Show 1 0 v national topics interpreted by william bruckart washington D C Kat lonal press Bullo building washington Washing toll it la Is seldom that any genuine widespread interest t Is evi danced in de supreme court visions by the suun has T last nut word avora preme court ol of the united states g although that distinguished body of nine men holds in its hands power coequal to that of tile the president and or of congress some way it lias has never been a part of the government to which attention has been directed nationally of course there are more people who are not lawyers than who are familiar with laws and that may be the answer to the fact that the supreme court can be said to be little known but it seems now that the court Is to be a center of attraction just as interesting as either the executive or legislative branches the reason Is that the highest legal tribunal in ID the land has before it lor for decision some of the most momentous legal controversies to engage the country since the days of the civil war through many months questions concerning the new kew deal their legality and constitutionality aliby have been wending their slow tortuous way through the lower courts through the courts of appeals to the court of last resort under the structure which we know as our government one of oe these as I 1 reported to you previously has already been b een decided in that instance the supreme court by a vote vole of eight of the nine jud judges es do determined ter mined that president roosevelt had gone beyond the he powers accorded him under the constitution in prohibiting export of oil from the state where it wits was recovered within a very short time now the most important case of all affecting the new deal will be decided I 1 refer to the so called gold cases five questions are before the court and if it decides adversely to the governments claim on any of them the monetary policy upon which the new deal has beben operating becomes virtually null and void til the court heard lengthy arguments by high powered lawyers on the part of the government and on the part of private citizens who claim that their rights have bare been abaid abridged ed by the roosevelt money policies po licie s and d they naturally are seeking redress no ino one dares to make a prediction concerning pending action by the supreme court it can be only a guess at any time in advance of a rule by that group of men because with one or two exceptions since the nation was founded its decisions have never leaked out ahead of the time the they are formally handed down from the bench lawyers throughout the land are watching and waiting for the courts findings cut but the most fidgety of all lawyers are those in the government who recognize lecog nize that an adverse decision by the court will flatten out the new deal and force a wholesale revision of policies I 1 am told that this group of lawyers Is none too certain 11 of its ground true they made what Is recognized 0 nihed as a strong argument in support of the governments position but the difficulty seems to be from their standpoint that the constitution was written before the brain trust came into action and the constitution itself provides the only ways by which it may be changed bram brain trust ideas however good they may be necessarily are worthless and useless it they contravene the basic of tile the constitution to which the nation adheres among the quest questions 0 ns before the supreme court in the gold cases that one brought brou glit forward important by a suit to corn com question pel the goern government ment to pay gold in redeeming deehl wl one of its own bonds is by far the most important indeed that case can be said to have an overwhelming importance it if the court rules that tile the government cannot void its contract for a bond boad Is generally recognized as a contract to pay back the borr borrowed oRed money under the term named in that bond then the seizure of gold by the government in 1933 likewise Is voided in other words every person holding a government bond containing a promise to pay in gold is entitled to have that gold from the treasury it takes no stretch of the imagination to s see ee what effect that will have on the whole money program likewise if the court determines that an individual who has promised to pay in gold must observe the terms of that agreement the ad administration Is again in a hole since contracts agreements or bonds containing the promise to pay in gold are in general use and have been written since time immemorial the amount of such payments Is virtually incalculable I 1 have hae heard many estimates of the total amount of money involved by the so called tied gold clause but I 1 hesitate to use any of thorn them because it Is patent on the face of things that an a curate accurate c figure Is impossible one can get down to brass tacks on tile the effect of affirmation of the old clause however lio wever by the simple application of the ratio of gold to tile the present dollar when those gold contracts were mi written ritten a dollar in currency was redeemable for a dollar in gold at that time gold was valued at around 21 1 an ounce the roosevelt administration eistrat on arbitrarily increased that value to a few cents over Ss without going into all ail of oatt tj means that hat to gain the mm barba gold now which a dollar brought prior to the roo RO 4 action one will hal i to state it another t gold contracts involve 4 those who are obligated to r will have to pay A present rate obviously d that tant circumstance will find 2 between the upper and t 1 stones well squashed af K N rules adversely to the MI p policy attorney general plea pica to the supreme courte court argument that an would moan mean chaos to the c believe there can be no M that gut but tile point Is ducr velt administration policies mored through congress att the legislative blodys direction of the president 0 0 what is going to bj be donee dont know further I 1 doa 6 the adt adgit to knows v whit be done ing to da j k the tym ran against the government in 14 there have been nu meroa ances frequent speculation donate officials and many ra individuals the president presided Pres idea I 1 said in a press conference d day that he would not discie question while the matter TO before the supreme court simple way to avoid eap exp q hopes or his fears it is to be noted bow however everk ing the ten days in which I 1 heard arguments in the adl go h considerable number of aea representatives sat glued aued in illk th in the gloomy old supreme BI her under the dome of att they were obviously wonder wonder of them thus far has offered offe relf a sugg suggestion as to what heli event the monetary policies it turned after all if the rood gram Is upset congress sl have to enact some new klamt was the chief reason buhy soi MI the congressional leaders weal attendance at court the court will rush leq it beds that there can be DO doubt li has put cases of paramo paramour para moua tance to the nation ahead ol of 11 affect only a small number 0 litigants everyone believes I 1 that in this instance the supra has laid aside most of its 06 in order to devote its acted thoroughgoing thorough going examination present problems lawyers tell me that it if ejects the roosevelt policies able under the constitution i will have to put through n laws on the subject at break vi 14 in order to avoid a hiatus blatus IM flood the courts with an number of suits the agricultural adjust meil has used fixed the cotton the chinin 91 to restrict 1 cotton output the same i year at III time we have beg begun mun to heir he washington of a R plan to agreement restricting the ton after the manner of the 21 B restrict the world production product ione a move that went exactly t GNP determination of the sav tion for cotton in 1935 1035 that tinta as the bise base in 1934 1034 Is accePt il line with the lion s raising prices artificially tall ment of production it tf td expected that the 1015 cropf crop as high as bales fl the administration has W carry on further its expend artificial price raising fields byl tion limitation some of the ba of that policy and the ameto aaen to world examination the american production ur 1 years ago was about CO per the worlds cotton output na t down to about 43 per cent of w 1 last year the world cons iii cotton according to t the h e P of commerce figures decline 04 bales whereas abere the excluding that tant nal united states increased by b va s over ba bales les it Is further that although amed am ports in general increased B the quantity of cotton shira sw year fell off by ampro cent big iii for several years now we ve hearing more and more of ofed edg foreign nations to increase v ton production brazil has deva 1 ing a determined drive to ton as a major product e ton production lifts has in increased creasO r stant lal may egyptian coett TO tion is on the increase 1 i guidance has served to spur SP of cotton in india india and tit at in there is no sign of any adv s all ot f this i the there me increase iu iv I 1 penine while our own soua fields are being limited in opacity to produce prod uce that modify val iiii D ajr torn |