Evening star., 1949-07-28
High Court Could FACE
Question Of Validity
OF Present Congress
Adjournment Required
August I by Law Unless
.'Stote of War Exists
Bv David; Laurence

war was declared in 1s41, do not
seem to be Americas enemies
any more. America has been
spending money on all three to
keep them going.
Speaker. Rayburn has ruled
that the present law which re-
alllres Congress to adjourn by
August / unless the Nation is in
a. state of war" does not require
any such adjournment because
the state of war" still exists.
Some day the Supreme Court
of the United States may be
asked to rule on the validity Of
laws passed after August /, 1949,
by the present Congress. The
court took upon itself the other
day to determine whether an
action taken by a committee was
legal when some members who
had been present to make a
quorum early in a certain days
proceedings absented themselves
later.
Competent Tribunal.
The Supreme Court has pro-
claimed that it has the right to
decide when Congress or any
committee is a competent tri-
bunal." Certainly if Congress is
Illegally in session. a question can
be raised about the laws passed
after the date set for adjourn
r1fent.
AtJust why the Democratic ma
tority cannot pass resolution
adjourning Congress on August
1 and why the President can't
call an extra session to start the
first week in August seems mys-
terry. The only explanation is that
the administration doesn't want
to bother with these technicali-
ties and prefers to take a chance.
Any one, however. who is con-
victed of a violation of any law
passed after August / will be
privileged to offer the argument
that Congress was not lawfully
in session-in fact, it can be
argued that there was no session
in existence.
Realistically, Of course, this is
q period of emergency in the
sense that there is fear of a war
with Russia. But almost all the
spokesmen of the Government
will concede that such a con-
tingency is not immediate and is
q few years off. Certainly the
intent of Congress was not to
write a law fixing its own ad-
tournment on a basis which could
be upset by the personal opinion
of the speaker as to, what consti-
tutes an emergency. There have
been presidential messages in
recent months formally proclaim
ing that the war is at an, end. :
A United States District Court
Judge, however. has ruledn that
Congress still possesses war pow
ers and can enact a valid rent
control act to replace the one he
declared invalid on other grounds.
Question Must Be Settled.
Sooner or later the question ntJ
whether the Congress, can keep,
ON exercising war powers indefi-
nitely will have to be settled by
a high court decision. The war
powers constitute q specific sort
of authority reserved for real
emergencies and wartime. If the
fact that hostilities we're not 60
ing on or were not Immediately
threatened can be disregarded, it
would be a simple matter for an
intolerant or capricious majority,
working in collusion with an over
ambitious President, to usurp in
times of peace the powers that
were originally designed for use
emily in war.
T.. Reading the newspapers these
days makes one wonder, however,
whether Speaker Rayburn may
have been inadvertently prophetic.
The State Department announces
that it wants to spend $1,450, ,000.-
900 to arm and equip the military
services of several European coun-
tries in order to ward of an at
tack that is expected to come
from Russia.
while diplomacy normally heSi-
tates to name names and prefers
to speak of military preparations
as simply defensive, the Ameri-
can Government announces that
Russia has committed acts Of ag-
sression and that the armament
is specifically designed to head
off Russian attack.
Many people will say that these
are the facts of international life
and that there is no reason why
these facts shouldn't be stated
openly. But, unfortunately. to do
so is to say that reliance Is now
going to be placed on military
preparation for armed conflict
and that Russia's intention to at
tack is considered q virtual GER
tainty. In diplomacy such things
are. never said If there is hope
Of working out through peaceful
negotiations a solution of the
problems that have given rise to
international tension.
The announcement Of the arms
program and the naming OF Rus
sia are bound to spread the no
ton that war is inevitable. which
in itself is not a factor conducive
to peaceful settlement of inter-
national disputes.
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