Evening star., 1950-05-14
High Court May Rule
On Two TideIand Oil
Cases Tomorrow
By Robert K. Welsh

unusually small in number but
big in importance. fewer than Is
argued cases await decision by the
Supreme Court which tomorrow
heads into the final weeks Of its
! current term.
Validity of the separate but
equal" system of racial segrega-
ton is the outstanding issue that
may be ruled on before the
tribunal adjoNrns in mid-June.
Federal or State control of oil
and mineral rich submerged
areas of Texas and Louisiana is
a pending question almost as COM
plex and far-reaching. The tide
lands dispute has become still
more complicated by a complaint
of former Secretary of the In
i terror Ickes that terms Of 1947
T. ruling in California case are
q not being enforced.
; The court may hand down de-
: cisions tomorrow on the two tide
5 lands cases or the three dealing
: with charges of discrimination
against Negroes on railroad din
> ing cars and in Oklahoma and
I Texas State universities The
Z segregation cases, however, were
argued only last April 3 and the
tidelands cases March 27.
Other Important Cases.
But other highly important
cases are ripe for rulings. These
deal with antitrust prosecution,
complaints of "unfairness" by the
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
against the National Labor Re
lations Board, and a claim that
the District Court here lacks juris-
diction to do anything about
enemy aliens imprisoned by United
States military occupation au-
thorities in Germany.
The antitrust case involves the
Standard Oil Co. The Court
OF Appeals in Chicago held last
year that the company sale OF
gasoline to Detroit jobbers at
lower prices than to retail service
operators was unlawful price dis
elimination. The company con-
tended it cut prices solely to meet
competition.
The two labor cases are among
five that Solicitor General PERL
man appealed to the Supreme
Court because "of the special Sc
robustness of the NLRB's enforce
ment problems" in the Fifth Cir
cult Court of Appeals covering
Georgia, Florida. Alabama, Mis-
sissippi, Louisiana, Texas and the
Canal Zone. That court is headed
by Judge Joseph c. Hutchinson,
jr., of Houston. often an outspoken
critic of NLRB. ~
While the Supreme Court will
hear no more oral arguments be-
fore adjournment until October,
it is likely to set the early stage
for the 1851 term by announcing
now whether it viii review various
appeals.
Bailey Petition Pending.
Chief among requests for re-
view is the petition Of Miss Doro-
thy Bailey. She was dismissed
from a Government job after eX-
hausting all administrative ar-
peal procedures provided by the
Federal loyalty check sys-
tenn. The United States Court of
Appeals last March, in 81 deci-
sion, upheld her dismissal.
She wants the Supreme Court
not only to order her reinstated
but also to invalidate the Presi-
dents loyalty check procedure
whereby she says employees can be
fired on anonymous information.
Another petition the court
might accept or reject tomorrow
is that of former Maj. Gen. Ben
nett E. Meyers. The wartime
Army Air Forces procurement
deputy chief is serving 20 months
to S years sentence for inducing
q one-time business associate to
lie to a Senate committee.
Meyers has asked the tribunal
to review and set aside the con-
viction. He claims, among other
things, that the District Court
jury that found him guilty in
March, 194S. should have been al
lowed to pass on the question
. whether a committee quroum was
&, present at the time of the al
, legged subornation Of perjury.
. A third review petition of par
f. ticular interest here is that Of
Mrs. Yvette j. Madsen, 22-year-
. old former Brooklyn resident. She
, was sentenced to Is years in
, prison last March when convicted
of killing her husband, Air Force
1t. Andrew w. Madsen in Ger
many last October.
District Court Judge Matthew
Mcclure last month dismissed her
petition for writ of habeas cor
pus to bring her here from Ger
many so that the courts could rule
on the validity of the military
occupation tribunal that con-
vicetd her.
! She has asked the Supreme
i Court to rule that the District
+. Court has jurisdiction to take her
case and decide on the constitu-
tionality of the judicial system
under which she, as a civilian,
was tried in occupied territory.