Supreme Court Strikes Blow at Human Rights In Its Decision on AAA
Waldman, Louis
Supreme Court Strikes Blow at Human Rights In Its Decision on AAA Waldman Show* C\u»fb* Of Judge, m Series «rf Reactionary riuilap ±CklU lor Cuuillturtauwi Amendment. Workers...
...must The party membership will have die last word is this matter and will demand, as it is already demanding, an accounting from those who, entrusted with the preservation of the patty and promotion of its interests, committed this crime against the party...
...Legal scholars with a realistic appreciation of the economic and social forces at work were firmly convinced that the spirit of constitutional construction and the views expressed by the dissenting minority—Justices Stone, Brandeis and Cardoso—would be adopted by tbe majority of the Court in dealing with- legislation designed to meet the new problems raised by a machine and power age...
...Asv vhe Mg^90t dressTHaKers wdu would be affected by the strike call are union members and work in close to 4,000 shops concentrated in the metropolitan area...
...Determined to carry decent opinion of the party membership throughout the country, in the name of a bogus democracy, the type of democracy long practiced by Norman Thomas and his followers on the N.E.C...
...was in line with true Communist practice and principle, and it is set surprising that the 'Daily Worker, ' official organ of the Communist Party, hailed it as "a victory," a victory for the Communists, for the "united front," for the destruction of our party as a Socialist Party...
...We shall leave nothing undone to write a satisfactory contract...
...Gst books that teach better government and oar principles of municipal, state and national administration...
...auditorium here Monday evening- at a mass meeting which celebrated the inauguration of Reading's second Socialist administration Mfriich had 'been sworn inf...
...On more than ana occasion," said Chief Justice Marshall in an early case, "this Court has expressed the cautious circumspection with which it approaches the consideration of such questions...
...It would not be at the mercy of a majority of the Supreme Court...
...Hochman's statement was accompanied by a call to 4,000 specially selected Union members to meet in Manhattan Opera House, 34th St., West of 8th Ave., Wednesday, for final tuning up of the general strike machinery...
...Congress shall have the further power to establish laws for the ownership, operation and management through agencies and instrumentalities of the United States, of business, manufacture, industry, commerce and banking and shall have the power to raise monies through taxation for the acquiring and carrying on of such enterprises...
...Mayor Stamp, who was received with thunderous applause, said: "To me the November election was one of the proofs that' most of oar people have confidence in us and in our party...
...But that, wont be enough...
...There is no question that these proposals are practical and 'desirable...
...As James H. Maurer put it in his bites si ¦» comment on the action of the NJELCi "How can the N.E.C...
...We do not believe the decision in any way affects the validity of the measures mentioned...
...This turmoil is caused directly by daily violation of the wage standards of the agreements through underpayments, falsification of books, kickbacks and a host of other evasions...
...accepted as truth the false and scurrilous allegations of a group of secessionists led by Norman Thomas and pronounced its verdict...
...In times of a great national cripit the hand* of the government MM been tied, and the will of a nation of 127,000,000 people frustrated...
...He attacked the sanctions against Italy, the League of Nations, the British Labor Party and the Labor and Socialist International...
...One association spent its time seeking a 'national name' or a general to lead ft out of the wilderness...
...Special to The New Leader WASHINGTON, D. C. — The necessity for an amended Constitution of the United States to safeguard legislation passed in the interests of the workers and farmers from Supreme Court decisions was stressed by President William Green of the American Federation of Labor in a vigorous statement upon the occasion ,of the AAA decision...
...Poulnot I* st home with his family, but bssn guarded both day and HffJ ? B voJunteer8 from the Alliance and a deputy He has^ been told not to PR^aojwhere unless accompanied Bjp*«oiue one he can trust...
...Limitation of con, tractors, settlement of the jobbers' premises and the unit system of price settlement are what the union asks to establish order and uniform compliance...
...We know there were deficiencies in the NBA, in the AAA, and the other measures which were at the foundation of the New Deal...
...We em going to give the people of this city an administration that will be efficient, economical and humane...
...This hope is now completely shattered...
