In our first year of war the statutes passed by Congress and the administrative regulations emanating from Washington touched the ordinary citizen in more ways than ever before in our history. The most vital need of the country was for an expanded military establishment to meet the grave threat that confronted us.
A long step toward securing the necessary men for our armed forces had been made by the Selective Service and Training Act of 1940, which laid the foundations for a great army. The operation of this Act, however, revealed a number of deficiencies which had to be remedied in 1942. In the first place, it did not provide for the induction of men 18 and 19 years of age who, because of their youth, vigor and lack of family responsibilities, make excellent soldiers. This deficiency was corrected by an amendment to the Selective Service and Training Act of Nov. 13, 1942, which reduced the age limit of persons liable for training and service in the land and naval forces of the United States from 20 years of age to 18 years at the time fixed for registration. The Army found, moreover, that men over 38 years of age, because of their age, physical condition and family responsibilities, would be more valuable in civilian life, particularly in defense plants or other phases of the war effort. The induction of men over 38 into the armed forces was therefore suspended by Presidential order. Provision was also made whereby men over that age could be released from the armed forces, if they had already been inducted, upon proof that they would be employed on release in an industry essential to the war effort or in agriculture.
The dual system of obtaining men for the armed forces by enlistment and induction also did not work satisfactorily. It fostered competition between the various branches of the armed forces for the best manpower. Moreover, certain branches of the service needed men to such an extent that enlistment could not be relied on to obtain them. It was desirable for all branches of the service to share equally, according to their need, in the total manpower available. This could be made possible only through the Selective Service System. Thus the President prohibited the voluntary enlistment of men between the ages of 18 and 38 years of age. Such men would thereafter be inducted into the armed forces through the Selective Service System. An Executive Order of Dec. 5, 1942, directed the Secretaries of War and the Navy to consult with the Chairman of the War Manpower Commission and to determine the number of men required by their services each month. The Chairman of the War Manpower Commission was charged with the duty of furnishing the required number of men through the Selective Service System.
Formation of Non-Combatant Units for Women.
The manpower needs of the armed forces are so great that it has been necessary to use women for non-combat duties so as to make more men available for combat. Specific statutory authority from Congress brought the WAACS, the WAVES, and the SPARS into being to serve the Army, the Navy and the Coast Guard respectively. The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps Act of May 14, 1942, authorized the enrollment of 150,000 women citizens between the ages of 21 and 45 for non-combatant service. The Women's Naval Reserve Act and the act creating the Women's Coast Guard Reserve specifically provide that the service of the enlisted women 'shall be restricted to the performance of shore duty within the continental United States only,' so that male officers and enlisted men may be released for duty at sea. These statutes recognized that certain types of non-combatant duties could be performed by women just as well as, or perhaps even better than by men and that thousands of women are eager and willing to perform these duties. However, they cannot be employed with a maximum benefit to national defense without proper organization, training and control under military supervision. The three statutes above mentioned provided the means whereby the necessary organization, training and control could be perfected and exercised.
Financial Legislation for Servicemen.
The morale of the armed forces would be undermined if the men in the ranks felt that their wives, children or other dependents were left to shift for themselves because the Government for which they were fighting and dying was uninterested in their comfort and support. In order to counteract this feeling and make provision for the dependents of men in the service, Congress passed the Servicemen's Dependents Allowance Act which provided family allowances of varying amounts for the dependents of enlisted men of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. The allowances were made up in part from a contribution by the Government and in part from an allotment of pay by the enlisted man. Congress also took steps to increase the pay of the men in the service by the Pay Re-Adjustment Act, which provided a 20 per cent increase in the base pay of enlisted men in the military and naval forces of the United States. In addition, Congress took steps so that men in the service would not be harassed by lawsuits for debts incurred prior to their induction. The Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act of 1940 was amended so as to give men in the armed forces a widespread protection from liability on debts and obligations incurred prior to induction. This statute also reduces the interest rate on obligations of men in the service to 6 per cent. The same statute also provided that the Government would guarantee the payment of private insurance premiums of men in the service up to $10,000 instead of $5,000 as heretofore, thus making it possible for thousands of men to keep their life insurance in force.
War Manpower Commission.
