| Show news 11 qa review of current events the world over effect of wagner act validation on national labor policy and supreme court controversy president dent orders curtailment of expenditures by EDWARD W PICKARD western newspaper union V of the wagner act brought the administration up against the necessity of formulating a new national labor policy to prevent strikes and to determine w what h a t course shall be followed when collective bargaining is unsuccessful F for ci r this purpose secretary of labor perkins invited d 33 leaders of industry and labor to attend private meetings in washington stating they would be asked sec cp perkins to discuss the need of new safeguards for industry to balance the gains achieved by I 1 labor a under the wagner act among those madame perkins invited were william green president of the american federation of labor john L lewis chairman of the committee for industrial organization myron C taylor board chairman of united states steel corporation gerard swope board cha chairman ir i of general electric corporation harper sibley president of the united states chamber of commerce n and government officials certain of the presidents advisers have told him a law requiring the incorporation of labor unions ins should be passed or that at least there should be a law similar to the british trades union act which provides that an all union funds must be accounted for to the government and that unions cannot participate in sympathy or general strikes organized labor always has opposed any such legislation and probably would continue to fight against it john L lewis thinks one result of the wagner act decisions may be the abandonment of the sit down strike though this he says depends on the attitude taken by employers in the operation of the act under the courts decision says lewis workers now have machinery for adjudication of disputes and the making of contracts with employers everything depends on the attitude of employers who showed no dis disposition to be generous although the right of labor to gather together for its protection had been conceded for a lifetime H rj OW does the upholding of t the he 11 wagner labor relations act affect the battle over the presidents plan to enlarge the supreme court that question arose at once on announcement no of the decisions and received various answers opponents of the presidents bill declared the necessity for such a a measure if it ever existed was entirely removed by this showing of liberal tendencies by a majority of the court and many supporters of mr roosevelt admitted that some compromise such as the appointment of two new justices instead of six might be advisable but the president himself let it be known that he wished his program pushed through without modification the favorable majority of one created by the shift of justice roberts did not seem to him safe enough this position of the president was taken also by some of his cabinet members secretary of agriculture wallace declared that agriculture could expect nothing from the supreme court as now constituted and urged american farmers to give the roosevelt plan their earnest support attorney Ati attorney orney general cummings declared that the four justices who dissented from the courts decision that the wagner act is constitutional still constitute a battalion of death and will continue to oppose all major new deal social legislation john L lewis levis head of the C L I 1 0 asserted the supreme court had demonstrated its instability anew and that the wagner act decisions only mada more imperative the need for enlarging the court senator james hamilton lewis of illinois whip of the senate predicted that the presidents court plan would emerge from the judiciary committee a much compromised amended and generally transformed measure CHIEFS CHIEFS of 0 executive depart ments independent officers and other spending units of the government were called on by president roosevelt to reduce expenditures up to the end of the fiscal year jure june 30 in his letter to them the president said it is apparent at this time that the revenues of the government for the present year will be materially less than the amount estimated in my budget message of last january and hence the deficit will be far greater than was anticipated unless there is an immediate curtailment of expenditure you will carefully examine the status of appropriations for your ac with a view to making a substantial saving by eliminating or deferring all expenditures which are not absolutely necessary at this time you will report to me through the acting director of the budget not later then may 1 1937 the steps which you are undertaking 0 to reduce expenditures and the amount of the estimated saving resulting SOUTHERN congressmen found they were no longer in the saddle when the house by a vote of to passed the anti lynching bill the debate was furious and the representatives from the south were deeply resentful for more than years the people of the south have kept life in the democratic party declared representative E E cox of georgia 1 and now that that party has grown grom powerful it turns upon the south and proposes to pass this wicked and cowardly law this bill is directed just as much against the south as any reconstruction bill passed after the civil war the bill was sponsored by representative senta tive joseph gavagan of new york whose district includes the big negro city of harlem it provides that any state officer who surrenders a prisoner to a mob shall be guilty of a felony and subject to prosecution and severe penalties in addition the county in which a lynching lunching lyn ching occurs shall be liable for 2000 to damages to be paid to the family of the lynched person proponents of the measure were greatly aided by a mob in mississippi that tool took two ne negroes groes from a sheriff and tortured and burned them to death the local authorities were supine and called the shocking affair a closed incident MITCHELL 1 I ITCHELL HEPBURN pre p r e 1 1 mier of ontario reiterating his determination not to permit C 1 I 0 representatives from the united states to take part in negotiations tor for settlement of the strike in the general V motors of canada wax plant at oshawa joshawa promised to call out an army if nee essary to protect the property of the corporation hugh thompson U A W A organizer barred premier by y hepburn threat ened that every general motors plant in america would be closed unless the oshawa joshawa strike were settled soon with recognition of the union demands homer martin president of the U A W A called hepburn a number of unpleasant names the toronto trades and labor council pledged the support of its members to the