...A minority discredited 1>y its demonstrated incapacity to build the movement, to advance rite party along die road of constructive achievement, a minority facing certain repudiation by the party membership, bee decided to wreck the party by one brazen stroke of dictatorship its order that it might perpetuate it* regime of rule or rain...
...A Tood administration in Reading and Socialist control of this city's government are only stepping stones to better and greater things...
...They will learn that the party of Eugene V. Debs, of Victor Berger...
...He is a very well informed person and is quite witty 1.- Poulnce and Rogers jtre both I still suffering front the effects of j»«r experience...
...1*HE crisis in the Socialist Party has reached a climax...
...The morning certmonies where Mayor J. Henry Stump and the other Socialist "officials had been sworn in was witnessed by an equaHy large gathering...
...They showed that they.wanted us to come back, i "And we are going to repay their confidence and trust in as...
...With the AAA and the NBA declared unconstitutional largely on technical and legalistic grounds, there is likewise danger to the Labor Relations Act, the Guffey Act, the Social Security Act arid other legislation...
...Stump Is Sworn As Mayor of Reading, Pa...
...or -of pledges for a working-class administration in the ease of the elected Socialists, no one taking more than ten minutes, Devere Allen launched into a lecture which lasted nearly an hour...
...10,000 Readings Needed James Oneal reviewed briefly the rise of the Socialist movement in Beading, the part played in it by Comrade Maurer and other earnest workers who had built up the party in the days when there were only a handful of Socialists in the city and when the speakers at street-corner meetings were looked on as "freaks and unbalanced agitators...
...has merely brought it to a head...
...One -toy one the Supreme Court has been striking down the measures constituting the New Deal* J * The New Deal is now deed...
...1 And many years later after Tm« Constitution had begun to lissyaii more definite shape, the Court again declared: * '. "A decent respect far a coordinate branch of the government demands that the^niScfaU} should presume, untj the 9**» trary is dearly show*f the...
...Members of the 'National Executive Committee also participated in the celebration...
...Dross makers Planning Big Walkout Hug* Ma** Meeting of Shoe Chairmen Wednesday Night Prepare Battle of ^05^000,000 Against the A GENERAL strike affecting 105,000 workers in New York's $500,000,000 dTess industry is inevitable because the employer associations are drifting aimlessly through the negotiation period, according to Julius Hochman...
...Protecting the livelihood and conditions of 105,000 «brkers is a heavy responsibility and one that enforces an industry-wide viewpoint...
...Again, a great political issue involving the Constitution is before fate nation...
...Almost three months after formal call to conferences snd a year after the union program has been informally discussed, the jobber leadership wakes up sufficiently to canvas its membership...
...The facts the fogging and particularly #« growing wave of indignation ever the crime will be related in sjS^ljIfeyHssk ypftp^i Poulnot is 38 years°dd, is marri*d snd bus ftwir children...
...The Fight Has Just Begun...
...will discover that decency, democracy and understanding ef true Socialist principle are alive in the hearts and mind* of the party members even though they are dead in the N.E.C...
...James D. Graham, President of the Montana State Federation of Labor, appealed for support of the sheep-shearers in their fight against the bosses and stated that a boycott of Iamb might be necessary if the shearers are not given better conditions...
...On November 1, 1935, I wrote them asking that dates be set for conferences...
...taken for a ride to Brandon, where all were terribly beater, by a ruffian gang, Shoetaafeer so seriously that he died "H agony December t. - Six men in the city employ, four of them members of the police farce, were suspended snd subsefsntiy indicted along with two 1 from Orlando who had served (fecial city policemen...
...It encouraged the act of secession, helped bring it about, and then gave it official blessing...
...The fight ha* just began, the fight for the pi sstru stion of the party as a Socialist organixation governed by the principles of democracy and fair play...
...To that end we have worked out a program that will bring peace and order into an industry torn by frequent stoppages and strikes...
...The latter is be* *** held at the county jail as a LUsttrisJ witness, but is given lib¦•.fy in the custody of his friends |P proper identification...
...Max Cohen, manager Dress Pressers' Union Local 60, and Samuel Perlmutter, manager of Amalgamated Ladies' Garment Cutters' Union Local 10, all affiliated with the Dress Joint Board...
