xt7wwp9t2q46_31 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61.dao.xml American Liberty League 37 linear feet archival material English University of Kentucky This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed.  Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically.  Physical rights are retained by the owning repository.  Copyright is retained in accordance with U. S. copyright laws.  For information about permissions to reproduce or publish, contact the Special Collections Research Center. Jouett Shouse Collection (American Liberty League Pamphlets), No. 34 "Extension Of The NRA: A Recommendation for Action to Rescue American Business from a Quicksand of Bureaucracy and Visionary Experimentation," May 13, 1935 text No. 34 "Extension Of The NRA: A Recommendation for Action to Rescue American Business from a Quicksand of Bureaucracy and Visionary Experimentation," May 13, 1935 2013 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61/59m61_34/Am_Lib_Lg_34_001/Am_Lib_Lg_34_001.pdf section false xt7wwp9t2q46_31 xt7wwp9t2q46 . . *
that production has not advanced sufliciently to *.
sustain the higher wages. The average index of
production for the entire calendar year 1934
in all of which the NRA was in full operation;  
was only 124 as compared with 119 for the entire
year 1933 nearly half of which preceded enact-
ment of tlie NIRA. The average of weekly pay-      
rolls increased meanwhile from 105.2 in 1933 to
139 in 1934. Production increased only·4 per
cent while payrolls were advancing 32 per cent.
Industrial codes could scarcely fail to collapse I
under such an oppressive burden. * * *
Industry can go forward more surely if it is .
less hampered by governmental restrictions. It
is essential that the Congress should move cau-
tiously in any extension of the NRA. Final
conclusions as to a proper relationship between V
government and business consistent with consti- · ·
tutional principles can be reached more intelli- . A Rccommcndatlon for Actlon
gently at a later period in the light of further to Rescue American Busi-
experience and the interpretations of the courts. ness from a Quicksand Of
Bureaucracy and Vision-
ary Experimentation
A E IC
vi   4+
’ L ¢)·Y Lz}
AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE
._ National Headquarters
NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING
WASHINGTON, D. C.
@4 * *
Document No. 34 ·
May. ross

 EXt€I1Si01‘1 ofthe   The American Liberty League early in Jan-
* 1 uary set forth guiding principles which should
be adhered to in the determination of a future
As the most feasible method for rescuing “ prografn for the Nlational Recovery Administra-
American business from a quicksand of bureau- ( tion. n general t e League insisted that if any
cracy and visionary experimentation, the Amer- J legislation were enacted at this time it should be
ican Liberty League urges enactment of the joint 1 of a temporary character, that regulation must
resolution (S. J. Res. 113), introduced by Senator . be brought within constitutional bounds and
Clark of Missouri, providing for an extension of ( that _a relaxation rather than a tightening of the
the National Industrial Recovery Act only to { existing rigid control over industry must be the
April 1, 1936.   objective. It was urged that the adoption of
Commendation is due to members of the Sen-   permanent policies must await a clarification of
ate Finance Committee who voted to report out 1 constitutional questions by the Supreme Court.
this resolution in preference to the administra- 4 _ Developments in the four months since the
tion bill (S. 2445), introduced by Senator Har- issuance of the League’s first declaration have
rison of Mississippi, which revises the language g1X'¥`2lI;l addedforc? to the princigleis thtelfi set foirth.
of the present law en arges t e powers o t e cse prmcip es as app 18 o e pen ing
Executive and proposes a two-year extension. { legislat1on_are: _
The bill has all the earmarks of a tricky attempt l 1. _Contznuance of any unusual escecutzve au-
to avoid a definite determination of the constitu-   thorzty should be for a lzmzted perzod. Desir-
tional validity of the Recovery Act through a   ability of such a procedure has come to be gen-
decision by the Supreme Court. The shifting of g erally recognized. _
the legal foundation for the NRA might permit j 2. The Congress should guard zealously tts
its continuance, following an adverse decision, prerogatzves under our plan_ of government in
until new test cases could be advanced through ( whtch there are three coordznatebranches, the
successive steps to the highest court. legzslatzve, the executzve and the yudzczal. S. J.
The Clark resolution aside from its other Res. 113 maintains the status quo while the ad-
advantages, ishfree froméany attgfnpt tohprevent   rni1§_s§ratia3n1bill, S. 2445, tbesideisdpergplgtaiating
the courts of t e nation rom u ing t eir con- g 1n 1 eren anguage a sys em o ou u con-
stitutional duty of passing upon the validity of * stitutionality,_ would give the President even
legislation. Q greater authority to make law by executive order.
