Milford chronicle., 1957-08-16

tions, and health insurance. Most people
will agree that we get great deal in return
for that sum. And there is very indication
that, by and large, the costs are as moderate
as the conditions of the time permit.
&SG@&&
WORLDWIDE PROBLEM
Through all the ups and downs of argu-
ment over control of nuclear energy in both
military and Military uses, one of the
most. consistently sound voices has been that
of Representative Chet Holiield of Califor-
MIA. He was a member of the original con-
gressional joint committee on atomic energy,
and at present he is chairman of a special
radiation subcommittee of that group.
Few, if any, 'laymen know more than
Representative Holifield about the uses-and
it goes without saying, the haZards-of nu-
clear energy. He has been an articulate
champion of the idea that there should be
careful, well conceived legislative controls
over the atom. All this gives particular sig
nifcance to his recent proposal that leading
scientists of all nations be brought together
for open discussion of dangers that confront
the world as it enters the new atomic era.
In an article in the Saturday Review,
Holifeld noted that when nuclear energy
comes into widespread use as a source of
power, it will unleash amounts of radior
activity even more staggering than those I'M
VOlVed in nuclear Weaponry." Whether the
uranium atom is split in bomb or in a re-
actor, he said, ''if it is uncontrolled and en-
ter mans environment, it contributes to the
same ultimate hazard"
in the opinion of this congressman who
has been intimately involved in atomic mat
ters during the past several years, 'We have
urgent need for set of standards for radia-
tion risks which take account of the global
nature of fallout and the awesOme proper
tions of future nuclear power industry"
Such standards cannot be established until
the worlds experts have discussed the mat
ter. That first step toward meaningful atom
ic control should be taken as promptly as
possible.
THE SUPREME. COURTS LAW CLERKS
A recent check showed that the Supreme
Courts law clerks who have a great infu-
ence on Supreme Court decisions and do
much of the research work preparing them
are mostly Harvard-Yale men and, gener-
ally speaking, not representative of all parts
of the United States.
Another interesting finding of the recent
survey was the fact that seven of the eigh-
teen clerks were not members of the bar of
any state, and that only one of Chief Justice
Warren'S three law clerks was member of
the bar
We suspect-as do number of promi-
nent lawyers and officials-that on the Su-
preme Court, as in other courts-the JUS
tlceS are too prone to let law clerks look up
pertinent references for the justices to check
on, to save them the actual routine work
of looking up things for themselves. They
also recommend whether the justices should
accept certain cases appealed to the Supreme
Court. Naturally, if a judge is not highly
aggressive and able, he might be inclined
to let his law clerk do a good bit of the
work for him. These law clerks-none of
them over thirty-are not likely to possess
the wisdom, experience or the appreciation
of the Constitution, and precedent, which
Supreme Court justice is supposed to have
Obviously, the justices themselves, in
many instances on the present court, do not
possess the knowledge Of the constitution
and precedent. Therefore, some of them are
almost at the mercy of their law clerks, and
one can understand some of the many-splen-
dored decisions emlnating from the highest
court when the situation is viewed in this
light.
PRICE-MAKING AND MATCHMAKING
DR.. Edwin G. Nourse, chairman of the
Council of Economic Advisors during Pres
ident Truman's administration, recently tes-
titled on the problem of price initiation before
a Senate investigating body. He made state
ments that cannot logically be contradicted
He said that "the processes of price-mak-
ing and of wage-making are so intertwined
in the modern world that neither can be eff
fectively analyzed in isolation from the
other" He then said that labor unions should
be subject to the antitrust laws, exactly as
are business and industrial organizations.
The public is entitled to the protection