Evening star., 1938-11-12

few weeks, there ID
fore, t h g Su-
pr m e Court
hands down opinions not so favor
able to the New Deal, there will be
expressions from various sources at
tributing to the court a conscious
ness of political trends. Unfortu-
nately for the New Dealers, they
took this tack in 1886 when, after
the elections, some rather important
decisions were rendered by the high
court which seemed to be reVersals
Of precedents, yet favorable to the
Administrations point of view.
This correspondent then defended
the courts detachment from politics
by pointing out that the cases were
based on precedentS made long be-
fore the elections. 1t becomes nee
CSSary to sound the same warning
now, because the Supreme Court
undoubtedly will hand down some
decisions in the near future which
viii be corrective of New Deal eX-
tTemeS. Those who take the political
slant will insist that the elections
did it, while those who feel the court
IS deciding questions of law, ire
sDective of political trends, will not
10 able to prove. of course, that the
elections had nothing to do with it.
Results Are Unpredictable.
One cannot predict the outcome of
EUpreme Court cases because, unlike
her governmental bodies, the con-
lcrenCeS before decisions are ren-
dcred are absolutely secret and there
IRE no leaks. But oftentimes a close
Glowing of the argument and a
reading of the briefs, and particu-
larly the decisions of the courts be-
low, lead to impressions as to how
the cases may be decided by the
Supreme Court.
Such an instance. for example. is
the FanSteel case, which looks as if
Il will furnish the first real reversal
10 the National Labor Relations
Board that it has had. In this case
the Slt-dOWn strike is involved. Out
in Illinois some sit-down strikers
were convicted under State laws for
violating an injunction of a State
court ordering them to vacate the
property they had seized. The Ma
uOnal Labor Board diSregarded this
and ordered the men reinstated. If
the Supreme Court rules against the
Labor Board it Will be said that the
recent election in Michigan, repudi-
atlng Gov. Murphy's handling of the
Slt-doWn strike, had an influence on
the court. Actually the case already
has been decided by the Circuit
Court of Appeals against the Labor
BOrad, so that the Supreme Court
would be merely affirming a lower
rolut decree if it disagreed with the
Labor Board.
The expectation among lawyers
VINO have followed recent cases is
nat the Labor Board will not find
IS many approving decisions in the
iUture as in the past because many
points Of law which have never come
up before now are coming to the
lFOnt, and they really 90 not in
yolVe cOnstitutionality, but matters
Of procedure. On this aspect, all
quasi judicial commissions in their
ITst years OF life find the courts cor
-Nctlng them. 1t is natural and
inevitable process and is no refec-
tlOn on these commissions or boards.
Public Express Opinion.
The whole Supreme Court situa-
yvIpr-nH hT-noI1Y- &c
and, in a much better state than
d. was before the elections. Until
last week, the American people did
not have a chance to register their
views on the message of February 5.
1887, which President Roosevelt sent
to Congress asking for six extra JUS
tees to overcome the opinions of the
justices whose views he did not like.
It Is true that the attitude of indi-
VIdual Democratic Senators toward
the court packing" bill was made
the object of the Presidents So
called purge in the Democratic
primaries, but nevertheless each of
the Senators who opposed him came
through to victory But it remained
TIL last Tuesday to find out whether
the American people in the final
elections approved of such inde-
pendence. In eight out of the nine
cases, the Democratic Senators who
voted against Mr.. Roosevelt on the
Supreme Court issue were reelected
In the ninth case the Supreme Court
was not, of cOurSes in the debate.
and local issues affected the result
But 1t is interesting to note that
men like Senator Gillette of Iowa
and Senator Van Nuys of Indiana
were saved from the Republican tide
which was sweeping the country
and that they won while running on
he Democratic ticket. The close
margins in each case only prove that
both men could not have been
elected except with the aid of
thousands of Republican voters.
These voters felt the, Supreme
Court issue so deeply, no doubt, that
they wanted to register their ap-
proval of the courage shown by Mes
srs. Gillette and Van Nuys in brav-
ing the entire New Deal on a matter
of principle. for, while both the Re-
publican candidates in Iowa and In
diana had much to commend them,
it is matter of congratulation that
Democratic Senators who went
through the purge" era cannot to-
day be pointed at as having failed
because they did not stick to tho
New Deal program. On the contrary,
men in Democratic ranks will feel
that, by showing Independence, thev
can win Republican votes in 1910.
The vital thing, however, is that
the independence of the judiciary
has been safeguarded by the election
and the Supreme Court is free to
decide issues on their merits If
respective of the emotionalism or
coercion tactics of the New Deal.
(Copyright, 1889
Under the five-year immigration
program in Northern Manchukuo
~ n