OCR Text |
Show Alabaman Lands In Hot Spot to Reduce Payroll By HERBERT PLl'MMtft WASHINGTON, March 2S-Th lot of Representative John MrDuffie ol Alabama hardly car. be ssid to have been a wholly pleasant one within the last lew weeks. la tha closing day of the last congress con-gress the big Alabaman aaw hi aspirations as-pirations to become speaker of the house dashed by the oinmg of Bvrni ol Tennessee with Rsinry ol Illinois with the result Inst Henry T. Rsinry was chosen lor tha post And In the first dsys of tha new congress, ha found himarlf dratted for about one of tha most polittcslly unpopular thing s member of congress con-gress could be called upon to do-head do-head tha epecisl economy committee charged with the duty of carrying out President Roosevelt prnpossla for reducing veterans' expenditures and cutting the Mlarie ol federal employes. But, unpleasant though the task I might be, McDuffi committee was' ready to report favorshly on the president' proposals The okay had. been stamped on them almost before! thev came to hi committee. Tha first legtslaUve emergency In the bouse the president banking bill wa of such a nature a lo leave ne room for Intrs or Interparty differences. dif-ferences. But no sooner hsd tha proposals pro-posals to reduce veterans' expend!-! tures and rut federal salaries arrived "on tha hill" than dissension was seen. Home observer professed to have noted a bit of shrewd trtegy In the way the president sent his economy proposal lo congress. By msklng it a double-barreled proposition, as he! did. he removed the possibility of I hsvlng It considered by a rrgulsr committee of the house. The creation of the special economy econ-omy committee, composed of thoeel member pledged to drastic ssvings In government expenditure, was: made possible. j Rankin of Mississippi, one of the! peakershlp candidstes, raised thlsl very point As chsumsn of the world war veteran' committee and s consistent edverat of the veteran' i cause, he contended that if the legisla- lion was to apply to world war veteran veter-an alone. It ahould be considered by I that committee. But hi hands were tied. l am not going to object 'to the creation of tha special committee),'' he ssid. "I could not object effec-Uvely effec-Uvely If I wanted to. . . . "But I csn say Irsnklv thst I do not believe there are five men in this house who csn leern sll sbout this veteran' Irglilation within the1 time it Is expected this measure will be brought to the floor of the house "i |