...It set itself up a* the judge of what constitutes the "general welfare" as used in the nasistftsi tion...
...The experience of the cloak and suit industry over the last three years proves that contractor limitation and curbs on jobber irresponsibility will prove fruitful in ;the dress industry...
...PresidentGreen Calls for Amendment Labor to Fight for Revision Of Constitution to Prevent Future Decisions Killing Legislation...
...If on have made Reading the Socialist Capital of Pennsylvania, and we are looking forward to greater and bigger things to come, the day when we have the first Socialist congress of the United States...
...They have had plenty of warning...
...When you do this, and help to Spread Socialist teachings throughout this state and beyond, then you will be helping to bring about a setter day and a real government, for and by all the workers of these United States...
...Hochman States Issue* Hochman's statement follows: "A strike in the dress industry is inevitable unless the representatives of the employer associations develop a better brand of industrial . statemanship in the crucial few weeks shead of us...
...For six weeks no meetings were held...
...He has been unemployed for a number of years, and was prtBrtpally responsible for the organisation of the Unemployed BistlMhssd of Hillsborough County in the winter of 1932...
...One Discordant Note There was only one discordant note in the entire proceedings...
...That is fiddling while Rome burns, with a vengeance...
...creates the fascism in our own ranks that we have so bitterly condemned...
...face the decent party membership tfci iiisghnut the country after aflteed w«l^ autio«ai otganutane...
...It will inspire Wall Street with greater confidence...
...three employer associations, under which the industry has been operating since August 1933, expire at the and of this month...
...Luigi Antonini, manager of Local 89, Italian Dressmakers' Union...
...Study Socialism "Ton men" and women: Study your government and Socialism...
...social and labor problems...
...Nothing contained in the 1 Fifth and Fourteenth Articles of Amendment to this Constitution shall be construed to impose any limitations upon the legislative power of Congress or of the several states with respect to any of the subjects referred to in this Article...
...General Manager of the Joint Board of the Dressmakers' Union...
...The AAA Supreme Court decision will gladden the hear** of reactionaries throughout the MBittry...
...When relief was cut in 1984 to 75 cents a week per person and 35 cents extra for each additional luciuboi1 of the family, he organized a mass demonstration st the Court House, and said that if adequate relief were not given the unemployed would have to break into a warehouse and help themselves to food, because they •weald not submit to starvation of themselves and famileis...
...Besides the Heading Socialists there ware large delegations from New York, Pittsburgh and other cities and the mass of the audience" wait made up of workingmen and women of the type that make possible: the building of an effective Socialist movement...
...To the party members throughout the country we say: We are in this fight to win...
...effectuate the will of the American people...
...Whitewash of Floggers Labor Unions Join in Battle To Wipe Stain from City Of Lynching of Socialists...
...that- morning...
...A Constitutional Amendment The constitutional amendment should embrace the following provisions : "Congress shall have the power to regulate, limit and prohibit the labor of persons under 18 years of age, to regulate hours and conditions of labor and to establish minimum wages in any employment, to regulate production, industry, business, trade and commerce, to provide for the relief of aged, invalided, sick and unemployed persons, in the form of periodical grants, pensions, benefits, compensation, or indemnities from the public treasury, through contributions by employers, wage earners, or from one or more such sources, '• and to provide generally for the economic and social welfare of the workers of the United States...
...The usurpers have thrown down the challenge and we have picked it up...
...He joined the .-JSrty over two yearns ago and has a loyal and active member BP* "inee...
...The leading members of the new administration pledged themselves to a genuine working-class administration of the city...
...We Have Just Begun To Fight...
...Brief speeches were also made by Council men Charles F. Sands, Howard McDonough and Stewart Tomlinson, who paid a glowing tribute to "that old war horse of Socialism, James H. Maurer," who was unable to attend the celebration- because of poor health -and the bad weather...
...The difficulties with which we are faced ia ear attempt te secure the enactment of social justice legislation is emphasized by the decision...
...We will fight to the hitler end to save the Socialist Party, the party we have helped to bund and to preserve through decades ef painful effort end straggle...
