Act: Several Blows Administered Washington, May 18.
Na sweeping and momentous decision, the United States Supreme Court to-day held the Guffey Coal Mining Act, the Jittle N-R.A." of the bituminous coal mining industry, unconstitutional.
The decision sent the act into the limbo of the National Recovery Act and the Agricultural Adjustment Act.
Ruling in the case, brought by the Carter Coal Ca, through its president, Mr. James Walter Carter, the Court held' that the provisions' for fixing of minimum coal prices and the method of assuring the rights of Tabour unions, as well as the imposttion of a 18" per cent. tax on the sale of coal or on its fair market value were Invalld and contrary to the Constitution, "The majority opinion, written and read by Justice George Sutherland, held that there was no question that the tax which the Act provided constituted a penalty tax under the Court's previous rulings in the URA. and AAA. cases, The labour provisions, "the decision declared, "were really disposed of adversely by our decision in the Schechter (URA) case 'The Court ruled that bituminous coal in the process of being mined in an intro-state transaction, and that the operation, therefore, cannot be regulated by' the Federal Govern ment, "Dissenting Trio" Dissents The decision reversed the District of Columbia Supreme Court in the Carter Coal Ca. case and also the United "States District Court at Louisville in the Harlan County, Kentucky, eases, which held the 10 constitutional in all aspects.
The "dissenting trio" of Justices Louis D. Brandeis, Harlan Fiske Stone nnd Benjamin N, Cardozo, presented minority dissenting opinion. The Chief Justice, Mr. Charles" Evans Hughes, presented a separate opinion concurring in the findings of the majority, Justices George Sutherland, Willis Van_Devanter, James C, Me~ Reynolds, Pierce Butler and Owen Roboris, The opinion by Chief Justice Hughes upheld the right of "the Federal Government to control in= dustry, provided the right is exercised written by Mr. Justice Cardozo, was based on the power of the Federal Government to fix maximum and minimum prices on commodities commerce. decisions affecting the New Deal are Impossible until after the presidential Another Blow Another blow was struck at the social-economic activities of the New Deal to-day when the District of Columbia Court of Appears held that the use of relief funds for the Resettlement Administration, directed by Dr. Rexford Guy Tugwell of the Administration's "brain trust." was unconstitutional. In giving ils decision, the Court ited rulings of the United States Supreme Court in the National Recovery Act and Ageicultural Adjustment Act cases.
The justices in today's decision cited the following objections to the constitutionality of the Resettlement That Congress failed to establish proper standards to guide the President the allocation of funds for resette> Ment purposes: and That the use of relief funds for the purpose Invades the rights of the states, Because of the. policy of attempting to Fogulate and control housing and SINE the dettute population of the The Court denounced the entire $4,000,000,000 work relief appropria~ tion by Congress. Authorities greed, however, that the decision was not a ruling on the whole Re-employment Act, because the entire discussion In the case was confined to the sult against the activities of the Government in rural resettlement The Government has lodged an. appeal—United. Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.