Evening star., 1937-04-18

making their very helplessness the
occasion Of most injurious compe-
tition. The adoption Of
similar requirements by many States
evidences = deep-seated conviction
both as to the presence of the evil
and rs to the means adopted to check
1t. Legislative response to that con-
viction cannot be regarded n arbi-
trary or capricious and that Is all We
have to decide. Even II the wisdom
Of the policy be regarded as debatable
and its effects uncertain, still the
Legislature Is entitled to its judy
ment."
On Due Process, Welfare.
Assistant Attorney General Robert
H. Jackson testifyins before the Sen
ate judiciary Committee In support
Of the court bill, said:
Conflict between Congress and
the courts Is in large part due to the
refusal Of the courts to permit Con-
gress to have any share in defining
the pressat+day application Of such
indefinite tssnas- Ass general welfare,
due process, apmmerce emeag th9
several States and the things which
directly Affect It. The court major
ity insists on rigid, permanent and
legalistic definition" -.
Discussing interstate commerce and
the power Of Congress in relation to
1t, Chief Justice Hughes said In the
Wagner decision:
The congressional authority to pro-
tect interstate commerce from bur-
dens and distractions y not limited
to transactions which can be deemed
to be an essential part of q 'now' Of
interstate or foreign commerce. 80
Although activities may be intrastate
IN character when separately con-
sidered, if they have such 4 close and
substantial relation to interstate COM
merce that their control is essential
or appropriate to protect that COM
merce from burdens and obstructions,
Congress cannot be denied the power
to exercise that control - =" II Con-
gress deems certain recurring prac-
tices, though not really part of inter-
state commerce, likely to obstruct, re-
strain or burden 1t, it has the power
to subject them to national supervi-
sion and restraint.
Pocor. View Answered. .
Justice Ferdinand Pecora Of the
New York Supreme Court, another
proponent Of the bill, told the Judi
ciary Committee:
Past decisions Of the Supreme Court
have long denied the right Of both
Federal and State governments to
prevent discrimination against union
labor"
The Chief Justice said in the Wagner
case:
Discrimination and coercion to
prevent the free exercise of the right
OF employees to self-organization and
representation is q proper subject for
condemnation by proper legislative
authority"
A little later, Judge Pecora declared: !:
There are those who warn US to
protect the courts from the LEGISLATORS
in the name Of human liberty. It Is
at least equally important to protect
human liberty from the courts as
guaranteed by the Constitution-and
to protect the courts from themselves." I"
The Chief Justice, In reversing the
conviction Of Dirk De Jonse; under the
Oregon criminal syndicalism act, for
speaking at Communist meeting,
said: .-..
The greater the importance Of safe
guarding the community from inctte-
ments to the overthrow of our institu-
tio11s by force and violence, the more
imperative Is the need to preserve
nviolate the constitutional rights Of
free speech, free press and free as
sembly In order to maintain the oppor-
tunity for free political discussion, to
the end that government may be
responsive to the will of the people
and that changes. II desired, may be
obtained by peaceful means. Therein
lies the security Of the republic, the
very foundation Of constitutional gov
ernment"
Another supporter of the President's 3
bill, Senator Green Of Rhode Island,
recently told the Law Society Of MAJ
saehusetts: --.
To-day We find the court doing pre-
cisely what the Constitutional Con-
vention refused to permit 1t to do. It
is passing on the wisdom of. legisla-
tion." - s
In the washington wage decision.
the Chief Justice, quoting from the
courts opinion upholding New York
law fixing minimum prices for milk,
I'VE again declared that If such
laws have . reasonable relation. to .
proper legislative purpose, and are
neither arbitrary nor discriminatory.
the requirements Of due process are
satisfied': that with the Wisdom Of
the policy adopted, with the adequacy
or prscticabiliy a ths law enacted "a
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