The effort of the administration to avoid a , 3. Undue encroachment upon the sovereignty
decision in the Belcher Case is fresh in the minds of the states should be avoided. S. J. Res. 113
of the American peopge. Frienlds and foes pf lthe l cgefinitely prolhilgts the alppficaticén (if tcodesmto
administration joine in con emnation o t at . usinesses w 1C are w o y in ras a e. e
procedure. After more than two years of experi- . provisions of the administration bill relating to
mentation it is time to End out whether or not Lnterstafgz commerce pviirpofjt to be restiljctive
many of the projects and policies adopted can f ut in e ect attempt to ega 1Z€ an encroac ment
stand the test of constitutionality in the Supreme ( upon states’ rights. _
Court. The Clark resolution makes it practically ( 4. Self-government of zndustry should be the
certain that there will be such a test and that ( goal_ tn any plan for concerted actwn in pro-
in the event of a decision adverse to the admin- f motzng recovery. The adm1n1strat1on bill would
istration it will not be necessary to start this i extend bureaucratic regulation. By a revision
long and tedious process all over again. The 2 o_f codes under present law individual initia-
administration bill, on the contrary, might make L t1ve can _be given greater freedom. The pro-
_ it possible, even should the present law be_mva11- 1 h1b1t1on in S. J. Res._113 against price fixing
dated, to harass the American people with un- I‘€00gI11Z€S_l»l’1€ deslrabilty of _ free competition,
warranted and unconstitutional bureaucratic l 5. Provzszons of law respectzng the relatzons of
interference for a considerable period in the employers and employees should be jaw to both,
future. partzes. S. J. Res. 113 carries forward the pres-
2 I 3
l

 ent collective bargaining provision while the ad- The power of the Federal government is exerted
ministration bill stiffens it slightly to the possible over industry heretofore considered beyond its
disadvantage of industry, Neither would be eo jurisdiction. Constitutionality of certain fea-
objectionable as the pending Labor Relations tures of the Act is involved in the Schecter Case
Bill which proposes permanent provisions placing HOW before the Supreme Court. The forthcoming
industry at the mercy of organized labor. decision of this court should clear up some doubt-
6. Emergency recovery legislation should not ful points but may not touch other phases of the
be susceptible of use as a vehicle for experimen- law which are involved in cases now in the lower
tation with untried theories. S. J. Res. 113, while courts and in which there cannot be a iinal
permitting a temporary continuance of present edjudieetiorl before 11eXt Winter.
experimentation, at least has the merit of not i It would be a serious mistake to do more than
widening the held for the trial of new theories. continue temporarily the present law pending a
Some of the objectionable features of the present ruling on all disputed questions by the highest
NRA can be eliminated by a change of policy 3. court.
under existing law. Two decisions of the Supreme Court in recent
weeks give reason for serious doubt as to the
· · · constitutionality of the NIRA. The 1’irst was in
Pending Lcglslatlon ` · the so-called "hot oil" case in which one section
Senate Joint Resolution 113, approved by the of lllla NIRA Was lllvalldaladg The saoolld Was
Senate Finance Committee, is simple in its terms. lll l·lla oasa lll Wllloll rlla Rallroad Rarlramarlr
Section 1 amends the present not by providing Act was held to be unconst1tut1onal under the
for its expiretion on April 1, 1936, msteed of commerce and due process clauses. In the latter
June 16, ]Q35_ case a pension plan was held to be "1n no proper
Section 2 Inodifies the present law in two SGHSC 3 Yeguglatzion of interstate transportation.,)
particulars. First, it stipulates that no price Tlla raglllallloll of llldllsrry arramPl?ad m lilla
fixing shall be permitted or sanctioned under the NIRA ls as rar r s·>m¤Ved lrom lllrarslialla oom‘
provisions of any code except as to mineral maroa as llla Pallsloll Plall aPPlYlllz‘·§ to rallroad
natural resource industries in which prices are amPloYaas· , , , , ,
now fixed and which the President finds to be The lallgda$a lll_ lllla admllllsllrallloll Plllr
so affected with a public interest that such S- 244=>» PY Wllloll lll ls sollgllli llo Provlda a llaW
regulation is necessary and proper. Second, it lagal Pasls lor alla raooVarY laW» Would merely
stipulates that no code of fair competition shall oolllllsa llla lsslla· Tlla Prasall-ll_ law daolaras lilla
be applicable to any person whose business is broad Plll`Posas ol rlla Collgrass lll saakmg to daal
  int,I·a,StaJt€_ Wlth Bi D8.l`»IOI1&l. €ID€I°g€I1Cy pI`(?Cl.U.ClZ1VQ Of. WIdG·
Section 3 provides for review of all codes sPraad lmamPloYmalll* alld dlsorgalllzarloll ol
Within 30 days to insure Compliance with the industry. S. 244o enumerates "l1m1tat1ons and
requirements of Section 2_ standards" to guide the President in approving
In contrast to S. J. Res. 113, the administra- sodas and agraamarllls Tlla rllmlllarlorls alld
tion bill, S. 2445, rejected by the Senate Finance u standards), ara so gallaral as lo be maalllllglass
Committee, follows the general lines of the pres- alldw ll allylllllllgv Proadall r alllar rllall raslirloll
ent law but contains much new language for the axasddva ddllll°.rlllY· The dbvldds PdrPosa ls lo
obvious purpose both of tightening governmental avold lllvalldallloll ef dla law, oll rlla gromld ol
control over industry and of continuing the pres- all lmProPar dalagallloll or laglslarlva PoWar· It
ent NRA regardless of the nature of imminent Was oll rllls Pasls llllall llla SllPrama Qodrl held
Court decisions- ~ invalid the section of the NIRA relating to 011.