The problem of obtaining men for the armed forces could not be divorced from the problem of securing men for defense industries, agriculture and other phases of civilian life which contributed directly to the war effort. The available manpower of the country, in other words, had to be apportioned between essential military and civilian needs. This could not be done efficiently by different governmental agencies. The President therefore entrusted this task to the War Manpower Commission headed by Chairman Paul V. McNutt. The Selective Service System was transferred to the War Manpower Commission and the various local and appeal boards were made subject to the Chairman's supervision. The Chairman was also directed to take all lawful and appropriate steps 'to assure that (a) all hiring, rehiring, solicitation and recruitment of workers in or for work in any establishment, plant, facility, occupation or area designated by the Chairman ... shall be conducted solely through the U. S. Employment Service or in accordance with such arrangements as the Chairman shall approve, and (b) no employer shall retain in his employ any worker whose services are more urgently needed in any establishment, plant, facility, occupation or area, designated as more essential by the Chairman.'
Even before this sweeping Presidential order had been handed down, the War Manpower Commission, which had originally been set up by the President to 'formulate plans and programs and establish basic national policies to assure the most effective mobilization and maximum utilization of the nation's manpower in the prosecution of the war,' had taken far-reaching steps to apportion civil workers to essential war industries. Manufacturers of war materials bid against each other for trained workers. Thus, there was considerable pirating of employees in centers of defense industry and considerable migration of workers in search of better jobs. The Commission sought to meet this evil through the designation of certain areas as 'critical labor areas' and certain occupations as 'critical occupations.' Twelve western states, for example, were declared critical labor areas and all non-ferrous metal mining, mill, smelting and refining and all logging and lumbering activities within such area were declared essential war production activities and all occupations in these industries were declared critical occupations. After Sept. 7, no worker engaged in one of these essential war production activities could accept another job without first securing a certificate of separation from the U. S. Employment Service. Such certificate would be granted only when it was in the best interest of the war effort. An employer was prohibited by the order of the War Manpower Commission from hiring a worker without such a certificate. One industry, gold mining, was deemed unessential to the war effort by the War Production Board, which ordered operations at gold mines suspended. The War Manpower Commission sought to divert the unemployed gold miners to non-ferrous metal industries where a shortage of labor existed and prohibited the employ of these miners unless they were referred by the U. S. Employment Service, which was to do so only to the non-ferrous metal industries.
National War Labor Board.
Under the pressure of our re-armament and war production more and more jobs have become available. Disputes between workers and employers concerning wages, hours and conditions of employment became inevitable. The usual weapons of industrial disputes in peacetime — strikes and lockouts — could not be employed in wartime without endangering the safety of the country. This fact was recognized by a conference of the representatives of labor and industry, which was called by the President. The conference agreed that there shall be no strikes and lockouts for the duration of the war and that all labor disputes should be settled by peaceful means. The conference also recommended that a National War Labor Board be established for the peaceful adjustment of labor disputes. The President acted on this recommendation and established the National War Labor Board, to be composed of twelve commissioners appointed by the President. Four commissioners were to represent the employers; four, the employees; and four, the public. The Board was given power to adjust labor disputes certified to it by the Secretary of Labor or disputes in which it intervened on its own account.
War Production Board.
The most difficult problem which the country encountered during 1942 was the conversion of its industry and economy from a peacetime to a wartime basis so as to provide the Army, Navy and Air Force with the instruments and implements of war. The results which have been achieved during 1942 indicate that industrial miracles are still possible in this country. Much of the credit for the tremendous industrial achievement during the past year must go to the War Production Board established by the President during the early part of the year and headed by Donald Nelson.
Some dissatisfaction in war production has resulted from the fact that, in general, war orders have tended to go to the large industrial corporations of this country. But, there is a considerable industrial capacity in the small businesses of the country which could be used to turn out implements of war. In order to facilitate the use of small business in war production, Congress passed a statute directing the Chairman of the War Production Board to appoint a deputy 'to mobilize aggressively the productive capacity of all small business concerns and to determine the means by which such concerns can be most efficiently and effectively utilized to augment war production.' Congress also created the Smaller War Plants Corporation with a capital stock of $150,000,000 subscribed through the United States Treasury. This corporation is empowered to make loans or advances to enable smaller business concerns to finance plant construction, conversion or expansion, or to finance the acquisition of equipment, machinery, materials, supplies, etc., to be used in the manufacture of materials of war or materials for essential civilian purposes.
Housing Problem.
As defense plants expanded and required more and more workers, the problem of housing became acute. There simply were not enough housing facilities to accommodate the large number of workers who flocked into centers of defense industry. Congress has sought to meet this difficulty by appropriating huge sums to provide housing for defense workers. The appropriation for the defense housing program was first raised from $300,000,000 to $600,000,000 and was later increased to $1,200,000,000. The President also took steps to coordinate and make more efficient the work of various Federal agencies engaged in different aspects of the housing problem. The following agencies, among others, were consolidated into a National Housing Agency headed by an Administrator: (1) The Federal Housing Administration, (2) The Federal Home Loan Bank, (3) The Home Owners Loan Corporation, (4) The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, (5) The United States Housing Authority, (6) The Defense Homes Corporation.