...His praise of Maurer brought a spontaneous burst of applause which lasted for several minutes...
...but two decades in the industry have shown me that our employers never seem able to solve industry problems without forcing us to resort to strikes...
...We firmly believe the Guffey Act, the Social Security Act, the Railroad Retirement Act and the Wagner Act will be held valid and constitutional...
...la intrdoncing William Hoverfar, City Treasurer, Hoopes pointed set that the capitalist parties had triad to prevent Comrade Hoverter from taking office by setting his bond at the unprecedented figure of $600,000 — three times the amount of the combined bonds of the last three capitalist city treasurers, but that the bonding companies had gladly furnished it and that Comrade Hoverter had been sworn in that morning...
...To cap the climax, the jobbers' association announced in the Sunday newspapers that it was conducting an 'Informal canvas'of its members to determine their attitude toward the union program...
...Chairman Hoopes, before introducing the next speaker, then hinted of the freed of speakers not to take up too much time...
...Opposing the wisdom of Congress and the President as to what will serve the general welfare as expressed in the AAA, the majority of the Supreme Court tltnj lated this difference .of opinion into constitutional barrier...
...seanomic...
...S^^aaperM> Levy declares, "The conduct of the N.E.C...
...To date only the most formal of courtesy conferences have been held and they have failed to produce any signs of a genuine desire on the part ef the employers to sit down for s serious discussion of the ills of the industry...
...Workers Must SocialUt* Join Organiaed Workers in Demand for Constitutional Revision To Safeguard Workers' Righto from Court, By Louis Waldman A MOTHER chapter of coeari" tutional history of great moment to the American people has been written by the Supreme Court when by a vote of six to three it nullified the Agricultural Adjustment Act...
...Among those who outlined general strike duties were David Dubinsky, President of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union...
...Now there is no other way out than the adoption of a constitutional amendment which we Socialists have been urging...
...Hochman...
...It has been forced upon us and we shall not shrink from facing it squarely and uncompromisingly...
...In adopting the course which the majority of the Court has bean following, in thwarting the will of Congress, they have gone contrary to a well-settled principle of constitutional law declared by that Court itself in several famous decisions...
...They testified they were seised at bseJi|iisM«i...
...I say this in no spirit of glee...
...and has declared that in no deustful case would it pronounce id legislative act to be contrary Is the constitution...
...With the overwhelming majority of the party members behind it, the Socialist Party of New York State, supported by comrades throughout the country, will not bow to the usurpation and dictatorship of a discredited group which considers itself above party, above all rules and above anything thai stands in the way of its ambition to dominate...
...We ssust help the people of other communities and throughout the country at huge to get better government and the benefits that tie gste obtained for ourselves here in Beading, so that these benefits will reach more and more people •aad will be more and more lasting...
...But the situation is not of our making...
...The action of the N.E.C...
...The Guffey Act, the Social Security Act, the National Labor Relations jict, and the Railroad Retirement Law are yet to be passed upon by tee high Court...
...It is incumbent therefore upon those wha._affirm the unconatitutionality of any act of Congress to Show dearly that it is in violation of Uue provisions of the Constitution...
...gave its support to a minority group of secessionists led by Norman Thomas...
...ol Morris Hillquit and Ben Hanford will net become the party of petty men blinded by an inordinate appetite for power, perverted by ignorance and dominated by false personal ambition...
...The union cannot afford to be so lax...
...Tampa Protests...
...They are political questions that should be settled by the American people through the ballot...
...It was hoped that the process of adapting the Constitution to the social needs of the times would proceed without the necessity of amendment...
...stitutional rights end condemned the majority of the party members in this state to euchssicei from the party...
...It soon became apparent that .the whole workingclass movement of the world was out of step except for Allen and four or five of his comrades on the N.E.C.- 1 His whole speech was one of the professional pacifist rather than one of a Socialist, although appeals were dragged in for "working-class action...
...An amendment, somewhat on the lines of the proposed Workers' Rights Amendment drafted by the late Morris Hillquit, would tike away thj power of the Supreme C*Btrt'-u7*3Hffy TormaltegaHsmato needed laws.' Green's statement follows: "We had very sincerely hoped that the AAA would be sustained...
