Mr. Roosevelt's Troubles A week of reflection and discussion has
not brought President Roosevelt much light about the future of the New Deal. There is not much light to bring. The decision of the Supreme Court that Congress had conferred on the President powers which it was not in its province to confer is the more devastating the more closely it is examined. The immense fabric of codes of hours and wages has gone, except in so far as it is still being voluntarily observed, and Labour, putting little faith in such temporary make- shifts, is preparing for extensive strike action. Mr. Roosevelt announced legislation designed to save some- thing from the ruin, but it is by no means clear what can be saved, and to make matters worse the Supreme Court ruling gives new encouragement to the supporters -of States Rights against the authority of the Federal Government. The essential feature of the New Deal was that it established centralized administration in the United States for the first time—as it was imperative. that it should be established. Now geographical sec- tionalism is in large measure enthroned again. Bills like Senator Wagner's, for regulating the relations between capital and labour on a national scale, will be discussed by Congress, but their fate is problematic, for the Supreme Court ruling will give the advantage to their opponents at every point. The real problem is the constitution of 1787.
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