Evening star., 1938-06-20

people and never granted to the Ma
tional Government
Today. the Congress Of the United
hours and wages for all the States of
the Union. 1t is true, only the mini
mum has thus far been established.
but the principle OF governmental
power, once accepted as Federal
function. is broad enough to include
the regulation by Congress some day
Of all wages and hours.
Second, for years it has been as
sumed that the regulation Of child
labor must be by amendment to the
Federal Constitution Such an amend
ment at one time or another in the
last 20 years has been voted on and
rejected by more than a majority of
the States. Today, the Congress has
assumed the right to regulate child
labor without any amendment to the
Constitution.
Third, for years 1t has been assumed
that the sovereign States own their
own resources or at least their own
private lands. Now the Federal Gov
ernment assumes, under a system OF
flood control, the right to condemn
such lands without arranging to get
the consent of the States.
Preoedents Brushed Aside.
These three changes may or may
not be in line with popular thinking
today. That is not the point. But,
certainly it will be. agreed on all sides
that the precedents Of constitutional
law which have prevailed for $50 years
q moro now have been brushed aside
and the Roosevelt administration is
acting on the assumption that the
Supreme Court of the United States
will uphold the new principles Of gov
sfnment.
Whether the Supreme Court, now
that II has on it two appointees by
the New Deal and group of justices
VINO have previously approved New
Deal legislation, will consent to the
fundamental transformation of our
constitutional system is. Of course,
open to conjecture. If the court does
approve. then it may well be said that
: written Constitution in. the sense in
which the term has been used, namely
. consistent philosophy as to what
constitutes, respectively. the rights OF
the Federal Government, the rights
Of the States and the reserved rights
Of the people, has gone by the boards.
Henceforth, If this new trend is
upheld, the Government of the United
States will truly be mot what the
judges say it is" but what Congress
says 1t is. States as We have known
them. will have disappeared. They
will be relegated to the category of
cities--mere local units for police pur-
poses only.
Minority Rights Flaunted.
' The new concept of government in
America is that q majority of both
House Of Congress may, at will, dis
regard the basic rights Of the minority,
including property rights. Perhaps
this A what the people want. But, it
contains the germs of greater in
stability for the system OF property
rights than We have seen as yet and
will constitute the biggest kind of
barrier to economic recovery under a
private initiative system. Adjustment
to = policy Of confiscation of property
ss viii cannot be accomplished without
. painful period Of transition during
which political upheaval sometimes
occurs
But, irrespective of what the ulti-
mate implications may be, the change
h here. The drift is toward more and
more Capitalization of power. The
leadership on this issue has been al
most entirely that of President Roose-
welt. If the direction is correct and
the country absorbs the changes and
succeeds. nevertheless, in getting eco
non1ic recovery, the credit will be
solely that of Mr.. Roosevelt. The
Congress followed him blindly, almost
supinely.
It was Mr.. Roosevelt who, in the
Democratic platform Of 1896, enunci-
atsd the doctrine Of trying to ac-
complish by indirection first that
which the constitutional law Of the
past seemed to prohibit, urging that
constitutional amendments be sub
mitted only II the Supreme Court
held the new laws invalid.
The importance Of the Supreme
Court IN this picture becomes evi-
dent. 1t Is apparent now why Mr..
Roosevelt wanted control of the court
or as least wanted to see justices ap-
pointed who accepted his philosophy
H American constitutionalism. The
President was right in the sense that
the Supreme Court stood in his way.
The Biggest Barrier Of All.
1at Mr.. Roosevelt may have for
gotten the biggest barrier Of aN-the
instinct Of the people to go along
With experiments and changes only
10 seek to recover their rights when
NNMpation has gone to an extreme
Tho eighteenth amendment started
out a. a noble reform, but, after q
few years, prohibition itself was lost
sight OF In the larger problem of
racketeering and vice. New Dealism
has started out with noble and be-
nAvolent purposes. but the immortality
Of dishonest elections, Federal funds
and jobs used for political purposes
and, finally. the expenditure Of billions
OF dollars more than can ever be re-
paid may cause the public to lose
sight Of the reforms and focus their
attention on the acute vices caus-
ing their distress
Maybe Mr.. 'Roosevelt's words to
Congress on March 10. 1893, will
prove prophetic. He uttered then
what may some day be imprinted in
history As the epitaph Of his regime:
TOO often liberal governments are