...He is ajjjRJfr egTsmpa, and has been eUSjsvsStfU a printer most of his sdult mi, snd was president of the IseJffrentnen's aiton for several years...
...After the meeting all of the Socialist officials held open house in their offices in city hall to greet the workers of Reading...
...The flogging of Shoemaker, Poulnot and Rogers took place the might of November 30, immediately after they and three others arrested at" the home of a comrade had bees turned loose from police headquarters with no charges on which the city could hold them...
...We hope these mast ares will weather the storm But, with the fate of the NRA, the Railroad Pensions Act, the Perm Mortgage Moratorium Act, and now the AAA, before us it is bard to keep these hopes high...
...We have not the slightest doubt that when the party membership will have spoken the N.E.C...
...With the adaption of such a constitutional amendment the government would be empowered to...
...Another split in two with both the new and aid marking time...
...He was active in union work until suspended on account of unemployment snd non-payment of does...
...It is not sufficient dor -tasas that they succeed in raising s doubt...
...an ever-changing world by peaceful and orderly governmental action...
...Other State* Ignored ; % In suspending the charter of New York State, the N.E.C...
...A Doctor Whipped Samuel J: Rogers is 56 years of sge, a native of Marion, S. C, and a graduate of Johns Hopkins Medical School, but has not engaged ' » bis profession si nee he came to PWrida in 1925...
...It should enable the American people to adjust its economic and social needs in...
...These usurpers will be driven from power and will be compelled to obaervevthe laws of decency and political morality to which Socialists have always been devoted...
...Nothing like this has ever occurred in the history of the Socialist Party...
...Darlington Hoopes presided at tits evening meeting at which brief speeches of congratulation were Mads by James Onasl, James D. Graham, Albert Sprague Coolidge, Leo Krzycki, Fran* Daniel and Powers Hapgood of the*.N.E.C...
...Socialists, organised labor and all lovers of progress must be profoundly disappointed at the course taken by the majority of the Sudeallng" with total narva/iaj...
...Although each of the speakers confined himself to a brief address of congratulation in the case of members of the N.E.C...
...The struggle will be a bitter One...
...Men of courage will not shrink from it The people will respond if without dodging or evasion this issue is squarely pre-, sen ted before them...
...Far from deciding the issue, the action of the N.E.C...
...Over 1.700 people jammed the City Hal...
...originally because '.st failing health and latterly be<aue of lack of funds necessary < |p secure a license to practice in Florida...
...And we have not the slightest doubt what the verdict of the rank and file, from one end of the country to the other, will be...
...With the wisdom or the snntciency of the particular measures which have been nullified by foe Supreme Court we arc net hare concerned...
...In taking this action the National Executive Committee has demonstrated clearly its cynical disregard of the party constitution, its defiance of the time-honored principles of democracy and fair play by which the Socialist Party, like all Socialist parties, has always been governed...
...Asother speaker will be Prof...
...They will learn that the Socialist Party will not be ruled by Communist or fascist methods and that Americar workers will not bow easily to the rules and practices of die tatorship and usurpation...
...Without so much as even a semblance of a trial, the N.E.C...
...Without filing formal charges, without giving the New York derfensa, the ^E^C.^f^^^^o^mortr^SSTVork cdMtTcee...
...The majority of the Court is charged by three of its own mm here with "s tortured construction of the constitution.'' It went se far as to question the wisdom of the expenditure of public funds, a prerogative heretofore definiUly recognised as belonging to Congress...
...And we feel certain that when the smoke of battle clean the field will belong to Socialism, to democracy, to the rank and file, and not to Use petty dictators anal aeavpers who believe that momentary power as members of the NEC givej them the right to force their will upon the party...
...Tried out on a genuine working-class audience, the harangue was not conspicuously successful...
...By M. E. Edson . Special to The Now Leader flPnMPA, Fla.—A mass meet*Jnp has been arranged for Jpaary 19th, at which the home fib will be told what the country- at large thinks of the brutal murder of Comrade Shoemaker...