unions strike against general motors hepburn forced two of his ministers to resign charging they were not supporting the government in its fight against the inroads of the lewis organization and communism in general they are david A croll who held the labor municipal affairs and public welfare portfolios and attorney general arthur W roebuck axel hall young mayor of oshawa joshawa who has been friendly to the strikers and critical of hepburne Hep burns action sent an ultimatum to president martin of the automobile workers of america demanding that members of the union in the united states strike in sul support of the oshawa joshawa local the latter body adopted a resolution demanding that premier hepburn withdraw from the negotiations to make way for intervention by the dominion authorities s in montreal women garment workers members of the C 1 I 0 international ter union employed in 72 plants started a strike for higher wages and in fernie B C 1000 C 1 I 0 miners threatened to strike for union recognition W HEN george VI is crowned king of great britain on may 12 robert worth bingham our ambassador bas to london and james W gerard president Roosevel ts special ambassador to the coronation will appear in westminster abbey garbed in silk knee breeches and ordinary evening tailed dress coats the state department in washington consented to a modification of the ruling which bars american diplomats f from rom wearing rala gala clothes at state functions the costume decided upon is not full court dress but the duke of norfolk who is earl marshal will let it go as such U OR the second time in two years 1 the house passed the bill to repeal the long and short haul clause of the interstate commerce act this law prohibits railways from charging lower rates for a long haul than for a shorter one on the same route in the same direction and it hampers the roads greatly in their competition with water and truck carriers for long distance traffic BEFORE this session of congress closes it is probable the law providing vid ing for publication of salaries of corporation employees who r receive or more a year wi will be repealed the house ways and means committee already has voted unanimously in favor of recommending om such action and the law now has few supporters in congress chairman robert L doughton explained that much criticism has developed as a result of the law which was pas 1935 the salary lists which have been published have been used as mailing lists by companies selling luxury articles and in the case of some huge salaries they are thought to have been used by criminals contemplating or blackmail T THE THE united states coast guard cutter mendota paused briefly during her regular ice patrol in the north atlantic and her engines stilled and the church pennant at the masthead floated over the place where the titanic struck an ice iceberg and sank 25 years a ago go carrying 1517 persons to their death for nearly a quarter of a century the coast guard cutters h have ave guided shipping through the dangerous ice area without an accident their motto being never another r titanic disaster they are on t the he job until the last iceberg has disappeared feere p IVE history making deci decisions sl i ons 1 were handed down by the supreme court all upholding the validity of the wagner labor relations act and inferentially broadening the interstate vit k ter state commerce clause of the constitution ix the most important ruling made 7 by five of the nine justices and read by chief justice hughes was in the case of the jones OMS I 1 W w 1 laughlin steel corn com L L fehmi feK Mi pany y and directed chief justice the reinstatement of hughes hes ten discharged em plo the decision casion supported the constitutional basis of the wagner act finding it a legal scheme to protect commerce from injury resulting from the denial by employers of the right of employees to organize ind and from the refusal of employers to accept the procedure of collective bargaining the broad constitutionality of the act was strongly noted by the chief justice he declared that we think it clear that the national labor relations act may be construed so as to operate within the spirit of constitutional author ity hughes defined the right of employees to self organization and to select their representatives for collective bargaining as a fundamental right regarding the vital point of the application of the interstate commerce clause of the constitution eughen declared the congressional authority to protect interstate commerce com merc from burdens and obstructions is not limited to transactions which can be deemed to be an essential p part ar t of a flow of interstate or foreign commerce burdens or obstructions may be due to injurious action springing from other sources in the case of the associated press concerning the dismissal of morris watson a new york editorial employee the court was split 5 to 4 the majority opinion read by justice roberts held that the act does not abridge the freedom of speech or of the press safeguard safe guard ed by the first amendment to the constitution the court took the view that watson was dismissed not because his work was unsatisfactory but because of his activities in the newspaper guild and ordered his reinstatement the three other cases in each of which the wagner act was upheld involved dismissal of 18 employees b by y an interstate bus company a dispute between t the h e fruehauf trailer company of detroit mich and the united automobile workers union and a dispute between the friedmann harry marks clothing company of richmond va and amalgamated clr clothing thing workers in the bus case the decision was unanimous in the others the division was 5 tu 4 diplomatic representatives of 20 latin american republics gathered in the pan american union building in celebration of pan ame american rican day and listened to an address by president roosevelt this was formal and was broadcast to all the republics but it was followed by an off the record talk which the reporters were not permitted to hear it was said the president sought to convince the diplomats of the good faith of the united states in its foreign policies and that reviewing the promises made by his administration in this respect he declared them per cent fulfilled IT IS the opinion of the knights of columbus that communism is responsible for and other strikes in the united states and canada and that national organization of catholic men therefore has started an endless crusade against what it terms tile the most damnable organization in the world the program was launched officially by delegates of councils in the new york district and will be carried on all over the country by the knights |
