Newspaper Page Text
PASS II REVIEW
EIGHT AND A HALF BILLION DOL-
LAR BUDGET OFFERED BY
THE PRESIDENT.
By EDWARD W. PICKARD
<£, Western Newspaper Union.
TlECAl’SE work relief must be car-
A3 rled on the federal budget will not
be balanced for the coming fiscal year,
and probably not for several years
thereafter. In present¬
ing the budget to con¬
gress, President Roose¬
velt admitted this, but
without qualms. He
estimated $8,520,(XX),-
(HXi as the amount of
money necessary to
carry on the govern¬
ment’s activities for
the 1936 fiscal year be¬
ginning July 1 next.
The expenses for the
President current year, partly
Roosevelt estimated, are $8,581,-
000 , 000 .
If one wishes to know who spends
all these huge sums, an idea may be
obtained from these figures showing
the estimated expenditures for the fis¬
cal year 1936:
1. Legislative, judicial
and executive ...... 36,595,000
2. Civil departments end
agenclea .......... 788,057,169
5. National defense ... 792,484,265
4 Veteran* - pensions
and benefits ....... 704,885,500
I Debt charges:
Interest ............ 875.000,000
Retirements ........ 636,434,000
6. Refunds ............ 64,946,200
7. Recovery and relief 4,582,011,475
8. Supplemental Items
<for above groups 1
to 4 Inclusive) ..... 40,000,000
Total expenditures.. $8,520,413,608
Total receipts for ttie same period
are pu» at $3,991,IN>4,639, so the esti¬
mated Jeficit will he $4,528,508,979.
Of 'he recovery and relief fund the
Pres‘dent asked that $4,000,000,000 he
placed at his disposal to he allocated
by tim “principally for giving work
to those unemployed on the relief
rUs.”
Here are some other vital things
disclosed by the message:
The national debt will increase from
"Vl,(XX),<XXUKXi at the close of this fis¬
cal year to $34,239,000,000.
No new taxes are requested. Con¬
gress is asked to continue the so-called
nuisance taxes which expire soon and
the 3-eent stamp rate.
A national defense appropriation of
$899,948,065—the greatest revested. the his¬
tory of the country—Is
A total of 137,134 federal workers
are to he dismissed.
The $2,811,000;000 gold profit lias not
been disturbed.
Veterans pensions in 1936 will reach
the staggering total of $704,000,(XX).
The accumulated New Deal deficit
for three years on June 30, 1936, will
total $11,7(X),(XX),000.
While the trend of recovery and re¬
lief expenditures Is downward, regular
federal expenses will Increase. This Is
due in part to a 5 per cent pay res¬
toration for federal workers which in¬
volves $65,(XK),tKX).
It seemed certain that some of the
President's proposals would start bit¬
ter fights in congress. Old line Repub¬
licans Insisted that such "squandering’’
of the nation's resources would lead
to inflation and bankruptcy. The more
radical legislators thought that four
billions for work relief was not enough.
Lots of senators and representatives
resented the President’s request for a
free hand in allocating that fund, feel¬
ing he was infringing on their preroga¬
tives. Hut the administration forces
in congress are so overwhelming that
there was no doubt that the budget
would tie accepted as presented.
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT in his
* message to congress, delivered In
person at a joint session, offered the
law makers a "new and greatly en¬
larged plan” of work relief. He did
not estimate Its cost, but asserted that
the system of outright doles should be
dropped and the government should
undertake projects of slum clearance,
grade crossing elimination and other
public works that would give employ¬
ment to about 3,500,000 persons now
without jobs. The figures to be pro¬
mised for this were reserved for his
budget message, but be assured con¬
gress that they would be “within the
sound credit of the government.”
