia, and in the FraIer-Lemke farm
moratorium act. Third, it has shown
that the interstate commerce clause of
the Constitution can be used to govern
in labor disputes where the interruption
OF the flow of such commerce is halted
by these controversies in the decisions
Of yesterday.
The opponents Of the Presidents plan
to pack" the Supreme Court are ex-
pressing great confidence that the drive
for the passage of that part of the
judiciary reorganization bill will lag.
Like Senator Tom Connally of Texas,
who has fought the measure, they con-
tend that there has been shown to be
no need for increasing or packing the
Supreme Court. And like Senator Con-
nally, they believe that Senators and
Representatives who have been on the
fence and have not declared themselves
one way or another on the court issue,
will now be inclined to vote against the
proposed increase. They maintain that
the opposition has made it plain at the
hearings before the Senate Judiciary
Committee there is no need for an in
crease in the size of the court, and that
to pack" the court now would create
an evil precedent that would rise to
trouble the country in the future.
If the President decides to continue
his fight for the bill to increase the
Supreme Court, the contest promises
to be more than ever long and drawn
out The opponents feel the court itself
has demonstrated that liberal laws can
stand and will not be invalidated merely
because they are liberal. On the other
hand, Senators like La Toilette of Wis
consin insist that the bill must pass and
that labor will not be satisfied without
it. Two organizations which have been
campaigning actively for the bill, the
Labors Non-PartiSan League and the
National Lawyers Guild, have arranged
countrywide meetings at which pro-
ponents will speak on the same day in
support of the increase in the member
ship Of the court.
The Presidents own attitude in the
matter is expected to be the deciding
factor, however II he continues his
demand for the passage OF the measure
and it goes through, he runs the risk
OF being known in history as the Presi-
dent who packed the Supreme Court.
Apparently he has already gained much
that he started to gain, without any
increase in the size of the court. The
Wagner labor relations act has been
sustained by the Supreme Court, and the
"no-mans land" of which he has COM
planned in connection with the earlier
decisions in minimum wage cases has
been dissipated.
~
Inc OeClSlOllS Ol tIlc oupIcll Soui
in the Wagner act cases seem to open
the way for the long-awaited program
of labor legislation Until the law was
upheld or thrown out of the court win
dow it has been difficult to see clearly
the way for Congress to act. The right
OF collective bargaining has been firmly
established With the increased powers
placed in the hands of labor, 1t Is neces-
sary that it should have responsibilities
placed upon it, Members of Congress
who have given the problem much
thought contend that there should be
laws restraining labor from selling prop
erty, as it has done in the Shutdown
strikes. They contend also that there
should be laws for the incorporation OF
labor unions, to make them more re-
sponsible in case of destruction of prop
erty or loss of life or injury to persons
in labor disputes. And that the law
should compel the unions to make finan-
cial accounting and reports annually-as
they are compelled to do In England.
Just what program for labor the ad-
ministration will get behind is not en-
tirely certain yet. There is much pressure
for laws governing shorter hours and
minimum wages. But whether these car
be enacted as Federal laws is question
unless the industry affected is inter-
state within the construction and mean
ing of the Constitution. It would seem
that the way had been opened for such
laws by the recent decisions of the Su-
ororoo Co,1rt Wbila President R0osa.