The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1949-08-18
Big Business Lawyers Still Plot
For Power Over Federal AGENCIES

Washington (LPA)-Blgwlgs OF
the American Bar Assn are cook
ing up new scheme to grab con-
troll of government administrative
agencies, after failing in their first
| one.
Their original plan was to set
up a permanent watchdog" panel
composed of ABA moguls and at
torneys satisfactory to the Natl
Association of Manufacturers to
pass on who may or may not serve
as trial examiners in various US
agencies.
These examiners hold crucial
positions. They pass in the first in
stance on the myriad of cases aris-
ing under such Federal laws as the
Taft Hartley act, Federal Trade
act, Interstate Commerce act, Sc
curities and Exchange act, and
many others. Control of the exam
iners virtually meant power to con-
troll enforcement of those laws.
A panel rugged up by the ABA
Ifunctioned for many months under
the wing of the Civil Service Com
mission. 1t drew up a register of
Qualified examiners" from which
many of the old Wagner act trial
examiners were disqualified, but
on which were put many cronies
and relatives of panel members, as
we'll as lot of lieutenants on the
staff of Robert N. Denham, Gear"
of the Taft-Hartley act.e So.
Many of the examiners "black-
balled" by the panel had served
the government for years, with
high ratings. Their proposed custer
caused so great a kickback that
the panel quit, en- masse.
Labor spokesmen hailed the
panels resignation as "good rid
dance," but that didn't end the
battle. The ABA, they said, is still
trying to get in by the "back door"
to dominate the examiner system.
The new scheme of the ABA
publicized in the Washington Daily
News, is to seek legislation which
would place the choice of examin-
ers in the hands of either a new
administrative court or a US Cir
cult Court of Appeals. In either
case, the idea is to plant in such
court judges who stand in well with
the ABA hierarchy and will follow
its "line." An AFL spokesman
made it clear labor will fight the
new plan as hard as it attacked
the previous panel setup.
The original panel was headed
by Carl Mcfarland, a leader in the
Bar Association, whose firm repre-
sents the NAM in a suit challeng-
ing the governments lobby regula-
tion law. Mcfarland signed the
panels mass resignation letter to
the Civil Service Commission, and
he gave as reason unfair critic
ism" of the panel and failure of
the csc to back it up.
However, on Capitol Hill, it was
revealed the real reason was some
thing quite different. What hap
pened was that the Senate passed
two significant riders to a Civil |
Service appropriation bill, propos-
ed by Senator Wayne Morse Or,
Ore.).
One rider would prohibit the
from using any of the
funds to hire outsiders on civil
service boards of examiners, so
ong as qualified people are avail
able for that purpose in Federal
agencies.
The second rider would bar pay
% any member of such board if
he has been financially interested
n any case before a government
agency or in any litigation involv-
ng the government.
The first rider would have the
,ffect of kicking out Mcfarland
md four associates on his panel. ]
The second would have hit Nc !
7arland alone because of his con- |
lection with the MANS suit
.gainst the government. So Nc {
Tarland quit before he faced the !
respect of being fired. 4
Another key development in the a
ase was the disclosure that the
senate Civil Service & Postoffice ,
headed by Senator r
lin Johnston Cd, SCI is going /
head with an investigation of the
1cFarland boards previous shen- b
nigans. t
Also, efforts are still being made O
} persuade the Civil Service Com :
lission to throw out the entire t