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Show lli,Jl2ii wfm National Topics Interpreted Ml Kl by William Bruckart &rqjSl Washington. Major party strat-! strat-! egv In tlie present congressional-sen-I ' atorial campaign 1 C. O. P. Has resolves itself I Hard Task a determined eiTort by the Dem-j Dem-j ocrats to hold the two-thirds major-i major-i Ity they have In the house of repre-I repre-I sentatives, and an equally determined deter-mined drive by the Republican high command to break the "strangle hold" there of the New Deal party. The holding of this majority is of vital Importance to the Democrats because, with a two-thirds vote they will be able in the next congress to continue "gag" rule which was Invoked In the last congress and under which It was possible to pass administration measures with a minimum of debate and effort In the light of the outcome In the Maine elections and In the face of the size of Democratic votes in the primaries in a number of states regarded as rather safely Republican Repub-lican before 1032, the G. O. P. leadership lead-ership apparently has a hard task ahead. In the last congress the Democrats had 312 members, or 22 more than a two-thirds majority, and generally were able to command com-mand most of the five votes of the Farmer-Labor membership as well as the votes of several Republicans from Wisconsin and from one of the northwestern states. Assuming Assum-ing a Farmer-Labor membership In the next house as great as that In the last, the Republicans would have to register a net gain of not less than thirty seats In order to break Democracy's "strangle hold." Even with such a gain the Republicans Repub-licans would have to muster their full strength on every vote in order to prevent "gag" rule. The Democrats are certain to make substantial gains in the senate, sen-ate, and they are by no means overlooking over-looking a single senatorial contest. Democratic leaders in headquarters here have been mentally kicking themselves ever since the Maine election that they did not put on a vigorous drive against Senator Frederick Hale in that state. They explain privately that they did not do so because they never had an idea there was a possibility of defeating de-feating Mr. Hale because a Hale In the senate has been Maine tradition tradi-tion for generations. They detected detect-ed a flaw in their reasoning when Mr. Hale came through with only a scant majority, and this fact has caused them to redouble their efforts ef-forts in other states, and particularly particu-larly In Ohio, where Simeon D. Fess, former chairman of the Republican Re-publican national committee, Is up for re-election ; In Maryland, West Virginia, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Missouri, Indiana, Delaware, Connecticut Con-necticut and Michigan. Nor are they even overlooking that citadel of Republicanism, Pennsylvania, where David A. Reed Is up for reelection. re-election. The Democrats now have sixty members In the senate four short of a two-thirds majority and they are confident that November will see this membership Increased by a minimum of five, or one more than a two-thirds majority. And when they get down to cases. Republican Re-publican leaders somewhat mournfully mourn-fully admit privately that Democratic Demo-cratic expectations may be fulfilled. A two-thirds majority in the senate sen-ate during the next two years Is highly Important from the Democratic Demo-cratic point of view because of the number of Important treaties now pending or to be submitted to that body for ratification. It Is no secret In political circles here In Washington that the campaign cam-paign strategy of Talk of those at present Third Party la command of the G. O. P. does not meet with the full approval of some Republicans who are offering for re-election. I have had several of them tell me that their prospects pros-pects for victory would be materially mate-rially enhanced If the Republican high command stayed out of their states or districts. These are men who heretofore have been regarded as the "regular" wing of the party, but who have the feeling which apparently ap-parently Is becoming more and more widespread among the younger young-er leaders that there must be a re-oranlzation re-oranlzation of the Republican party and a younger and more liberal leadership If the party Is to regain Its place In the American political sun. Meanwhile reports trickle Into Washington about a movement having Its Inception on the western prairies for the formation of a third party. Several conferences of progressive pro-gressive leaders already have been held, and some of those who have participated tell me that the movement move-ment Is gaining steadily, although It has had no publicity as yet , Those participating desire no fan-i fan-i fare, as they do not believe the time is ripe for the announcement, and that certainly the movement should not be brought Into the open until after the November elections. The fate of the progressive partv to Wisconsin as organized