Financing Prosecution of War.
It was increasingly brought home to people in this country during the past year that the prosecution of a war costs money. The largest appropriation bills in our history were passed by the 77th Congress to provide the expanded military establishment necessary for a vigorous and effective prosecution of the war. The funds for these appropriations must come in the main from two sources: (1) governmental borrowing, and (2) taxation. Congress made it possible for the Treasury Department to borrow huge sums for the prosecution of the war by increasing the debt limit of the United States from $45,000,000,000 to $125,000,000,000. The Revenue Act of 1942 made it possible to raise money by additional taxation. This statute is very comprehensive in scope and touches the pocketbook of every American. The Treasury experts estimated that approximately $7,000,000,000 in new revenue would be raised by this enactment. The Revenue Act of 1942 increased normal taxes on net income from four to six per cent. The new surtaxes now start at thirteen per cent instead of six per cent, and increase sharply over present rates. Personal exemptions of single men are reduced from $750 to $500 and for married men from $1,500 to $1,200. The $400 credit for each dependent is reduced to $350. For the first time the United States Government levies a tax on gross income to be collected at the source. This is the 5 per cent victory tax which is deductible from pay checks of those receiving a wage or salary of over $12 per week. Surtax rates on corporation income are also increased. Excise tax rates on distilled spirits, wine, beer, tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes are increased. The tax on distilled spirits, for example, is increased from $4 to $6 per gallon, on beer from $6 per barrel to $7 per barrel. Telephone and telegraph rates are likewise increased. There is now a 20 per cent tax on toll charges of more than twenty-four cents; telegraph, radio and cable messages pay a 15 per cent tax and local telephone service is to pay a 10 per cent tax. These are but a few of many provisions for increased taxation in the Revenue Act.
Office of Price Administration.
Increasing concentration of the productive capacity of the country on the implements of war and on the matériel necessary to supply our armed forces inevitably brought in its train a smaller supply of civilian goods. When supply is small and demand is great, prices must inevitably go up. Goods then become available only to those who can pay the price. Unless measures were taken to regulate prices, the greater the scarcity, the higher the prices would go, and the smaller the possibility that those in the low income groups of our population would share equitably in whatever stock of consumer goods was available. An increase in the price of consumer goods and a rising cost of living was also threatened by the fact that high wages and salaries, largely resulting from war contracts, put more money in the hands of large numbers of people, thereby making more purchasing power available. Unless some means were taken to control this purchasing power, there would be a spending spree on the limited supply of goods available such as this country had never seen. In order to meet the threat of runaway prices and a runaway inflation, Congress passed two statutes which have had a profound effect on American economy. The first statute was the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942. This statute created the Office of Price Administration under the direction of a Price Administrator appointed by the President. He was given the power to establish generally fair and equitable maximum prices whenever, in his judgment, they have risen or threatened to rise unduly. The prices prevailing between Oct. 1 and Oct. 15, 1941, were to be taken as a criterion in the establishment of maximum prices. The Price Administrator was also given power to regulate or prohibit speculative or manipulative practices, such as hoarding, etc. He may also, where he finds that the maximum necessary production of any commodity is not being obtained, buy, sell, store or use such commodity in such manner and upon such terms and conditions as he believes necessary to obtain the maximum production required to supply the demand. The Price Administrator can also under the statute stabilize or reduce rents in defense rental areas. In fixing rentals for defense areas, the rents prevailing on or about Apr. 1, 1941, were to be taken as a criterion.
Although attacked in the courts during the year, the Price Control Act has been upheld as a valid exercise of the war powers of the Federal Government. Under this Act, prices were fixed for an increasing variety of goods and services throughout the year. By Nov. 1, moreover, the rentals in 287 areas with a total population of approximately 70,000,000 were also stabilized by the Office of Price Administration.
Anti-Inflation Act.
