Montana labor news., 1937-08-19
Won
Despite Court Bill De-
feat, President Think,
By Federated Press

ANCAo tiAehs ~ oHtso ~ ~
feat in Congress of his program for
court reform, he has won a victory
and the country has been made to
realize that the constitution is not
necessarily a barrier to social and
economic reform, it was learned
upon high authority here.
The President has in mind that the
Supreme Court, prior to the intro
duction of his court bill, killed the
Agricultural Adjustment Act upon
a theory of the governments right
to tax but, after the introduction of.
the court bill, upheld the Social Sc
curity Act upon the same theory of.
the governments right to tax and
spend.
Similarly, the court, prior to the
court bill, invalidated the Guffey.
Coal Act on a theory of states rights
but later upheld the Wagner Act
with a different theory of states
rights and interstate commerce. Be-
fore the court bill, the nine old men
said mo" to minimum wages for
women but afterwards they said
Yes" ov%erturning their previous de-
cision.
This demonstration by the court,
the President thinks, of its change
ability and of the f~lexibility of the
constitution has provided a major
gain for the administration and that
the demonstration was ~occasioned by.
the threat of the court bill. The
court will not soon forget the threat,
the President believes.
It was recalled at the White House
that during the time of Theodore
Roosevelt there was a great popular
clamor against the court and the
progressives were asking for recall
of judicial decisions and methods of
multiplying decisions. Even as late as
1924 the elder LaFollette and Sen.
Burton K. Wheeler 3D., Mont.) cam
paigned on a presidential ticket ask
ing for judicial reform.
The Teddy Roosevelt threats kept
the court in its place until the Hard
ng-Coolidge days and now, Presi-
dent Roosevelt feels, the court has
again been put in its place for an
other period of years. The country
has become court conscious and con-
stitution minded, the President.
thinks, and wants some insurance of
continuity of a liberal outlook. Thus,
even though the court bill has been
defeated, the administration has won
a victory and will be able to push
its program without fear of nullifica-
ton by the court.
1t was made plain here that the
President, at the moment, does in
tend to push his program for wages
and hours standards, housing, and
other reforms. Recently Roy How
ard, publisher and president of the
United Press, visited the White
House and asked the President why
he did not leave well enough alone,
cease striving for reform and con-
solidate past gains.
According to reliable information
the President reminded Howard that
similar statements were made in 1928
and 1929 and when nature was left
to take its course the country expert
enced the worst slump in its history.
There are no guarantees, the Presi-
dent told Howard, against a recur-
renee of eight cent cotton, low wages,
long hours and the continuance of
bad housing.
How much of the Presidents pro-
gram will be passed before Congress
adjourns remains %conjectural. It was
thought likely that the wages and
hours bill may be passed although
sentiment in favor of speedy adjourn
ment gained strength on Capitol Hill.
VIM. Green, president of the Ameri-
can Federation Of Labor, visited the
President and expressed the hope
that there will be action at this ses-
sion on the housing and wages and
hours bill.
The Senate labor and education
committee reported ~favorably on the
housing bill with the provision for a
bond issue to provide loans and
grants for building purposes. The
wages and hours bill was pending
before the Senate while the House
labor committee had not completed
action on the measure.