bv Robert Rob-ert M. I.a Toilette, Jr., and his brother Phil, can he expected to have a considerable bearing on the plans of those who are viewing the field to determine whether a sizeable size-able public sentiment can be marshaled mar-shaled behind the third party movement move-ment Manv political strategists both in the National Capital and elsewhere believed, and gave expression ex-pression to their views at the tune, that Senator I.a Follette made a major ma-jor political error when he came out openly for President Roosevelt In l'.)32 This made certain that the Democrats would carry Wisconsin the state many regard as the birthplace of the Republican party and It was equally certain that the astute James A. Farley, as chairman of the Democratic national nation-al committee, would lose no time In building up a formidable Democratic Democrat-ic organization through the power of patronage at his disposal as postmaster post-master general. The vote In the recent re-cent Democratic primary Indicated that he had done a rather thorough job, but whether the La Follette hold on the Wisconsin electorate can be broken remains to be seen. Whatever the Democratic majority major-ity may be In the next senate, the New Dealers are Would Outdo certain to have "KingRsh" two flies in the ointment, when heretofore they have had only one. Mississippi is sending to the senate its former governor, Theodore G. Bilbo, to Join Louisiana's Irrepressible Irrepress-ible Huey P. (KingDsh) Long. Mr. Bilbo, who became a newspaper clipper in Washington under the New Deal, has promised his constituents constit-uents that if they would send him to Washington he would "raise more h 1 than Huey Long." He has set for himself a very sizeable job because be-cause admittedly Mr. Long has raised more h 1 since he has been In the senate than was raised by even those two theretofore Incomparable Incom-parable h 1 raisers Cole Blease of South Carolina, and Tom Hefiin of Alabama. They constituted a real team from the South during their stay In the "world's greatest deliberative delib-erative body," but unquestionably Long and Bilbo will put their record rec-ord to shame that Is If they team up together. Senator Long has demonstrated dem-onstrated during his brief stay In the senate that he likes to hold the center of the stage with a silent cast about to admire. Whether he will take kindly to another "h 1 raiser" within his own party ranks remains to be seen. Democratic leaders do not overlook over-look the possibility that If these two team together they might create a schism within the party ranks. Senator Sen-ator Long has far outstripped any of the New Dealers In some of the proposals which he has made, and Mr. Bilbo apparently is determined to keep pace with him If not surpass sur-pass him. There are several Democratic Demo-cratic senators who might conceivably conceiv-ably go along with them, as they are not wholly satisfied with wdiat they regard as the "conservative radicalism" of the administration. Two pieces of legislation enacted by the last congress with a view to aiding the farmer Due for seem destined for Scrap Heap the scrap heap. Theyarethe Bankhead compulsory cotton control law and the Lempke-Frazier farm mortgage bill. Strangely enough It is Senator Bankhead of Alabama, author of the cotton law, who leads the revolt against that measure, which limited cotton production to ten million bales with each state allocated Its respective share of this total. It so happens that the total yield was only nine million bales, a million less than permitted by statute. stat-ute. But, peculiarly enough, some of the southern states had superb weather and raised more than they were permitted to raise under the allocation made by the Agricultural Adjustment administration. There Is a penalty of $30 on every excess bale raised In any state and taken to market. Mr. Bankhead would have this confiscatory tax waived, setting up the argument that since only cine million bales in all are available It Is senseless to keep any of It off the market In the face of a crop shortage. The Lempke-Frazier bill. In the first test case brought In the courts before Federal District Judge W. Calvin Chestnut, In Baltimore, has met the fate which Its opponents predicted It would meet. It has been declared unconstitutional. The purpose pur-pose of this measure was to declare a moratorium on farm mortgages for a period of five years. It will be recalled that this was one of the measures which was passed by the senate in the hectic closing hours of the last session, and It Is no secret that many Democrats Demo-crats voted for It In the belief that Mr. Roosevelt would veto It and that even If he did sign It which he did the courts would declare It Invalid. This was merely another one of the many cases of passing the "buck" which are to be found in the annals of the congress. Mr. Roosevelt declined to take the "buck" so the holders of farm mortgages mort-gages were left only recourse to the courts. . Western No-iras-aoer Unlou |