Mr. Roosi.elt declared the gains
made in the year 19,'kl were greater
than the losses and expressed "a
strong hope in the coming year.” He
reasserted his belief In the “profit mo-
live” but uttered a warning against
wealth “which, through excessive prof¬
its. creates undue private power over
private affairs, and, to our misfortune
over public affairs as well.” This, nat¬
urally, was taken as applying espe¬
cially to the public service interests,
which have been so apprehensive of
the administration’s intentions.
As for a legislative program, the
President made uo attempt to outline
one, but he did promise that definite
legislation soon would be proposed cov-
*ring old age and unemployment in¬
surance, benefits for children and
mothers, and other features of his so¬
cial security plans.
He declared the nation was making
headway toward the “new order,” but
under the framework of the Constitu¬
tion, and he spoke of the increased in¬
dustrial activity, benefits to agricul¬
ture and profits to merchants that have
been realized. Then came this stern
warning:
“Let him who, for speculative profit
or partisan purpose, without Just war¬
rant would seek to disturb or dispel
this assurance, take heed before lie as¬
sumes responsibility for any act which
slows our onward steps.”
The President reported an unsettled
condition in the foreign field, with the
resurrection of old Jealousies and pas¬
sions ami new strivings for armament
and power in more than one land, add¬
ing:
“There Is no ground for
slon that our relations with any na¬
tion will be otherwise than peaceful."
Discussing the matters that will he
brought before congress for action, Mr.
Roosevelt said:
“Among the subjects that lie Imme¬
diately before us are the consolidation
of federal regulatory administration
over all forms of transportation, the
renewal and clarification of the gen¬
eral purposes of the national indus¬
trial recovery act, the strengthening
of our facilities for tiie prevention, de¬
tection and treatment of crime and
criminals, the restoration of sound con¬
ditions in the public utilities field
through abolition of the evil features
of holding companies, the gradual ta¬
pering off of the emergency credit ac¬
tivities of government, and improve¬
ment in our taxation forms and meth¬
ods.
“We have already begun to feel the
bracing effect upon our economic sys¬
tem of a restored agriculture.
"The hundreds of millions of addi¬
tional income that farmers are receiv¬
ing is finding its way Into the chan¬
nels of trade.
"The farmers’ share of the national
Income is slowly rising. The economic
facts Justify ttie widespread opinion
of those engaged in agriculture that
our provision for maintaining a bal¬
anced production gave at this time the
most adequate remedy for an old and
vexing problem.
“For the present and especially in
view of abnormal world conditions, ag¬
ricultural adjustment with certain nec¬
essary improvements in methods should
continue.”
* PETROLEUM tiie National control Industrial provisions Recovery of
act, specifically section 9 (e), are field
by the Supreme Court of the United
States to lie invalid as unconstitu¬
tional abdication of legislative power
to the President. Eight of tiie Justices
united in rendering tills decision, Jus¬
tice Cardozo alone dissenting, and it
was read by Chief Justice Hughes.
Tiie seel ion declared void authorized
the President to ban interstate ship¬
ment of “hot” oil—that is, oil pro¬
duced in excess of state quotas.
While the opinion did not deal with
other phases of the recovery act, it
aroused widespread speculation as to
disposition of other eases. This was
the first major "New Deal” case to
come before the court. Some legal au¬
thorities pointed out that application
to the act generally of the principle
found untenable in this case might
undo much recovery legislation.
The petroleum code itself was not
involved in tiie decision. However,
the decision was believed to finish
the work of the federal tender hoard
established as a regulation issued un¬
der authority of the provision in¬
volved.
Emergency legislation by congress
to remedy the situation and to meet
the objection of the court was re¬
ported to be an immediate likelihood.
'T'llE A Seventy-fourth congress, elect-
ed on the sole issue of support of
tiie New Deal, began its first session
on the dot and devoted its first day
to the organization of
!!$■ (wo houses and
the swearing in of
new members. The
lawmakers assembled
In tiie Capitol were a
serious looking lot.
and with reason, for
they have on their
hands a big job, that
of making the New
Deal permanent; and
In the doing of it they Speaker
must solve some of Byrns
the most perplexing
problems that our national legislators
ever have faced. It would seem that
the Democrats will have no trouble in
passing any legislation they wish, for
they have an overiwwering majority.
