Evening star., 1937-02-14

QuCSLlUILo 1IlNOlNCu.
AS it happened, the first important
New Deal cases to reach the Supreme
Court were the gold cases." involving
the right of the New Deal to repudiate
the specific contractual stipulation to
pay Government bonds and other OBJ
legations in gold. The court decided.
February 10, 1885, in favor Of the
Government.
Anticipated Adverse Ruling.
Nevertheless Mr.. Roosevelt had an
ticipated possibility that the court
might decide against him; if so, ac-
cording to a dependable statement,
he had determined not to obey thc
order Of the court He had prepared
memoranda for a radio address to give
the public his reasons for refusal to
comply. The we'll informed Mr.. Ar
thur Krock wrote in the New York
Times for February 81, 1895: IF the
Supreme Court had ruled that the
Government must pay. E. The Presi-
dent would have addressed the people
that night"
The first important check to the
New Deal by the Supreme Court oc-
CURED May 27. 1885. On that day
the court decided that N r. A. was
unconstitutional. The decision was
unanimous, all the so-called liberal
justices concurring in it. One of the
liberals, Mr.. Justice Cardozo, added a
supplementary concurring opinion al
most more harsh on N. R. A. than the
main one.
It Is commonly supposed that it
was the unanimous decision against
N. r. A. that led Mr.. Roosevelt's
hostility to the court. But on the
same day the Supreme Court deliv-
cred a second decision, which at the
time and since has been almost lost
sight of in the greater attention paid
to the N. r. A. decision. The court
on the same day decided what Is
known as the Humphrey case"
Mr. Humphrey was a member of
the Federal Trade Commission. When
Mr.. Roosevelt came into Office he had
five years yet to serve. But Mr..
Roosevelt, after he had been in Office
some four months, wrote Commits
sioner Humphrey an extraordinary
letter demanding the latter's resigna-
ton. Without any reflection upon
you personally or the service you have
rendered. find it necessary to
ask for your resignation. I do
| this because feel that the aims and
purposes Of the administration
can be carried cut most effectively
with personnel of my own selection"
Dismissal Letter Written.
Commissioner Humphrey refused to
resign. Mr.. Roosevelt wrote again:
You will. know, w,%realize that I do
not feel that your mind and my mind
go along together, and frankly think
| it is better for the people of this
country that should have full con-
| fidence" Again Humphrey refused to
resign. Thereupon Mr.. Roosevelt
wrote once more, and peremptorily:
Effective as of this date, you are
hereby removed from the Office OF
commissioner Of the Federal Trade
/ Commission"
Commissioner Humphrey protested
the legality of his removal. He died
soon after. The executors of his es-
tate sued the Government for salary
between the time of Commissioner
Humphreys removal and his death.
The Supreme Court decided that Mr..
Roosevelt's removal of Mr.. Humph-
rey was illegal and that his estate
was entitled to back salary. The
courts decision was unanimous.
The day after the Supreme Court
| handed down two unanimous de-
, ciSions adverse to Mr.. Roosevelt-the
Humphrey decision and the N. r. A.
MIR. Roosevelt did a sensational
thing. In a press conference lasting
the extraordinary length of an hour
and twenty-five minutes, Mr.. Roose-
welt gave the newspaper men, for repe-
tition to the public, reasons why he
regarded the Supreme Court decision
against N. r. A. as fatal to the good
of the country. Mr.. Roosevelt dwelled
solely on the N. R. A. decisions-he
did not mention the Humphrey one.
But it was, and is, fair guess that
it was the Humphrey decision that
inspired in Mr. Roosevelt the feeling
he seemed to show against the court.
The Humphrey decision had denied
| to him personally a power that he
wished to have, and which he had
supposed he had.
Steady Hostility to Court.
From the day of these decisions,
May q, 1885, Mr.. Roosevelt has main
tanned a steady hostility to the court.
The hostility was not always open,
for the reaction of the country to his
attack on the court had been unfa-
vorable. His public expressions about
the court were guarded rather slyly,
taking the form of innuendo rather
than direct attack. When, later, the
court decided triple-A to be uncon-
stitutional, but did so as a divided
court, Mr.. Roosevelt, on some public
occasions, made invidious illusions to
the fact that in this case there we're
two opinions of the court, majority
one and minority one.
In private Mr.. Roosevelt did not
conceal his purpose of making the
court conform to him. When asked
how he would overcome the attitude
of the court he told story about
Gladstone. zone White House caller,
Mr.. Paul Block, repeated publicly what
Mr. Roosevelt said, and it was recited
by former Senator James H. Reed and
others during the recent Presidential
| campaign.) Some legislation desired
by Gladstone had been defeated in
the House of Lords. Gladstone there
upon proposed that the House Of
Lords be increased and made SUBJ
servient. by appointing to it additional
peers who would obey Gladstone's will.
AS Il recall the incident and Mr..
Roosevelt's version of it, the mere
threat was enough. The House Of
Lords bowed to Gladstone's will in
order to appease him and prevent his
packing the body with peers favorable
to his view Il may be incorrect about
this last detail, write here from
memory.
This is the plan Mr.. Roosevelt has