Evening star., 1945-01-05

~ ~-~~~s'
ops, it will not be a majority O
the court which will be overrulee
but a minority Of four who, finding
themselves a majority, were able
to overturn the precedents of x
years, rendering a decision thai
takes from the States vital controls
as well as large revenues and ad.
versely affects the interests of some
100000 citizens.
The fundamental issue in thi:
case was whether or not the court
would deny the States the right tt
regulate and supervise the business
of insurance, or whether the present
Nationwide system of State regu-
lation should be struck down ano
Federal regulation and control SUBJ
stituted.
Though the District Court sus-
tanned the Southeastern Under
writer's Association, which a Fed
eral jury had indicted in 1912 for
conspiracy to maintain rates in vio-
lation of the Sherman Antitrust
Act, the Supreme Court held that
insurance is interstate commerce
and that the Sherman Act, the
Clayton Act and various other Fed
eral statutes apply.
A petition asking for a rehearing
filed by the attorney generals of 3o
States was refused.
Two Justices Did Not Sit.
The shock of the decision was the
greater because two Justices-Mr.
Roberts and Mr.. Reed-could not
sit in the case, and thus the ex-
treme New Deal group, composed
of Justices Black, Douglas, Rutledge
and Murphy, were in control and
decided this momentous issue.
These are the justices who reflect
the views of the advanced thinkers
who. for years have itched to get
theiH hands on the great insurance
companies of the country. Strongly
dissenting from this four-member
decision were Chief Justice Stone,
Justice Jackson and Justice Frank
furter.
The Chief Justice in character
tzing the Black opinion said: Its
action in overturning the precedents
of rs years governing a business of
such volume and of such wide rami-
fications cannot fail to unloose
flood of litigation and legislation,
raising questions which cannot be
answered for years to come, during
which a great business and the
regulatory officers of every State
must be harassed by all the doubts
and difficulties inseparable from
realignment of the distribution of
power in our Federal system"
In his dissent, Justice Jackson
said: THE courts decision will re-
quire an extensive overhauling of
State legislation relating to taxa
ton and supervision. The whole
legal basis will have to be recon-
sidered What will be irretrievably
lost and what may be salvaged no
one now can say, and it will take
a generation of litigation to deter
mine'
Following the decision, Attorney
General Biddle declared he had no
intention of taking action against
the stricken companies until Con-
gress had full opportunity to amend
the law. But this temporary pro-
lection is wholly inadequate and
the States and the companies now
look to Congress to save them from
chaos.
Bill Died With Session.
At the last session the House, by
a vote of 283 to 54, did pass a bill
exempting insurance companies
from both the Sherman and the
Clayton Acts. But it was not
brought to a vote in the Senate and
died when the session ended
Now, the National Association of
Insurance Commissioners represent
ing all the States has submitted a
legislative program which it is be-
lieved will have slight opposition