In tiie speaker’s chair sits Joseph T.
Byrns, chosen unanimously by his fel¬
low Democrats. He is too much of a
compromiser to suit many of them, but
is now tied to the administration,
which declined to oppose his election.
John H. Bankhead of Alabama, like
Byrns one of the old school, won the
leadership of tiie house after a brief
struggle. Senator Joseph Robinson of
Arkansas was re-elected majority lead¬
er of the senate, and Senator Lewis of
Illinois continues as whip.
In their pre-session caucus the Dem
oerats voted to reduce materially the
Republican representation on house
committees, and decided to abrogate
the 145 rule for discharging a commit¬
tee and bringing a bill to vote with¬
in a week. The number now required
for this action is 21S.
pREMIER R. B. BENNETT of Can
* ada, appealing for support for his
administration, promises to give the
Dominion a “New Deal” that hears a
close resemblance to President Roose¬
velt's economic and social program.
Among the reforms the premier in¬
dorsed were: Contributory employ¬
ment insurance, a remodeled old age
pension scheme; health, sickness and
accident insurance, amendments to
the income tax laws to correct in¬
equality of wealth distribution, mini¬
mum wages and maximum hours of
work, and further legislation in the
Interests of farmers.
"TpHERE were huge sighs of relief
a in the chancelleries of Europe
when the success of the conversations
In Rome between Foreign Minister
Pierre Laval of France
and Premier Musso¬
lini was announced in¬
formally. For two
days the two states¬
men discussed the
points at Issue between
their nations and con¬
ditions in general in
central Europe. Emerg¬
ing from the last of
their meetings, Laval,
Pierre Laval smiling broadly, said
to a group of French
and Italian war veterans.
“I am glad to tell you that Premier
Mussolini and I are now in complete
accord."
Without waiting for an official com¬
munique, those best informed said
Laval and il duce had reached a full
agreement, the principal features of
which are a joint declaration to pre¬
serve the independence of Austria, a
five or six power pact of noninterfer¬
ence, and provisions for colonial con¬
cessions in Africa. The pact agreeing
not to interfere with one another's in
ternal affairs presumably will include
Italy, Czechoslovakia, Jugoslavia, Aus¬
tria, and Hungary; and later Eng¬
land, France and Rumania may he
asked to adhere to it.
This Franco-Italian rapprochement,
In the opinion of many high officials, will
go far toward insuring the mainte¬
nance of peace in Europe, and in time
may lead Germany to reenter the
League of Nations.
ISLANDS in the Pacific hold under
A mandate by Japan, and which she
says she never will give up though
she has left the League of Nations, are
virtually closed to foreign visitors, in
violation of the treaty of Washington.
The permanent mandates commis¬
sion of the league lias reported that
sums Japan announced she spent pure¬
ly for civil and commercial purposes
on ports oh these Islands are dispro¬
portionate to the volume of commer¬
cial activity. Further particulars on
the expenditure w r cre asked in tiie
next Japanese report.
A Tokyo representative In his pre¬
vious report sought to allay “suspi¬
cions” expressed In Geneva that Japan
is building fortifications or construct¬
ing naval bases in tiie Marshall, Caro¬
line, Ladrone or Pelew islands, granted
her after the World war.
The mandates commission has is¬
sued a communique saying “suspicions
nre constantly giving rise to comment
in the world press, and one method of
refuting them would be to afford free
and unrestricted access to the Islands
for foreign travelers and vessels.”
r\ EMOCRATS of Rhode Island sur-
prised themselves and everyone
else by gaining control of both houses
of the state general assembly when a
senate committee recounted the ballots
from Portsmoutnh and South Kingston
nnd declared two Democrats had been
elected to the senate Instead of the
two Republicans who had been certified
ns winners by the state returning
board. The Democratic legislators im¬
mediately organized the assembly,
abolished the state appointed board of
public safety and passed a reorganiza¬
tion bill to consolidate more than 80
agencies into 11 state departments.
