THE NATION: We Say It's Expediency

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That was plainly the key to the Government's whole case. Coupled with the Government's broad reading of the Constitution, it was, said Judge Pine, an interpretation that "I have never heard expressed in any authoritative case before." Then, after two days of hearings, Judge Pine promised a prompt decision that would undoubtedly be appealed to the higher courts.

The court's apparent skepticism and Congress' sharpening disapproval may have given pause to the Government bosses of the steel mills. At any rate, Commerce Secretary Sawyer held up a wage raise for the steelworkers. And Price Stabilizer Ellis Arnall announced that steel is entitled to a price rise of $3 a ton—a coating of sugar for the wage pill that the Government had promised to force on the companies.