BIG FIGHT AHEAD

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 129, 3 June 1935, Page 9

BIG FIGHT AHEAD

THE "NEW DEAL" DEAD

CONSTITUTION FAULTY

PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT

SUPREME COURT'S RULING

United Proas Asaociatiuu—By Electric Tclo- ■• graph—Copyright. Washington; May 3.1. The decision of the Supreme Court on the RR.A. as a vital political issue facing the American people was dramatically presented by President Roosevelt at a Press conference today which lasted an hour. He said in effect that the Government must either acquire the right to regulate economic and social conditions or the nation must go back to the "horse and buggy" days of 1788. Without saying so in as many words, the President made a- clear bid for amendment to the Constitution in order.to legalise the reforms undertaken under the N.R.A.

•To substantiate his argument, Mr. Roosevelt frankly admitted that he had feared that the Agriculture Adjustment Act, the Securities Act, and the Stock Market Control legislation were unconstitutional. In fact the whole new deal was dead unless the Constitution wa's liberalised to meet presentday economic conditions.

He made no mention of the reform legislation pending in Congress, such as the Social Security Act, his banking legislation, the Wagner Labour Bill, etc., but the obvious implication was that there was no use in passing them unless constitutional .objections could be met. The President presented no concrete outline of what he wished for in the reform of the Constitution, but stated that he believed such changes were imperative, and he was prepared for a five or even a ten-year'fight to bring them about. : HISTORIC OCCASION. . The discourse td the newspapermen was historical, for it was the first time in the memory of any of those present that a President of the United States had outlined without reference to any manuscript an issue so important to the nation. He spoke casually and usually with a smile, but this did not mask the serious trend of his thoughts. Only once he made a direct criticism of the Supreme Court, pointing out with some asperity that the Court on one occasion had seen fit to recognise mining as an industry in inter-State commerce when it supported injunction suits against the miners, although it now ruled differently when the question of miners' wages and working hours was raised. President Eoosevelt showed ' the newspapermen a bundle of telegrams from business people, pleading that something be done to preserve the N.R.A., and to protect their businesses against price-tutting and other unfair trade practices. After reading some of them the President quietly said he considered that the Supreme Court's decision was the most important one made since the Dred Scott decision which precipitated the Civil War. Much of Mr. Roosevelt's argument centred around the so-called interstate commerce clause and the limitation which the Supreme Court put upon it. He contended that the interpretation had been progressively widened under changing conditions under which the "whole country had become, completely interdependent." Under this he said the N.I.R.A. had been drafted, hoping that the reorganisation of its jurisdiction would be permitted so that harmful practices by one section could be prevented by Federal action on the grounds that they would be harmful to another section. WAGES BEING CUT. While the President was making his extraordinary statement, Congress, the N.R.A. offices, and other branches of the Government received an avalanche of protests that wages were being cut, hours of work increased, and that price-cutting was spreading.

Garment and textile workers added a strike threat to that already voiced by miners. Leading employers appealed for voluntary continuation of the code standards, but apparently there are enough "chiselers" completely to unbalance the price, wage, and hour structure.

The Fresident's suggestion that the Agricultural Adjustment Act might be unconstitutional sent commodity prices tumbling-, cotton losing four dollars a bale, and wheat almost a cent a bushel. Security prices are also lower.