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT did not
A wait for the opening of congress
to start his fight against Immediate
payment of tiie veterans’ bonus. The
commnader of a Legion post in Texas
wrote him for information on the mat¬
ter nnd Mr. Roosevelt replied at length,
detailing his reasons for opposing the
payment. He argued that the obliga
tion is not immediately due; that of
3,500,000 certificates outstanding, 3,038,
500 veterans have borrowed $1,690,000.-
0(X), or "more than the present worth
of their bonus certificates,” and that
when tiie veterans borrowed 50 per cent
of the face value of the certificates in
1931 they uesd the funds to discharge
ttieir debts.
This last point, according to Nation¬
al Commander Belgrano of the Ameri¬
can Legion, is one of the strongest ar¬
guments for Immediate payment of the
adjusted service certificates.
Speaker Byrns admitted that the
cash bonus hill would pass the house
"because there Is no opposition to it
there,” but he added that if the meas¬
ure Is finally enacted the ndministra
tion will insist on some additional tax¬
ation to meet the estimated $2,000,000,-
0tX4 expenditure. It is believed tiie
senate also will pass the bill, but lead
ers doubt Its passage by congress
over the Presidential veto that is re¬
garded as a certainty.
'T'WO thousand eight hundred bills
A were Introduced and referred to
committees on the first day of the new
congress. Number 1, handed in by
Representative Wright Patman of
Texas, provides for the payment of
the adjusted service certificates of vet¬
erans immediately in cash through the
issuance of greenbacks. Patman and
other supporters of this plan call it
"controlled inflation.”
Lemke of North Dakota, Republican,
Introduced a measure for the liquida¬
tion and refinancing of agricultural
indebtedness. The liquidation would
be carried out at a reduced rate of
interest, according to the bill, by es¬
tablishing an efficient credit system,
through the use of the federal farm
loan and federal reserve hanking sys¬
tem. Lemke also provided for the cre¬
ation of a board of agriculture to
supervise the program.
Continuance of the HOLC was pro
posed by several congressmen. The
bond issue of this agency would be in
creased anywhere from one billion to
four and a half billion dollars in the
arious bills introduced on the subject
BRISBANE
THIS WEEK
Nice Lump Sum
The President at ^ ork
Free Tombstone
Button-Pushing Days
Congress will give President Roose¬
velt a lump sum, a considerable lump
of four thousand million dollars, to let
him change from the system of doles
and imitation jobs, “picking up leaves
and pieces of paper,” to real jobs and
useful work.
In his new White House offices,
President Roosevelt is at work on a
“social security program,” which will
Include unemployment insurance and
old age pensions. The idea is to let
pay rolls contribute to the cost of in¬
surance and pensions. This might
work well with normal pay rolls.
You hope that the President, in his
wisdom, will include in any “security”
program security for the nation, in ad¬
dition to security for individuals, old
or out of a Job.
Unemployment insurance and old age
pensions would do little good if a few
thousand planes came flying from Eu¬
rope or Asia to bomb our cities and
spray them with poison gas. If they
came now, they could do exactly as
they pleased. We have no way of In¬
terfering with them.
Bruno Hauptmann's musings on
fate's vagaries were interrupted the
other day by a strange offer from Mr.
Standish Hartman, who owns tiie old
Flemington stone works, manufactur¬
ing tombstones, Just opposite the
Hauptmann jail.
Hauptmann was told, “If you are
sent to the electric chair I will let you
pick out your own tombstone, free,
and help you write the epitaph. I will
make it a work of art that people will
go a long way to see, one that any man
would be proud to have.”
It should take genius to devise a
tombstone that “any man would be
proud to have” if he got it after being
executed for murder.
