The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1942-09-29

Roosevelt Has Power TO
Draft All of Labor
Ne More Legislation
Needed for Communicating
1uewell Reforms in Rico
Bother Many Of solons
NJ nav rr=.EEa
By RAY TUCKER

By RAY TUCKER
WASHINGTON -Prtstden
Roosevelt needs no further sane
ton from Congress 10 command
eer on his own terms industry
organized labor, agriculture anc
individuals for the war effort
Only few days ago the govern.
ment's sblest attorneys awoke q
the fact that such sweeping pre-.
negatives were conferred on him
In section nine OF the Original
Selective Service Act.
Not even Brigadier General
Lewis B. Hershey's lawyers knew
that this all-embracing clause had
been slipped into a statute sup
pcsedly designed 10 give r. D. r,
control OF military msnpower.
They know II now. however. The
paragraphs In question authorize
him TO place munitions contracts
with ANY individual. firm. asso-
citation. company. corporation or
organized manufacturing indust-
ny" Performance of the presi-
Dental order is obligatory" with
= penalty of three years in jail
and fine not exceeding ten
thousand dollars. Unions, concerns
and private citizens cannot defy
this injunction.
II has been impossible to trace
the legislative history OF this par
ticular provision. II erept into
the law during the exciting period
when legislators were debating the
political and controversial issue of
conscription. But when +. ID. n.
declares that his legal advisers
have informed him he can take
almost any action under his
emergency powers" II is this de-
cree which they have In mind.
Politicians on Capitol Hill are
beginning 10 pay close attention
TO the far-reaching reforms which
Rexford Guy Tugwell has intro
duced a. governor Of Puerto Rico.
They suspect that he Is using the
island as laboratory for expert
ments which the administration
may apply TO the mainland in the
postwar period.
The former Columbia professor.
through an alliance with certain
radical elements. has transformed
our possession into a socialistic
state. although he recently denied
this imputation before q Senate
committee. But the fact remains
that he has set up authorities
which control agriculture. sugar
manufacture, industries, trsnspor-
tation. water resources. communi-
cations. banking and finance and
land development. The planned
economy" which he tried to foist
on the United States has become
a reality in his domain. And II
should be noted that these var
ious agencies are directed by Tug
wellians.
President Roosevelt. as the re-
cord reveals. sponsored similar
innovations In this country with
the IVA. SEC. FEC. and PwA.
But he never went 10 the lengths
that Mr.. Tugweli has gone. Now.
because OF the stress Of war, FDR
has soft-pedaled these prospects
But his permitting the erstwhile
brain truster to enact them on
our doorstep suggests they may
be pursued even more doggedly
when the Axis has been defeated
Southern members of Congress
are up in arms concerning Gov
ernor Tugwells land program and
its avowed implications for their
states. They have obtained copies
Of his latest report TO Secretary
Ickes in which the Columbia ss-
want openly declares he hopes TO
impose the same system on Dixie.
Discussing the undertaking in
which he is breaking vast estates
into 500-acre farms for tenant
farmers. Mr.. Tugwell said:
Somewhere along the line we
had lost Mr.. Ivy Duggsn. fer
what reason I do not know. He
simply stopped answering commu-
nications and did not attend the
second hearings ton the breakup
proposall. The AAA has al
ways been something more than
simply orthodox, as you are
aware. II has tended 10 repre-
sent the most wen TO do farm
opinion. Duggan represented its
Southern region. il is not too hard
20 guess. therefore. why he
thought il best to withdraw from
any exploration Of the iandhold-
Ing system in Puerto Rico. II has
obvious implications for the
South"
In order to understand the
statement it must be remembered
that he was purged from the De-
partment Of Agriculture because
he was too advanced a thinker
even for Henry A. Wallace. He
has always been a close pal OF
Farm Security Administrator c.
3. Baldwin. who heads the agency
for financing and relieving share
troopers. That lisison and his ex-
cellency's comparison Of eondi-
tions in the dependency with those
below the Mason and Dixon line
account for the indignation Of the
Southerners.