The second statute which sought to bring stability in the economic picture of wartime is popularly known as the Anti-Inflation Act (an act to amend the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942 to aid in preventing inflation and for other purposes). This statute directed the President on or before Nov. 1 to issue a general order stabilizing prices, wages and salaries affecting the cost of living, such stabilization so far as practicable to be on the levels existing on Sept. 15, 1942. The President was also given the power to provide for making adjustments of prices, wages and salaries to correct gross inequities or to aid in the effective prosecution of the war. There are limitations in the Act as to the maximum prices that can be fixed for farm commodities. The Act also directed that no action with respect to salaries and wages be taken for the purpose of reducing such salaries or wages below the highest amount paid between Jan. 1, 1942 and Sept. 15, 1942. Salaries paid by private employers in excess of $5,000 per annum could, however, be reduced without regard to the provisions of this statute.
Office of Economic Stabilization.
The President under this statute established the Office of Economic Stabilization headed by a Director. Justice Byrnes resigned his position on the Supreme Court to accept the post of Director of Economic Stabilization. He was given power, with the approval of the President, to formulate a comprehensive national economic policy relating to the control of civilian purchasing power, prices, rents, wages, salaries, profits, rationing subsidies and all related matters for the purpose of preventing avoidable increases in the cost of living and preventing the unnecessary migration of labor and facilitating the prosecution of the war. The order directed that no increase or decrease in wages shall be authorized unless approved by the War Labor Board, and the latter agency was directed not to give such approval to any increase from wage rates prevailing on Sept. 15, 1942 unless this increase was necessary to correct maladjustments and inequities, eliminate substandard living conditions or to aid in the effective prosecution of the war.
Rubber Shortage.
As 1942 progressed, and our enemies cut off our normal sources of supply, one product, rubber, became particularly vital to our war effort. Congress took cognizance of this fact by authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to plant or contract for the planting of 500,000 acres of guayule in areas of the Western Hemisphere where the best growths and yields may be expected to serve as a domestic source of crude rubber. The President, acting on the recommendations of the Rubber Survey Committee, directed the Chairman of the War Production Board to assume full responsibility and control over research, development, importation, purchase, sale, acquisition, conservation, etc., of rubber. The President also directed the War Production Board Chairman to appoint a 'Rubber Director' who was to be responsible for the development of the nation's rubber program. It was under the authority of this order that William M. Jeffers was appointed Rubber Director by the Chairman of the War Production Board. It was also under this authority that the Rubber Director requested the Office of Price Administration to institute national gas rationing as a rubber conservation measure. The Office of Defense Transportation, cooperating in this rubber conservation program, set a 35 mile per hour speed limit for all rubber-tired vehicles in the United States. It also directed that all commercial vehicles carry certificates of war necessity, without which they cannot obtain gas, oil, tires and spare parts.
Food Rationing.
As 1942 progressed, the food situation in this country became progressively more difficult. This was brought home to American house-wives by the institution of rationing for such staple articles as coffee and sugar and the proposed rationing of canned goods. The necessity of apportioning the limited supply of food equitably among the armed forces, the civilian population, our allies, and the territories which we had freed from the enemy, caused the President to give a wide authority over the food supply to Secretary of Agriculture Wickard. The President authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to determine (a) the military, governmental, civilian and foreign food requirements, and (b) to formulate and carry out a program designed to furnish a supply of food necessary to meet these requirements. The Secretary of Agriculture was also directed to take whatever steps were necessary to insure a proper distribution of the available food supply and, through the Office of Price Administration, to direct the civilian rationing of food.
International Relations.
In the field of international relations, the outstanding event of 1942 was the Congressional declaration of war on Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria, which were already at war with our ally Russia. However, Congress did not declare war on Finland, which was fighting Russia, nor did the latter country declare war on Japan, which was our enemy. Congress also recognized the valiant struggle that China has made against the forces of Japanese aggression and, through a Joint Resolution, authorized the President to loan or extend credit to China in an amount not to exceed $500,000,000. In pursuance of the Good Neighbor Policy, Congress passed the 'Settlement of Mexican Claims Act.' Claims by American citizens against the Government of Mexico for loss or damage to property have always been the factor militating against the maintenance of good relations between the United States and Mexico. The statute sets up a Commission of three members to examine and render final decisions in certain categories of claims against the Government of Mexico by American nationals. It also sets up a Special Mexican Claims Fund, out of which the awards made by the Commission can be paid.
Mention should be made of the amendment to the Foreign Registration Act of 1938, which was designed to make more effective the legal barriers against enemy propagandists. Under this amendment, public relations counsel, public agents, information service employees, propagandists, servants, attorneys or representatives of foreign principals or foreign governments must register with the Attorney General and must file copies of political propaganda material with the Library of Congress and with the Attorney General. Exempted are agents of governments whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States. The administration of the Act is transferred from the State Department to the Attorney General.