The doeople of thle Ignitled States cherish the
· · · princip es upon w ic t e Constitution was
Constltutlonahty i founded._ Interference by the government in
The National Industrial Recovery Act is pred- Pllsmass ls oollrrary ro lllasa Prmolplasy Pos?
icated upon legal theories of doubtful validity. Pollalllallll or llaW laglslarloll Wlll ProVlda lama
4 5

 in which to reach a proper determination of what of authority delegated by the Congress to the
should be done in the light of court decisions. Executive. The officials could force business
D 1 . f P men aggrieved by burdensome regulation to com-
e egatieri 0 Owe? mence anew litigation in the lowest courts. It
LaW-making   executive order has become a h2»S I`€qulI`€d I1€3.I`l}r two y€3»I`S fOr C-&SBS involving
commonplace under the NRA_ Hundreds of fundamental constitutional issues under the pres-
executive orders and thousands of administrative ent ley te_ reaeh the Supreme Qeurt- if as lens
orders have been issued. Violations of rules and a nerred is neeessary te ebtsrn 8 ruhns en 8
regulations issued by the President have been revised NIRA, it means that the present system
punishable by fines or imprisonment. The rules ean be perpetuated ier the tWe years speeiiied in
and regulations have been so numerous that it S- 2445- Under sueh 8 seheme it matters not
P has been impossible for interested persons to that the Supreme Qeurt may heid the present
keep fuiiy informed_ law to be un-American and in violation of the
A temporary extension of the present law will   Censtitutien·
not wipe out the abuses which now exist but an   y
improved administration of the act may help to " Interstate Commerce
do so. On the other hand, enactment of the l _
administration bill, S. 2445, would merely aggra- » The eiausein S- J- Res- iid that (ine eede ef
vate a bad condition. It would delegate addi- fair eernpetrtren shell be apnheahie te any per-
tional powers to the president? The new powers son whose bus1ness_1s wholly 1ntrastate" marks a
include authority to examine books and records return te eenstitutienai severnment. The Fed-
of industry. It is provided that the President as eral gevernment never shenid haye attempted te
a eondition of   approval of a eode may impose €X€I`C1S€ CO1'1lZI'Ql OV€I` bl1SiH€SS of   Cl'13I`&Cl3€I`.
conditions "including requirements for the mak- _S- ?445» Whiie purpertingte restriet the ap-
ing of reports and the keeping of books and pl1(3&t1OI1 of codes to 1I1Cll1StI`1€S W1l`»h1I1 l'»l`l€ SCOPE
reoords and the examination thereof], of the commerce clause cr the Constitution,
This invasion of the private aifairs of Amer- aetuaiiy is se breed as te ineiude aimest any
ican business men is repugnant to the guarantees ierm ef retaii trade and ieeai business. The
of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution President is giyen Jndrerei PeWer te construe the
with respect to unreasonable searches and seiz— iaW· Under the termsef the h1ii_the_Pres1dent
ures. Authorizations of this character form an might held that eendrtrens eX1st1ng rn an in-
objectionable feature of several other pending dustry Weuid affect interstate eemmeree se as to
bills, including the AAA amendments and the make necessary the establishment and enforce-
Labor Reiations Bid _ ment of standards of fair competition.
The president under the administration bil] The inclusion of a new definition of interstate
would have greater power in the imposition of a eemineree in S- 2445 is intended te make it Pes-
code upon an industry than in the present law, sible to Clfcumvent an adverse decisionlaffecting
There would be less voluntary action and more present ee present law have served to foment industrial
continue, should be limited to large groups of strife and thus have been an obstacle to recovery.
industries which voluntarily submit to regula- Under a proper revision of the law amendments
tion. Nothing short of a Soviet system of com- should be adopted to impose a greater degree of
plete regimentation of industry and trade could responsibility upon labor and to provide a larger
hope to obtain enforcement of such a vast net- measure of protection to industry against racket-
work of codes as originally contemplated. The eering and strikes.