A day is coming when no man will
do any work harder than pressing a
button, and science, incidentally, will
make crime obsolete.
For instance, the Joliet (111.) jailer
sent a fat “trusty” outdoors for a
cigar, and the automatic “electric eye”
] at the gate saw him, flashed a light
and the innocent fat “trusty” was
searched. A small metal shoehorn was
found in his big loose shoe.
The electric eye flashes when any¬
body passing the gate has any sort of
metal in bis possession. No prisoner’s
friend hereafter can take in a pistol,
file or steel saw.
If you buy alcoholic drinks, buy from
dealers in whom you have confidence.
Tiie federal government lias seized one
million one hundred thousand empty
whisky, wine and liquor bottles to pre¬
vent bootleggers refilling them with
bootleg supplies.
An empty whisky bottle, bought for
two cents, filled with eight cents’ worth
of bootleg whisky, may mean profit for
the bootlegger and mean poison for the
consumer. Buy from a retailer whom
you trust, who buys from those who
manufacture legally, and buy brands
that you know.
To comfort those appropriating nnd
spending large sums of public money
fighting the depression it can be said,
quite reasonably, that there would be
no danger in spending $l<Ki,000,000,000
more, considering that the normal in¬
come of the United States, in really
good times, is close to $100,000,000,001).
If a man spent one or even two years’
income to settle all his troubles you’d
think the price reasonable.
It would be a silly mistake, of
course, to issue the $100.000,000,000
In bonds and pay out another $100,-
0(X>,000,000 for interest, unnecessarily.
That needs to be said and will be said
quite often.
To read that Harry MacCracken,
seventy-flve-year-old retired cattle
puncher, jumped up when a bandit
told him to sit still, and “drilled” the
bandit through the shoulder, is mildly
Interesting. It is more interesting to
read that it happened in a “subur¬
ban liquor store” of Colorado, where
MacCracken spends his time sitting by
the stove, “whittling.” To sit whit¬
tling bya liquor store stove seems a
strange occupation for one seventy-
five years old, who knows that time is
j whittling away his few remaining
days.
The AAA asks congress for com¬
plete authority over all crops, all farm
activities, and for $40,000,000 to $60,-
000.000 to move farmers from poor
j farms to better farms.
It is all benevolently planned, but
many a farmer would prefer to stamp
his foot and clap his hands In the old
Independent way.
The end of prohibition has not yield¬
ed all that was promised, and hoped
for, in reform and in eash. Two-
thirds of all the whisky sold is still
bootleg whisky. That cheats Uncle
Sam. and poisons many with bad
whisky.
In big New York city, many went to
hospitals afi*r a “gay” New Year’s
eve. It Is little consolation to .know
that the number of alcoholism cases
was somewhat smaller than during
prohibition years.
©. Kin* Features Syndicate. Inc.
WNU Service.
e
0
National Topics Interpreted
by William Bruckart
Washington.—Now that the Presi¬
dent has laid before congress his re¬
quest for the new
National appropriations, finan-
Debt clal students are
wondering more and
more when the end of this government
spending is to come. It will be re¬
membered that Mr. Roosevelt said a
year ago that the total public debt
should not exceed $31,834,000,000 and
that that figure should be reached
around June 30, 1935. When it is con¬
sidered that the present public debt
exceeds $28,500,000,000, it becomes
difficult to understand how the Presi¬
dent will succeed in sticking to his
original assertion to hold the national
debt at the figure named.
The Treasury department lias just
released its annual report and this re¬
veals an Increase in the public debt of
approximately six billion dollars since
June 3ft, 1933, an eighteen months’ rec¬
ord. It has made the total cost of the
recovery spending program aggregate
something over twelve billion dollars
since January 1, 1931. when the spend¬
ing spree really began. To make the
vast amount more readily compre¬
hensible, if you take the time to figure
it out you will find that the govern¬
ment has been spending borrowed
money at the rate of almost twenty-
three thousand dollars a minute in the
last four years. To illustrate further
the magnitude of this sum a figure ex¬
pert here 1ms calculated that there 1ms
been about one billion minutes since
the birth of Christ and, therefore, the
federal government in the last four
years has added about twelve dollars
to the public debt for each of the min¬
utes since Christ came on earth.