Review of Legislation and Administrative Regulations.
Our review of legislation and administrative regulations indicates that the life of the ordinary citizen is touched in more and more ways by action taken in Congress or in administrative agencies of the Federal Government. This is a manifestation of a long-standing trend in American government, namely, to centralize governmental activities in the Federal Government. The necessities of total war have given this trend added impetus. This tendency to centralize governmental activities in Washington has come about despite the fact that we live under a written Constitution. The Federal Government has no powers except those granted to it by the Constitution. All powers not granted to the Federal Government are reserved to the states. Yet, one of the most interesting aspects of our constitutional history is the way in which our written Constitution has lent itself to a flexible interpretation which sanctions ever-growing powers to the Federal Government.
Many significant decisions in the field of civil liberties were handed down by the Supreme Court in 1942. In Hill v. Texas (316 US 400) the Court held that the continuous omission of Negroes from grand jury lists for over sixteen years was a denial to a Negro defendant charged with rape of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. In Ward v. Texas (316 US 547) the Court reiterated its lack of tolerance with third degree methods used to secure confessions in criminal cases and reversed a conviction in a murder case based on the confession of the defendant. In Betts v. Brady, however, the Court held that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment did not require the state court to furnish an indigent defendant with counsel in a criminal case, even though the assistance of counsel had been requested by the defendant and the charge was a serious one. A statesman-like dissent of Justice Black, however, took exception to the majority view.
'No man shall be deprived of counsel because of his poverty,' stated Justice Black. 'Any other practice seems to defeat the promise of our democratic society to provide equal justice under the law.'
In Jones v. Opelika (316 US 584) the Court decided that city ordinances which required booksellers to obtain a license were not unconstitutional and an infringement of freedom of the press and freedom of religion when applied to adherents of the sect of Jehovah's Witnesses, who distributed and sold printed matter in various towns without obtaining the necessary license therefor. The Court was, however, sharply divided in this case, one of the dissenting opinions stating, 'The opinion of the court sanctions a device which, in our opinion, suppresses or tends to suppress the free exercise of a religion practiced by a minority group.' In Carpenters and Joiners Union v. Ritter's Cafe (315 US 722) the Court refused to hold that a Texas court violated constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech by issuing an injunction restraining a carpenters' union from picketing a restaurant because its owner had contracted for the construction of a building not connected with the restaurant and the contractor employed non-union labor.
The case which attracted most popular attention during the year was that of O. B. Williams and Lillie Shaver Hendrix v. North Carolina (October Term, 1942, No. 29). Williams had been married and lived in North Carolina for twenty-five years and had four children. Mrs. Hendrix had also been married in North Carolina and had lived there for twenty years. Both Williams and Mrs. Hendrix left their respective spouses and went to Nevada where they stayed for six weeks. They then filed suits for divorce against their spouses in North Carolina. No personal service was made upon the absent spouses. Both Williams and Mrs. Hendrix obtained divorce decrees in Nevada and were subsequently married there. They then returned to North Carolina and set up housekeeping as man and wife. North Carolina, however, refused to recognize the Nevada decree of divorce. Williams and Mrs. Hendrix were tried and convicted of bigamous cohabitation and sentenced to state prison. A majority of the Supreme Court held that it was error for the North Carolina court to refuse to give the decree of the Nevada court the 'full faith and credit' required by the Constitution of the United States. In reaching this decision, the Court had to overrule its earlier decision in the case of Haddock v. Haddock (201 US 562) a landmark of divorce law, which had held that a divorce decree obtained under circumstances similar to the Hendrix case need not be given full faith and credit in the state of the matrimonial domicile. The action taken by the Court was severely criticized by Justice Jackson in a dissenting opinion.
'I cannot join in exerting the judicial power of the Federal Government to compel the state of North Carolina to subordinate its own law to the Nevada divorce decrees. The court's decision to do so reaches far beyond the immediate case. It subjects matrimonial laws of each state to important limitations and exceptions that it must recognize within its own borders and as to its own permanent population. It nullifies the power of each state to protect its own citizens against dissolutions of their marriages by the courts of other states which have an easier system of divorce. It subjects every marriage to a new infirmity in that one dissatisfied spouse may choose a state of easy divorce in which neither party has ever lived and there commence proceedings without personal service of process.... It is not an exaggeration to say that this decision repeals the divorce laws of all the states and substitutes the law of Nevada as to all marriages, one of the parties to which can afford a short trip there.'