...gt* 1 U ? ¦• t r lectges /tsatnniatTauon or the City Along Socialist Line* — Joyous Throngs Join in Mighty Victory By Adrian Gambet Special to The New Lewder OEAMNG, Pa...
...all the matabers of which a«#under the MUgetfkuvotjsn osth of fidelity to the Constitution.' Such has always been the rule...
...The Vary fact that three out of the nine Supreme Court Justices dissented in a strong opinion holding the Act constitutional shows that there was grave doubt as to whether the legislation was in conflict with the Constitution., The AAA decision has farreaching implications.' More than the NBA decision, it imperils some of the other measures vital to labor now before the Court...
...the* has been no transgression at power by Congress...
...We are disappointed to a great extent by the decision...
...This and only this is the mnaajtig ef the action of the National Executive Committee in suspending the charter of the New York State organization, removing the regularly constituted state committee, end placing the organization in the hands of three commissars to do die bidding of the dictatorship...
...disregarded not only the party constitution and long-accepted principle and practice but the warnings and wishes of party members in other parte of the country...
...What we need," said Oneal, "is 10,000 Readings, governed by Socialists and then the nation's workers win take over their own government for themselves and their own welfare...
...Collective agreements between the Dress Joint Board and...
...George Googe, Southern organiser of the A.F.ofL., has been invited to speak...
...He joined ,U» party in the Fall of 1934, has been a - loyal member ever since, end he has no use for the Com¦waists who made trouble in his ¦nemployed organisation...
...He is Iff*'J*, get about, but is in a bad ft<y*?VlM state from his horrible ,,k»«i*nee...
...YES, WE HAVE JUST BEGUN TO FIGHT...
...Learn all you can...
...He was arrested for this "incendiary" Beach, and after ah interval of tretdcra on bail was dismissed with a warning, but he refused to Agree not to make another such speech if occasion arose...
...All this with our agreements expiring at the end of the month...
...Nothing in this Article shall be construed to impair the power of the several States with respect to any of the subjects referred to in Sections 1 and 2, except to the extent that the exercise of such power by a State is m conflict with legislation enacted by Congress pursuant to this Article...
...The necessity for aa amendment te the Constitution sassaS to be become wore apparremt...
...It will not be a pleasure to be compelled to devote so much of our time and energy to preserve the party from the splitters...
...What is vital at the present moment is that an interpretation of the Constitution hat See* adopted vkiok arregt* toctal progree* and turn* the dock backwards...
...He at ¦ first refrained from joining- the Socialist Party because he felt that be could do more effective work for the unemployed as a nonpartisan...
...The decision, however, brings to the attention of labor and farmers the difficulties encountered under the limitations of the Constitution as interpreted by the courts...
...Walter Hollinger, City Controller, said that he is going to ask the council to authorize a thorough audit of the city's finances and added: "We are going to restore the city financially to the position which it is entitled to...
...Hoverter then revealed the fact that the .capitalist administration had left the city treasury with only a •juple of hundred dollars in it...
...Legitimate elements in the industry suffer from this chaos as well as the workers, "The ills of the irTdustry rise from the jobber-contractor system running wild...
...and elsewhere, the N.E.C...
...There is still time for such leaders as the employers happen to have to shake themselves out of their doldrums...
...Such constitutional amendment should be broad in scope...
...And pat acts of Congress are ¦being nullified by "a tortured construction of the Constitution"—in the words of Judge Stone...
...He learned the carpentry ^trede here and is a member of the serpents*' union...
...A Torrwed CwSMrYOcMon In spite of a solemn warning by Justices Stone, Brandeis and Cardoso in their dissenting: opinion that the nullification of federal legislation like the Agricultural Adjustment Act is "likely, in the long run, to obliterate the constituent members* of 'so indestructible union of indestructible states'," the Supreme Court by majority vote struck the Act down...
...R. W. France, head o: the economics .and business department at Rollins College and a brother, ef*former U. S. Senator France of Maryland...
...But face the party membership the N.E.C...
...He has been unHgpioyed and^fot the last three SjJsars be has been on relief work ' Stost of the time...
Vol. 19 • January 1936 • No. 2
