Montana labor news., 1939-07-27
On The Capitals Cuff
BY ION

around here as the wires from the
American Bar Associations conven-
ton in San Francisco chartered that
ABA Pres. Frank Hogan had at
tackled the Supreme Court.
The gist of Hogan's remarks was
that the court has failed to protect
the liberties of the American people,
that lawyers can't tell their clients
what the law is any more, that the
legislature is the only hope.
Only for Justices McReynolds and
Butler, honor guests at the last
United States Chamber of Commerce
annual dinner, did Hogan have
words of praise. These two he held
up as a shining example of judicial
virtue and probity, As for the rest,
they have all sold out.
What caused the surprise here is
not that the Supreme Court should
have been attacked, but that Frank
Hogan, the attorney for Gilman Do
heny and his black bag of 100000,
should have been so faithless as to
turn on his greatest reliance of only
a few years back.
It was barely two years ago that
the same Frank Hogan virtually an
nounced that he would fight till the
very end before so much as a hair
Of the Supreme Court was touched.
1t was the champion of the people,
the defenders of the constitution, the
bulwark of democracy, the paragon
of goodness, the noblest institution
ever created by the hand Of man or
God.
That was when Pres. Roosevelt
was suggesting that e should
be taken to modernize the court, to
bring its views up to date. He had
asked Congress to provide for the
retirement of every justice past the
age of 10 OF the appointment of q
helping judge for every judge past
10 who refused to retire.
Was Frank Hogan wrong when he
defended the court in noble terms
in 1887 or was he wrong in 1895
when he denounced the court as
faithless? He could not have pos.
sibly been right on both occasions
Evidently he had changed his minc
while denying to justices of the Su-
preme Court the same privilege.
And, as Osmond K. Fraenkel, vice
president of the National Lawyers
Guild, notes in a comment on the
Hogan speech, while he complains
that the Supreme Court is no Longer
the guardian of our liberties, he hal
in mind the liberties of business
only.
For the liberty which, accord.
ing to MI. Hogan, the court has nov
abandoned, is the liberty of larg,
corporations to keep labor from or
ganizing, the liberty of employer
to avoid paying a living wage, tn,
liberty to escape nondiscriminator,
taxation.
I'm no case has the present cour
impaired the freedom of the maj
in the street. On the contrary, j
has reversed convictions of thu
humble based on vague laws, or Oh
confessions extracted by torture. l
has struck down discrimination
against the Negro both in school
and in voting privileges. It has safe
guarded the right Of all to distribut,
leaflets and to hold street meetings
t whatever the past s|hortcoming
of the Supreme Court in the fielc
of civil liberties, its recent recort
f does not justify Mr.. Hogan's or!
4, that no longer may the Suprem,
l Court be looked to as protector o
our liberties"
Hogan's speech was actually no
l very important. It was merely tn
plaintive bleat of a man who ha
. been left behind and was to be ex
S pected. It's interesting chiefly a
an indication of the change that ha
S taken place in the country in tn
last few years, the reversal that ha
placed the emphasis on the welfar,
of the common man instead of tn
million dollar corporation.
The District of Columbia residents
p in the eyes of the law, are the SAM
= as imbeciles, idiots and criminals TO
! they, too, have no right to vote
= They are dependent upon the tende
mercies of Congress for everything
! they need and as a result are, at tn,
moment, in a sorry plight.
Yet each time a move gets unde
way to secure local self-governmen
the local board of trade and bust
ness men get up on their hind leg
and shout. They'd rather watcl
and sheer at democracy than have j