But to get hack to the present plan,
presentation of the budget with ^ts
maximum outlay of around seven bil¬
lion dollars recalled to some leaders
the assertion by the President respect¬
ing the topmost limit for the public
debt. In the budget message which he
presented just a year ago Mr. Roose¬
velt boldly 'stated his belief that "the
government should seek to hold the
public debt” to the figure of $31,834,-
000 , 000 .
“Furthermore,” he added, “the gov¬
ernment during the balance of this
calendar year should plan to bring its
1936 expenditures Including recovery
and relief within the revenues expect¬
ed in the fiscal year 1936.” The fiscal
year 1936 begins next July 1. And
frequent pronouncements from the
White House have made it clear that
a balanced budget in that time is quite
unlikely. In addition, tiie treasury
said in its annual report that taxes
always lagged behind in reflecting re¬
covery of the country. For example,
income taxes to be paid on March 15,
1936, and fn the subsequent install¬
ments of that year will be the result
of levies on earnings of the current
calendar year. No one expects earn¬
ings in 1935 to be normal. It is ob¬
vious, therefore, that the balancing of
the budget in the fiscal year begin¬
ning July 1, 1935. becomes almost a
physical Impossibility unless the Pres¬
ident should do the unexpected by
cutting off every one of the sixty-five
or more recovery and relief agencies
and should cut off all federal funds
for relief of the destitute. If that
were done, it is estimated by fiscal ex¬
perts that ordinary receipts by the
treasury would come close to meeting
the ordinary cost of the regularly es¬
tablished governmental agencies.
There had been frequent contentions
by avid New Dealers that Mr. Roose¬
velt’s second budget
President’s recommendation s
Views Change " ould provide a clear
picture of his gener¬
al fiscal policies. If their statements
remain true, they resulted in setting
up one of the most paradoxical condi¬
tions in the history of this nation.
Looking back over the whole Roose¬
velt period, the thing whicli observ¬
ers have never been able adequately
to explain is who or what effected the
change in the President’s views on
fundamental financial questions. It is
too obvious to precipitate an argu¬
ment that the President’s views have
changed. When one goes back to his
first message to congress or treyond
that to his campaign speeches and tiie
platform upon which he made the race
for the Presidency, it is futile to at¬
tempt to reconcile those utterances
with the subsequent spending and bor¬
rowing program in which his adminis¬
tration lias indulged. It will be re¬
called that Mr. Roosevelt declared in
his inaugural speech an intention to
balance the budget and wipe out the
deficit left on his lap by tiie Hoover
administration. He went on to say
that if congress in its generosity voted
sums that placed the budget out of
balance it was under the necessity at
the same time to provide taxes to
raise the excess expenditures.
Since there can be no dispute that
Mr. Roosevelt’s views have changed
and he has acted In accordance with
his new found principles, the interest¬
ing thing is who brought about tiie re¬
vision of views on the part of the
President. Some of the President’s
virulent critics have asserted in the
opening days of congress that Mr.
Roosevelt was wholly uninformed as
to the needs with which he was con¬
fronted when he was making his cam¬
paign speeches. They say tie found
his original promise to be all wet and
he took the only alternative to stave
off a bitter row In his own party 1
offering spend. much money for congress tof
Among the President’s friends, thtl I
have heard private expressions
of Mr. the Roosevelt group who had been held misled his by som e |
ear at
start of the administration. Thesi
men referred to a number of the so-
called Progressive Republicans like the
LaFollettes, Norris, Hiram Johnson of
California, and Bronson Cutting 0 f
New Mexico. Several of these were
so well liked by the President that
they were invited to enter his cabinet.