Federal government has meddled, not only need- If the NIRA is to be continued, the legislation
lessly but to the positive detriment of business, should not go beyond the retention of the exist-
in affairs which are the concern only of the states ing collective bargaining section. The enactment
and in which there is little reason even for the of the Labor Relations Bill with permanent pro-
states to interfere. visions even more unfair to industry than pres-
ent law would have disastrous consequences.
Price and Production Control S. 2445 purports to continue the present col-
lective bargaining provisions without substantial
Devices for control of prices and production change. There are, however, changes in language
have caused more harm than good. They inter- which possess more significance than would ap-
fere with the maintenance of free competition pear on the surface. While the present law pro-
with its assurance of protection to consumers. vides that every code or agreement shall contain
In operation they have as a rule failed to aid "the following conditions," the new administra-
industry and instead have retarded recovery. tion bill requires every code or agreement to con-
The prohibition of price fixing in S. J. Res. tain "the following statement of rights of em-
113 except in mineral natural resource industries ployees, which are hereby declared and afHrmed."
reflects the widespread sentiment that it has In the view of spokesmen for the automobile
proved injurious. The language may not be industry the purpose of the change is to elimin-
sufficiently broad to apply to many schemes ate the so-called merit clause in the automobile
which are not ostensibly price fixing but which code Which permits employers to employ, promote
tend to have that effect. The mandate against ‘ and discharge employees on the basis of merit.
price fixing should cause administrative officials The change in language would emphasize that
to avoid anything that goes further than the pre- the section deals with rights of employees only
vention of destructive price cutting. A and might furnish ground for a ruling against a
In its pamphlet on price control the American clause safeguarding the rights of employers.
Liberty League said: Although the difference in language is not
8 9

 great, it may be sufiicient to furnish a basis for felleorooe oasis doubt upon any useful P0SS1b1l·
continuance of present policies if decisions in the rtree of tlls Nite for llno future-
Weirton and Houde cases, still in the lower . ML R1$>l1bereS_SeVoee attack noon lillo Brook-
courts, are adverse to the government. igisegeuslfllluliilorels,unol»l1;r Str1k111g enridemie ef
Provisions of codes with res ect to hours and .mmls l`s.l°n s un? Rnsrlosn Po loy o o ·
vvegee heve proved too iniieXihi)e_ The provision · tempting to strifle all criticism. This Institution
in the administration bill for fixed maximum and has rested ls·ol*‘llndlng r oPortS_ from t1111e to time
minimum Weekly hours with time end one_heir on various governmental activities. The fairness
pay for overtime dogs not meet the needs of of these reports has not been challenged by re-
industries with seesonei fluctuaitionse sponsible and informed persons. However, as
soon ias one report painted an accurate and un-
- - comp imentary picture of the operations of a
Exrerrmeotetroo particular agency of government, the Institution
Throieighout the life of the1NRe\e reform has . Ygss llrogeuood ?se;» P1o_l1tioo·l nlrollng- Of 00111`Se,
occupie too prominent a ro e. ecovery as l 1S no 1118 o e 111 ·
been held back by dislocations in industry caused
by efforts to revolutionize social conditions. Qfficie] Date
Repeatedly in the testimony before the Senate · _ _ _
Finance Committee it was brought out that re- H1gl1lY S1gn1rl<>ant data 0n_ “Employment,
form was a fundamental motive in the formula- Hours, E9·rn1ng§ and Preduetlon Under the
tion of codes affecting large industries NRA" are conta1ned_1n the March issue of the
In many instances reform is desirable. Expe- Monthly Looor Reotew of the Department of
rience, however, has demonstrated that it should Lobon _ _
" not be pursued to such extremes as to interfere The figures lndlonto tlrnt under the NRA the
With reooverv_ If the rorees or depression ere to average weekly hours of industrial workers have
be overcome, experimentation based either on a dooroosod end the nurnbor of employees and
desire to bring about reform orito try out new earnlnge by the hour, week and per capite have
theories rnnst be nut eside increaseede fngamslt these favgrsibleeendicatlers
A primary purpose of the NRA was to enlarge o_ oo_s o Wlng eo 1noronS€ or e W01‘ e1‘
purchasing power by reising Weges The theory, while industry has been burdened with increased
which was one with which the NRA experimented Puyr o11¤ for total rn%n·l1ourS_ of Work Sllghtly
in the face og the advice of reecognized authorities, eeereienee tote1_prodi¤