| OCR Text |
Show SEEN and HEARD around tte Vs NATIONAL CAPITAL!, t-L By Carter Field WfjM FAMOUS WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT -Washington. Itepres e n t a 1 1 r e James P. Rucliannn, chairman of the house appropriations committee, commit-tee, Is far from the rehel, bedeviling bedevil-ing President Roosevelt, that he has been made to appear In the recent re-cent dispatches from Warm Springs and Washington. Actually he is a member of the team, and at the moment Is doing yeoman service for the "quarterback," "quarter-back," as Mr. Roosevelt sometimes Jlkes to style himself. His present play of forcing the President's hand on economy and budget balancing, his hopes that the President will eventually be in agreement with him, despite his own admission that he Buchanan is a "fanatic" on budget balancing, Is all part of a very shrewdly calculated drama, not entirely unconnected with the election campaign next year. For Roosevelt himself is thoroughly thor-oughly convinced not only of the necessity for making a very strong play toward economy in his budget message next month, and of painting paint-ing a picture indicating that the budget will be balanced in due time, but also of the necessity of some "extraordinary method of making the country believe he means it. He has been told very frankly that the very Interests he most wants to placate to win over to the conviction that, from an economic eco-nomic and fiscal standpoint, he is perfectly safe distrust his words. He has been told that it will take a great deal of skill to convince them he really intends to do what he may promise In that budget message. mes-sage. Hard-boiled cynics are very difficult diffi-cult to convince by mere words, es pecially when some of those cynics -" "beneve firmly that the speaker of the words has fooled them before. So the problem was to stage a little drama in advance of the budget message, which would lead up to it, and pave the way for its being believed. Would Cut Budget Deficit . It wasn't just a trial balloon ' which the Texas congressman sent up when he talked about cutting the budget deficit down to half a billion dollars for the year beginning begin-ning July 1, next, and to scratch for the following year, after which expenditures were to be kept with- .. In income. "The Idea Is to have the country read the President's budget promises prom-ises next month with the knowledge that the head of the house appropriations appro-priations committee wants to go even further toward budget balancing balanc-ing than the President himself! If the New Dealers had figured for a month they could not have devised a more convincing plan for persuading the country not just of the President's intentions, but that they would be carried out. For Mr. Buchanan is far from being be-ing just a congressman. He is chairman of the one committee in the house that handles all appropriations. appro-priations. Subcommittees appointed appoint-ed by him and working under him scrutinize the proposed expenditures expendi-tures for every governmental department de-partment and agency. House members mem-bers as a whole are very prone to follow the recommendations of the house appropriations committee. For one thing, It provides them a very simple and effective alibi for their votes. It saves lots of embarrassing em-barrassing explanations to critical constituents. Moreover, business is perfectly aware that at the other end of the Capitol, the appropriations committee commit-tee Is presided over by Carter Glass of Virginia, who was so worried about national- credit and the administration's ad-ministration's spending policies that he wanted to cut the famous four-billlon-dnllar bill last year to two billion dollars. Senators do not pay as much attention to committee commit-tee recommendations as do house members, but Mr. Glass and Mr. Buchanan will both be on the conference con-ference committee that will Iron out differences between the two houses. Lewis Vs. Green That John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America, Amer-ica, has all the cards In the Inter-union Inter-union labor battle, as far as issues are concerned, most labor leaders here privately agree, and would win the fight promptly if his name - " JSVere William Green. Or to put It more succinctly. If he had Green's personality, and Green's background, and Green's friendships. The American Federation of Labor La-bor Is marching toward vertical, or Industry unions, and away from the old form of craft unions. But the oligarchy of the federation leans heavily toward Green, their president. presi-dent. Not only do the majority of the leaders distrust Lewis, but they Include many who actively dislike Lewis, many of them say privately, private-ly, has boon a successful tighter for the United Mine Workers. He has been aggressive, battling every moment. mo-ment. But he never knew when to lay his fighting manners aside. As a result, in conferences of labor leaders he has tried to ride over his colleagues just as though they were nothing but capitalists, and with all the contempt in his expression, expres-sion, both facial and by words, as If they were trying to starve his followers Into submission. Entirely aside from all this personal per-sonal feeling, many of them point out that battling for the Mine Workers, successful as It has been so far as winning each battle that came up was concerned, has proved rather disastrous for the workers in the long run. If Lewis had been head, for Instance, In-stance, of the automobile workers, and they had followed him with the same percentage of loyalty that the coal miners have demonstrated, the story would be very different. For in the case of the automobile automo-bile Industry, it has been expanding expand-ing year by year. Every season It needed more workers than the season sea-son before. Not only was the demand de-mand for Its product growing, but there was no other industry competing com-peting with It taking away its markets. Success a Backfire In the coal Industry, however, there has been active competition from oil, both for ships and for factories, fac-tories, and even for homes. There has been the rapid development of gas and electrical competition. For example, the electrification of the Pennsylvania railroad from New York to Washington. And there has been a very heavy slump in International Inter-national trade, which accentuated the slumping curve of railroad coal consumption, also shipping, especially espe-cially the big trunk lines leading to ports. So that In boosting the price of coal by Increasing wages, Lewis' success has had a decided backfire. This is not the sort of point that usually gives labor leaders much pause. But they cite It as showing that Lewis lacks judgment. However, several very large employers, em-ployers, who have been operating virtually open shops for some time, have told labor leaders privately they do not object to letting their present company unions forced by NRA into vertical or Industry unions. What they are worried about is having to deal with twenty twen-ty to thirty different craft unions, which frequently, they have observed ob-served in other concerns, get Into quarrels among themselves and produce pro-duce strikes which are not to be blamed, even by the workers, on their employers. They want to be able to settle all their labor troubles with one set of officials with one union. And they have served notice that they will fight to the death against the organization of their workers into the present craft unions. Farley Shocks Them The brain trust wing of the administration, ad-ministration, as distinguished from the practical political wing, was shocked beyond words at the remarks re-marks of Postmaster Jim Farley at Denver before the Colorado Democratic Demo-cratic central committee. Mr. Farley's words, which so aroused the brain trusters who have been made sick at hpart again and again at having their legislative ideas "mangled" on Capitol Hill, were : "The second error Is that the delegation in the national legislature legisla-ture are expected to be mere rubber rub-ber stamps to carry out the will of the President. On the contrary, let me assure you that the member of independent habit and judgment is the one most appreciated by the administration. It is the President's function to recommend legislation To advise congress what he deems requisite for the welfare of the nation. na-tion. Those who have faith in his judgment go along with him. bu there Is neither pressure brought on the congressmen to follow this President's lead, nor hostility or reprisal for tboss who differ with him. It is rare that any important measure goes through without amendment. So much for that!" The exclamation point at the con elusion of this paragraph appears In the nlliclal text, and most peoph at Washington, of whatever polit ical persuasion, and In whatever of tire, agree that the punctuation Is correct. Turning on the Heat Now If ever In the history ol Presidential dealing with Capito Hill more heat was turned on In the White House to win senators away from the Glass Adams side o this controversy, anil get tliem t vote for the nearly live billion: which the administration wanted old-timers around Washington di not remember It. And retnemliei that Mr. Adams. Just praised hi Farley, was one of the ringleader: of the move to cut the appropria tlon In half! But thai was then, while now I: something else ag:iin. Farley I not worried about legislation nex session, lie Is worried about tin election. That Is his job. Copyright. WNU Sen'ta. |