Consequently, there are those who be¬
lieve that Mr. Roosevelt followed the
advice of the Progressive Republican
group much more closely than leaden
among the old-time Democrats. Most
of the Progressive Republicans are
spenders at heart, according to the
general view here. And they are also
men who regard a balanced budget as
not very Important. So, while no one
can say definitely what influences al¬
tered the President’s stand, it certain¬
ly is regarded among observers here
as being a situation in which the wind
makes the straws point toward the so-
called progressives as having joined
hands with the President in initiating
what has come to be the greatest out¬
pouring of taxpayers’ money, except in
war time, since our government wag
established.
Organization of the new congress
has resulted in a new cry, in reality a 8
very old cry, but it la
“South in new, since we have
the Saddle ” not heard it in fifteen
years. The cry we
are hearing now from Republicans and
from northern Democrats is the wall
that “the South is in the saddle.”
While there certainly can be nothing
criminal about the South being in the
saddle, it provides a grand political is¬
sue both within the Democratic ranks
and between the Democratic party and
what is left of the Republicans in
congress. It also touches a question
that has been discussed many times,
namely, the wisdom of the seniority
rule In congress. The seniority rule pro¬
vides that the oldest members In the
point of service shall inherit commit¬
tee chairmanships and shall have oth¬
er positions of honor in the house and
senate.
Out of tiie 69 Democratic senators
only 24 come from what is known as
the solid South. Of tiie 317 Democrat¬
ic members of the house, only about
100 are thoroughly acquainted with the
yell of the Confederacy. Yet in the face
of this tremendous growth of Demo¬
cratic membership coining out of the
North and the West, the South is
in the saddle more solidly than ever.
The speakership of the house went
to Representative Byrns of Tennes¬
see, who succeeded to the place made
vacant by the late Henry T. Rainey of
Illinois. Mr. Byrns iiad been Demo¬
cratic leader and his promotion left a
vacancy to which Representative Will
Bankhead of Alabama was elected,
thus moving leadership further to the
South. The only plum, if It be a
plum, that went north of the Mason
and Dixon line was the selection of
Representative O’Connor of New Y’ork,
as chairman of the rules committee.
In the senate we see Vice [’resident
Garner, the presiding officer, a Texan.
The majority leader is Senator Rob¬
inson of Arkansas. The powerful com¬
mittee on finance is presided over by
Harrison of Mississippi: the senate
committee on banking and currency is
controlled by Fletcher of Florida; and
the committee on agriculture is head¬
ed by Smith of South Carolina. One
could go on and name many others al¬
though I believe the consensus*.is that
the seniority rule has not worked to
produce as many duds for senate com¬
mittee chairmanships as has occurred
in the house.
* * *
Democratic leaders in the house have
made certain that they will not he em¬
barrassed this year
Checking as they were in the
Radicals first New Deal con '
gress. In that ses¬
sion they were constantly harassed by
the radicals who sought to force votes
on legislation which the President and
his advisers did not want arid which
for the same reason the Democratic
leaders did not want. The radicals ac¬
complished their purposes by use of
what Is called the rule of discharge of
committees. But that rule has been
amended so that to invoke it now, ac¬
tually a majority of tiie house will
have to sign a petition.
Under the previous rule, the signa¬
ture of 145 members of the house was
sufficient to compel tiie discharge of a
committee from consideration of any
piece of legislation referred to it for
action. The necessary number of sig¬
natures was obtained in three embar¬
rassing cases last year. The soldiers
bonus bill was brought out by that
method; the Frazier-I^nike farm mort¬
gage inflation bill was released for *
house vote in the same manner.
The new house organization, how¬
ever, is determined not to be embar
rassed in that manner. It succeeded
in Democratic caucus—binding on al
Democrats—in having the origins
rule amended so that now there must
be a majority of all house members
affixing their signatures to the dis
charge petition befoi-3 it becomes op¬
erative.
©, Western Newspaper Union.