The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-03-28
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MORGAN MESS
BY HUGH S. JOHNSON
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If any demonstrations were
needed that the terrible Reorgan-
ization bill now being strong
armed and bums-rushed through
the Senate should not pass. il VIII
be found III the Morgas mess in
the Tennessse Valley lAtciiniiriistfa-
ton "s7l
The Reorganization bill in its
original form gave the President
the power of a personal proprietor
over all the independent boards
and commissions which are called
quasi-legislative and quasi-iudi-
ciaI because TO some extent they.
ike Congress, make the law and,
ike the courts, 10 some extent,
Judge the law.
One difference between die
tatorship and a democracy is that
in the former the same authority
controls the making. the Judging
and the execution Of the law, and
that in the latter the three tasks
are religiously kept in separate
hands. In the Reorganization bill
as proposed, by one sweeping
slash, that separation was to be
abolished except for Congress and
the courts. Senator ByrneS re-
wrote the bill to except from 1t
some of snese boards and commits
sions.. butItEae bill as first written
expressed the intent of the third
New Deal II gave notice OF
fundamental purpose TO grab
more power.
Always Called Dangerous
Theoretically such cOncentra-
ton of power has always been
called dangerous, but maybe that
is lust theory. The President him
self has said something TO the eff
feet that in other hands the Ex-
ecutive grab of Congressional and
judicial powers would be dan
gerous to liberty and democracy
theoretically dangerous. but
with him practically safe Well,
the Morgan case doesn't bear that
out.
Defying the iva statute that
made DR.. Morgan removable only
by Congress, the President fired
him. He fired him because he re-
fused to defend himself before a
kind of drumhead court-martial
designed and prepared for pub
licity as a holy show to diScredlt
him and whitewash his opponents
He thought that because in what
he charged were perversions OF
the law by his associates the
PresideAt had Supported them to
an extent that sterlized him DR..
I Morgan insisted that the law
made him responsible TO Con-
gress. that he had appealed to
Congress for an investigation and
would not permit his case TO be
pre-iudged and prejudiced IN
self-serving assertions before a
olesnian self-apponited Judge
whom he regards as biased
The administrations answer to
that is that It is all wet. because
iva was once upheld in building
a dam because the court held 1t
was built under the war powers,
and adds that war powers are
executive.
Passing the point that there are
many more war powers that are
legislative than any that are ex-
ecutive and the authority that fir
ing DR. Morgan was an exercise
of Executive war powers, what
does this imply? It implies that
to the extent that the Reorgani-
zation bill passes any great board
or commission TO Executive con-
troll il becomes automatically sub
iected to such one-man dragoOn-
ing and donineering as the IVA
fiasco. II
Commissions Not individuals b
Of course, the President ought
to have power to interrogate. dis
cipline. fire and replace any ap-
pointed executive individual
Government could not function
otherwise. But these major COM
missions are not individuals They
are great governments within
government Third New Dealers
themselves call IVA an "econom-
ic province. IVA is part of a
trend TO replace some powers of
forty-eight state governments
with seven economic provinces
responsible to Washington and
not to their people. II they are
10 be regarded as sort Of mill
tary oligarchy commanded by
the Executive rather than agen-
cies Of Congress merely admins
tered BY the President, that dis
tinction alone goes great dis
lance toward one-Fsn rule with
all its arbitrary and hateflll con-
seouences-such as re have just
seen in the Morgan @aSe.
That is the effect II not &C LII;
pose Of the rEahizstiop OIL
even as improvede by SeAakoE
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