Evening star., 1949-10-02

. Dennis, secretary of the Commu-
mist Party in the United States
, are among the varied personages
with much at stake in Supreme
Court appeals.
The non Communist affidavit
requirement, closed-shop agree
) ments, liability Of union for
. breach of contract, validity of the
District health inspection law, the
national rent-control law, consti-
. tutionality of the House Commit
tee on american Activities
railroad dining car discrimination
against Negroes. refusal of a COM
pany to bargain with union that
no longer represents employees OF
the company. the attempt Of a
union and an employer to get an
injunction against rebellious union
members, the right of the wage
and hour administrator to look
into company's books-those are
only a few of the problems the
court is asked to solve.
Labor cases are no less numer-
Gus and complicated than in pre-
vious terms. John L. Lewis, no
stranger to the Supreme Court, re-
quests the tribunal to set aside a
contempt finding based on alleged
failure to obey a District Court
order to "cuase" miners to resume
work.
The United States Court of Ap-
peals here upheld the contempt
| judgment that carried fines of
$1.400.000 on the union and $20.-
900 on Mr.. Lewis. Those fines
were double the amounts the union
and it's president had to pay in
1947 after unsuccessfully appeal
ing to the Supreme Court in SINH
lar contempt judgment.
Tests of the non-Communist
affidavit provision of the Taft
Hartley Act and of closed-shop
agreements already are on the
docket and probably will be among
the first heard when oral argu-
ment sessions begin. The Taft
Hartley measure denies NLRB
privileges to unions unless officers
sign non-Communist afddavits.
The "right-to-work" law Of
Arkansas also is under attack in
a case that the court has agreed
to hear. The case resembles but
is not identical s with those in
which the court last year upheld
the right of States to ban the
closed shop.
| A tangled proceeding that put
the Justice Department and the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi-
neers In fast-changing roles in
District Court here last year has
been carried to the high court.
Important Labor Case
It began when the Government
sought District Court injunction
in 1947 to prevent a railroad
strike. The union moved to dis
miss the petition, but was turned
down in District Court. The strike
was averted by other means and
the Government moved that the
case, which had gone to the Court
of Appeals, be dismissed. The
appellate court dismissed the case
as moot" Now the union asks
the Supreme Court to overrule
that order and decide that the
original move for an injunction
was wrong.
A labor issue that could have
far-reaching effects on filing Of
injury claims will be reviewed.
OF more than ordinary concern
to veterans in particular and la
Dor unions in general is a sched-
uled review to determine whether
a veterans Unemployment privi-
leges under the Selective Service
Act end after his first year of re-
employment.
Civil rights cases, and those as
serting constitutional rights Of one
kind or another for individual
defendants, continue to flow into
the Supreme Court.
Besides the appeals Of Eugene
Dennis and several others from
contempt-of- Congress convictions,
involving the House Committee on
Un-American Activities. there are
such varied petitions as these:
To compel a California city to
allow the Church of the Latter
day Saints to build a church on
land zoned for single family dwell
ings.
To require Oklahoma and Texas
officials to stop racial segregation
in State universities.
i, To direct another State school
to reverse an order expelling a
student who arranged a meeting
at which a Communist spoke.
To overturn a Patent Once dis
barment of a District attorney tor
an alleged fraud committed 1s
years previously.
To throw out former Attorney
General Clark's order excluding
an American soldiers alien wal
bride from the United States with
out q hearing before . board OF
inquiry. -
Mav-C C1arsson Case JJp
The May-Garsson case that
originated at hearings before the
lold Senate War Investigating
COMMITTEE In 1946 and went
through q trial Of more than
three months in District Court has
finally reached the Supreme
Court. 49,
I. May and Henry and Murray
Carson, two brothers who oper-
ated a munitions-making combine
during the war, want the tribunal
Ito set aside their conviction that
resulted in jail sentences OF eight
months to two years. They have