The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-05-14

HOy OeS0~Ss
 Washington, May 14.-It is haro to think of anything more imme- diately important than the supreme courts forthcoming opinions in the social security cases.
 Because:
 1. An Old-age benefit system covering, 26,O0O, 900 persons, and an unemployment insurance system covering most of those persons are at stake.
 2. It is very likely that the decision will determine the suc- cess or failure of the presidents supreme court plan in congress. At least it will have a highly im- portant bearing on the question of whether the anticipated com promise" on this measure will be an actual compromise or merely a face-Saving arrangement to give Roosevelt what he wants.
 3. The Constitution, if the sO- cial security taxes are declared valid by a ma jority of the nine justices, will have become Con- stitution markedly different from the one the country had had un- der previous interpretations.
 Thus it seems that the supreme court is more spectacularly on the spot than ever before. Also that Justice Owen Josephus Roberts es. pecially is on that same spot, bott because of his peculiar status as the courts odd man." and because o1 the majority opinions which he him. self read when the AAA and rail- way retirement act were invalidat- ed.
 Might Swing Five Votes
 Most aenators, at least, believe that Roosevelt's court program would pass with no essential change if the court were to decide against the government in the social security cases. Belief is common on Capitol Hill that decision one way or the other might swing four or five votes if not more. The significance of such a swing is indicated by the fact that administration leaders now privately claim assurance of 49 of the 96 senate votes for the Roose- welt plan, while leaders of the op- position claim to be assured of 52 votes against it.
 Many lawyers are inclined to believe that validatiOn of the employer emplOye tax used to finance old age benefits would leave few constitutional restric- tiOns on use of the taxing power for purposes of the general well fare.
 Justice Roberts, in the AAA case, held processing taxes illegal on the ground that they were an instru- ment in coercive scheme for reg ulating local affairs.
 In the Railroad Retirement Act case, which required employe- em- ployer contributions to a pension fund, Roberts held that the act fell outside congressional power to reg ulate interstate commerce.
 There is no warrant for talk ing the property of one and trans ferring it to another without com pensation," he said. He described the act as "an attempt for social ends to impose by sheer flat non- C. -1tractual incidents upon the re- lation of employer and employe, not as rule or regulation of com merce and transportation between hut n& assuring a particular class of em- ployes against old age depend ence."
 AAA taxes were levied express ly for the purpose of paying bene- fits to farmers, however, and old age social security taxes are not similarly earmarked. The govern ment has argued that the taxes were separate from the old age bene- fit features and that the system was not dependent nthis tax, but could be financed by other revenue raising means.
 It's Up to Roberts
 Various issued are involved-the taxing power and the general well fare clause of the Constitution, the due process clause and the question whether or not the function of pro- viding for assistance in old age is or isn't a function reserved to the states.
 Thus there are various grounds raised on which the court could knock out all or parts of the sO- cial security program as it relates to old age benefits and unemploy- ment insurance.
 Few bets are being made on the outcome. Most lawyers have yet to recover from the surprise they re- ceived when the court, by 5 to 4 vote, upheld the National Labor Relations Act. But the consensus is that Justices Hughes, Brandeis, Stone and Cardoza will smile upon the social security program, tha McReynoldh, Sutherland, Butler and Van Devanter will turn thumbs doWn-and that Roberts will cast the die after much turmoil of mind. Copyright, 1887, NEA Service, Incl
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