Evening star., 1939-07-31


ers as to dictate David Lawrence.
not only the course of nominations
within the party, but to influence or
coerce large groups of voters de-
pendent on Government subsidies or
aids.
The first test on the issue came
when the Congress voted to keep the
w. P. A. out of politics. The sec
ond test has just come with the
passage of the Hatch bill, which
goes much farther and forbids all
political activity for officials below
the major executives in Washington.
President Roosevelt's comments to
the press concerning his attitude to-
ward the bill, which came to him
for signature or veto few days
ago, are not to be construed, he said,
as meaning that he had made up
his mind one way or the other. But
1t was plain to see that he did not
like the restrictive nature of the
bill, though he did say he favored
the general objectives.
Penalty of Officeholding.
What Mr.. Roosevelt dislikes IS
that the bill puts the Federal office
holder in a different class from any
other citizen and keeps him from
exercising the same privileges in
politics that others have. But that
is one of the penalties of officehold-
ing in the executive branch of the
Government, just as it is in the ju-
Thnro &c Ia vrI,i ir,
says Federal judges shall not be
delegates to conventions and party
managers, but they refrain from
doing it and public opinion sane
tions such self-restraint.
There would be no need for a law
governing the activities of Federal
employees If there had not been a
noticeable lack of self-restraint, ir-
respective of which political party
was in power.
Is the Hatch bill constitutional?
Lawyers at the Department of JUS
tice say 1t is, and undoubtedly over
the week end the White House was
so advised or will be in the next "a
hours. The reason the Hatch bill
might be unconstitutional is that it
seems to keep Federal employees
from exercising their constitutional
rights to engage in politics. But
the bill took count of that possible
objection by pointing out that moth
ing IN the measure was to be con-
strued as interfering with the right
of a Federal employe to exercise his
voting privilege or to express his
views on public questions.
Is Necessarily Vague.
The President speaks of the Hatch
bill as vague, and it necessarily is
vague for the Federal employe who
wants to step beyond the line of ex-
pressing his own views to the point
OF attempting to influence others.
Many statues are similarly vague.
Thus the Labor Relations Act which
the President signed does not define
IN specific terms what is meant by
influencing" an employe in his atti-
tude for or against union. The
Labor Board has endeavored to de-
fine the vague words and has built
up quite a set of rulings on the sub
ject.
So 1t is with respect to the Ian
guage In the most important sec
tlons of the Hatch bill about which
doubts have been expressed by the
President. The text is taken almost
word for word from the present
civil service rules which have been
interpreted in specific instances
again and again so there is little
doubt what the restrictions are.
One embarrassment arising out of
the fact that Senator Hatch copied
the text of the civil service rules
is that If the measure should fail
70 become law or be thrown out by
the courts, it would mean that the
safeguards thrown around the en-
Tire CIVIL service to keep it free from
politics would be eliminated. For
certainly there could not be one
rule governing 100000 employees and
another rule governing the other
100000.
President "On the Spot"
The politicians do not like the
Hatch bill. Many voted for it be-
cause they did not dare to place
themselves on record against it, but
they would have preferred to kill it
IN conference or to see the White
House veto it.
Although public opinion has in
various ways been apparently in
favor OF a restrictive measure like
the Hatch bill so far as politics in
general is concerned, the measure
passed by both houses put President
Roosevelt, to use the vernacular
"on the spot" If he vetoed it the
opposition could say he did it to
assure himself denomination or to
assist his own party to stay in power
II he signed it the political man.
ayers could easily alibi themselves
and when asked to do certain or
ganization work they didn't really
want to do might readily blame
the Hatch bill. Small wonder the
President has called it vague and
mn ri hi .;