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Show UMIiiif IN Washington Not since the Bitter debate over the President's Supreme Court plan has Congress witnessed such acrimonious exchanges of personal person-al accusations and recriminations as occurred in the discussions over the two measures to strengthen the man-power of the nation in the event of war. The bill to give the President authority to call National Guard units into service for peacetime training finally got through the Senate by an overwhelming majority, major-ity, which is taken here as foreshadowing fore-shadowing not only the passage of this measure by the House of Representatives, but also the acceptance ac-ceptance by both Houses of the selective compulsory training bill. On no highly controversial measure in this Congress has the division of opinion been on such completely non-partisan lines. Those observers who have been keeping the closest tab on members mem-bers of both Houses are unable to classify the advocates and the opponents of the conscription bill by any of the standard methods. There are as many Republicans in proportion to their number, as Democrats, on both sides. There is no discernible geographical division. di-vision. Every Senator and Representative Representa-tive is getting more letters and telegrams on this proposal than on anything else which has been before Congress in years. Nobody, of course, can tabulate the total on either side, but several, members mem-bers of both houses have reported that the great majority of objections objec-tions to conscription which they have received have come from women wo-men and women's organizations. Pay Increase . . . No one undertakes to forecast what amendments may be made to the Burke-Wadsworth bill before be-fore its final passage, but one which seems to meet with consi- derable favor would increase the minimum pay of enlisted men in the Army, both the present regulars regu-lars and those to be drafted for training, from ?21 a month to ?:S0 a month. The latter figure is what the "gobs" in the Navy start at. No one seems to know why Navy men get more than Army men, but the disparity is apparent appar-ent and may be adjusted. Secretary of War Stimson gave Capitol Hill quite a shock when he reported to a Congressional committee com-mittee that out of the 4,000 fighting fight-ing planes for which Congress appropriated ap-propriated money two months ago, contracts had been let for only 33 planes. The fault was not with the Army nor with the Council on National Defense, he said, but with Congress for imposing tax restrictions which made it practically prac-tically certain that any aircraft manufacturer who took on a contract con-tract for large numbers of planes would lose money. To build more planes a manufacturer would have to enlarge his plant, and under present laws he cannot charge off plant depreciation in his income tax return except in a way that would leave him carrying a huge investment in useless buildings after the emergency is over. Manufacturers, Manu-facturers, he said, were ready to go ahead without consideration of great material profit, but they should be protected against certain cer-tain loss. The President has insisted that the whole question of plant depreciation depre-ciation shall be considered in connection con-nection only with new excess profit pro-fit legislation, and that is likely to take a lot of time. More Obstacles , . . Another obstacle has appeared in the demand from organized groups representing several trans-Mississippi trans-Mississippi states that new armament arma-ment plants should be located in their region instead of all going to existing manufacturing centers. The Army policy has been for a long time that munitions manufacture manufac-ture should be centered inland, so far as possible, considering transportation trans-portation facilities and access to supplies and raw materials, a3 well as skilled labor. The injection of political pressure groups into the picture to gain local advantage is giving those who have the job to do considerable concern. More concern is expressed by those who have made careful surveys sur-veys of the whole armament field, over the apparent shortage of skilled labor competent to carry out the vast rearmament program pro-gram on schedule. Another worry is the problem of housing thousands thous-ands of workers near the shipyards ship-yards where the new navy is being be-ing built. The U. S. Housing Authority Au-thority has large plans for government-financed housing facilities, which will call for more Congressional Congres-sional appropriations. Campaign Uncertain ... In the Presidential campaign there are so many elements of un certainty that no cautious observer observ-er ventures a forecast of the outcome. out-come. Much depends upon events beyond American control. Should the threat of German victory over England diminish, it is considered here that would tend to diminish Mr. Roosevelt's chances, which are now regarded as no more than even. Republican Candidate Wendell Willkie has rejected the proposal that his party evade the political expenditure restrictions of the Hatch Act, and has announced that much less than 3 millions authorized author-ized by that law will be spent on his campaign. He has also pro-i amended to provide that every public official should file a state-posed state-posed that the law should be ment of his entire assets and those of his family on taking office, and again on leaving it. Nobody here expects Vice-President Garner to return to Washington Wash-ington from his home in Texas. How far he will go in trying to get Texans to vote for Willkie is uncertain. Some believe it is possible possi-ble that Texas may go Republican again, as it did in .1928. Republican Repub-lican hopes are centered, however, how-ever, on carrying New York, Pennsylvania, Penn-sylvania, and Illinois. |