Evening star., 1945-01-29
The Word RuIina

1
Judge Phillip L. Sullivan's ruling in
the Montgomery Ward case is the
unequivocal notice to Government
officials that they may not take the
law into their own hands and over
ride the rights of citizens merely
because. at the moment, it seems
expedient or desirable to do so.
On this point, Judge Sullivan who
was placed on the bench by Presi-
dent Roosevelt, declared: THE con-
stitutional guarantees that protect
the sacred rights, liberties and prop
erty of American citizens, from the
humblest to the most exalted, still
remain inviolate. These rights may
not be tranSgressed with impunity
nor be disregarded because of ex-
pediency."
That is a reassertion of the con-
cept that ours is Government of
law, not of men. And it has an
especial timeliness now because of
the tendency of some administrative
officials to distort the laws, or to
stretch the statutory and constitu-
tional powers of the President to
cover the doing of whatever, in their
judgment, needs to be done. This
tendency is dangerous one, and
Judge Sullivan's ruling, whatever it's
fate on appeal, should have thor
oughly desirable restraining inf1u-
ence.
When that has been said, however,
the sfact remains that the decision
may seriously undermine the none
too-stable machinery that has been
set up to deal with wartime labor
disputes. Chairman Davis of the
War Labor Board says that, barring
reversal of the decision or appro-
pirate congressional action, the
whole plan of peaceful settlement
of wartime labor disputes will col
. lapse" 1t may be noted that Mr..
Davis displayed no such alarm when
James C. Petrillo, in a comparable
situation, was permitted to defy the
board and the President with i'm
punity. The WLB took that defiance
in stride, and so did the President.
But employer defiance, in their
opinion, is another matter, and, un-
fortunately, there is at least some
reason to believe that they are right.
If Montgomery Ward should re-
main immune to wartime controls,
it seems reasonable to anticipate
strikes that would spread into war
plants. That ought not to be so, If
there were proper respect for the
law and the courts, but the prob
abilities are that the strikes would
occur. There are irresponsible ele-
ments among labor, as there are
among employers, who would exploit
this ruling for their own selfish pur-
poses, and at this juncture of the
war we cannot afford to ignore that
danger.
Judge Sullivan's ruling confirms,
first, what was already established
that WLB orders" are merely in
formatory'' or at most advisory"
There is no legal obligation on any
one to obey them. But beyond this
he has also ruled that neither the
War Labor Disputes Act nor the
Constitution gives the President any
power to seize the business prop
critics of Montgomery Ward in the
circumstances of this case.
The courts reasoning is persua-
sive, especially as to the invalidity
of the steps taken under the disputes
act. There remains, of course, the
right of appeal and the Government
undoubtedly will exhaust that rem
edy, being especially interested, pre-
sumably, in securing an authorita-
tive ruling as to the extent of the
Presidents wartime constitutional
powers as Commander in Chief.
But so far as the Montgomery
Ward matter is concerned, the more
desirable remedy lies in an appeal
to Congress. Throughout this pro-
ceeding the Government has stoutly
maintained that Congress intended
to grant power to seize an estab-
Hshment like Montgomery Ward. If
the Government was in earnest in
that contention, the logical course,
it would seem, would be to ask Con-
gress to amend the law to remove
all doubt as to the extent of the
power granted.