Previous | Next
Part: 123456789 Session: 1 Page na123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309310311312313314315316317318319320321322323324325326327328329330331332333334335336337338339340341342343344345346347348349350351352353354355356357358359360361362363364365366367368369370371372373374375376377378379380381382383384385386387388389390391392393394395396397398399400401402403404405406407408409410411412413414415416417418419420421422423424425426427428429430431432433434435436437438439440441442443444445446447448449450451452453454455456457458459460461462463464465466467468469470471472473474475476477478479480481482483484485486487488489490491492493494495496497498499500501502503504505506507508509510511512513514515516517518519520521522523524525526527528529530531532533534535536537538539540541542543544545546547548549550551552553554555556557558559560561562563564565566567568569570571572573574575576577578 of 578
by talking with other people that it was known that he did drink too much at times, and so forth, but he hadn't recently. He was supposedly all straightened out on that. There had been a period two years previously when he'd had to go away for six months. I think Melson Slater dug that fact out. But apparently he was over that, and so forth.
He was of a nervous temperament, and quite unstable. The National Recovery Administration, as he conceived it and as the bill provided, was going to be a terrific hurly-burly. One could see that. I began to be alarmed about a number of things, among them that Johnson anticipated that he was going to be a dictator in this NRA. I realized that he conceived of himself as a dictator. He conceived of himself as taking no advice.
I had had a long experience as a public officer in the State of New York, and that had made me think a great deal about administrative law, the limits of administrative law, and the controls on administrative law. There's no doubt about the fact that in modern times there has been a tendency, and I think a good one, for legislatures, in setting up regulatory legislation over certain areas of life, business, or economies, to delegate to the administrative officers a considerable area of administrative authority. The legislature gets up the policy and the general over-all
© 2006 Columbia University Libraries | Oral History Research Office | Rights and Permissions | Help