| Show Bruc Brac karls karts washington WaA ington digest three important Trob problems lems for foe congress gress to consider national defense ie relief licefi and the railroads ar ara pressing J questions this congress will not vote vite money just to ale please ase the afie president by WILLIAM BRUCKART service national press washington D 6 0 washington if it were possible 0 to closi close ones ayes eyes to the tragedy 0 of t the scene a and n d forget all about the sadness of the world one might produce a masterpiece of humor concerning the situation in the na lions capital thi Aft after erthe the i manner of the circus hawker one might shout that tha tIthe the greatest show on earth is about to open one might call attention lorf to the fact that this show is unlike most mast others because it has two big tops and one might without stretching the imagination bugge suggest st that if you want lantto to understand what Js is happening or ts is about to happen you had best keep your eyes trained on both tents yes in all seriousness there are two shows thi this s winter one of them has many actors actis many voices it isto is to be found in the halls balls caco cf con n I 1 griss gress on capitol hill the alie man on the flying trapeze never excelled by comparison with members of the house and senate never were there better clownish acts than are staged annually in those chambers instead of vocal applause ki and n d much ila clapping of hi hands a ads howe however v c r the actors in the capitol I 1 hill circus want applause in the shape of votes they want to have hav e the home folks approve now concerning the otiler other tent abent there Is only one actor but he controls many charlie mccarthys McCar thys he used to 0 operate erate a puppet show how he made his bai actors actors perform so well that they became known as rubber stamps but an election has intervened some of the strings that controlled puppets hive have been broken others have become knotted and the rii master aster actor pio probably bibly has somi somewhat what mori more critics indis in his audience than he formerly had b national defense and the railroads serious problems problem and so we get down to cases president roosevelt will offer to congress in a fe few days his program for building up the national defense he will tell congress as yell well what the needs of the destitute lare are and how he conceived conceives that they must be met As a third great problem and probably the most difficult as as will well as of concern to every on one e of us there is the question of what to do to save the railroads of the country no off official lital seems to have found a proper or pane sane solution butto but to me it appears th atthe time has come when national action is called for in a much more concrete moncrete form than the intellectual liberals surrounding the white house are accustomed to advance in bringing about the more abundant life trains run on m money oney as well as steel and it if the owners do not get some rhon money ey very soon there wont be mo more re than half a dozen rail lines in the country that have escaped bankruptcy in addition to these problems we ire are likely to see competition between the two shows tor for some very juicy jobs of course these concern largely the north ring of the capitol hill circus namely the senate which must confirm presidential bial appoint appointments menti before theartis the actis act is completed it is not too much to expect that there will be considerable difference of opinion between the white house and the senate over a good many ot of these thesa s selections elections there is always alway s the annual mess of appropriation bills work his has been started of them by committees which have charge but it should be remarked that the work has been bee donly only started itis it is ban by no i 0 means finished for in this these 0 noney money bills this year there ire are tons and tons of hot air there aie are n not t enough rubber stamps to bring a majority vote if as and when wanted like it has been for the last several sessions in other words in the forthcoming ies session sion tin unless les all signs fail there will be close clos e scrutiny of f appropriation bills congress wont vote bof e money juscko just to please the pies president dent from present indications I 1 believe it may be s said ild that mr roosevelt twill will get mone money out of the current session of congress only when the congress decides decide slit it desi desires resto to vote ino money jt it will not vote money just because thi the president says money shall be voted further it I 1 appears certain that there will be no more blank check appropriations thi theand end has come for that sort ol oi thing hereof hereafter ter one may expect that congress will have its say R as s to what is done with the money I 1 where and how bow it will be spent in other words there the re to is such intense hatred of professional rii re uever bever harry Hopkins that the bulk of the congress congressional lonal membership Is awaiting an opportunity to clip harrys wings as athe ahe worlds greatest spender and AM it might be added lust just here too that there are ter tain senators and r representatives who would rather welcome a chance to take a slap at the whole n new ew deal relief setup letup notto not to mention a side ld wise smearing that thereby would be given the president it must be remembered that mr hopkins is mr Roose Roosevel veits ts closest friend and adviser this ahls national defense program about which the administration has been doing so much talking has its merits I 1 believe As far as I 1 have talked with officials with students of international affairs with foreign representatives band I 1 find none who is happy about the prospect atas it is a straight out challenge to the democracies of the world ald that has been waved by hitler mussolini and ana the others dictatorship Is feel feeling link it its oats with mith communism on the one hand and fascism on the other there surely Is need tor for prepared ness nese and that thatis is what mr roosevelt is propos proposing trig big navy helps to keep i foreign statesmen ra rational dional it looks uke like a tremendous waste of I 1 lioney money because hundreds edi upon hundreds of millions will be spent for ships hips tor for aircraft tor for fortification fortifications L I 1 always alway shave have felt that a big navy the mere I 1 presence atit helped hel id keep beep some greedy and aggressive a j gres sive foreign state statesmen sinn in anth their lar right senses the change in war methods that has come about from development of the airplane requires that ahat our air force be strengthened all AH of these things must be considered but if they were riot not to be con considered si dired V I 1 have i two othir other creaso reasons 1 for believing the president Is ori on the right track 1 I witnessed the terrific waste in iii the attempt to bull build da a war machine in 1917 and 1918 1018 if it is built up p according to plans without haste t e by people who know their business we will atlease at least get something for our money gonei which we in 1917 those who have bave ever visited the james river in virginia surely will agree with that statement after they ha have seen several thousand boats built for war purposes purposes ies rotting to the waters water bedge edge without ever having been used the second reason to ao be mentioned is that expenditure of mone money y for this type of construction Is going to mean me an jobs it will take many people off of relief again surely it Is worth in more oreto to haye something substantial built than to have strong men raking up leaves or building privies before the debate anthe defense program M Is over of curse course there will be charges that mr roosevelt has set up a hobgoblin of fear hi he will be charged with having proposed the defense program to distract attention from his f failure allure to help business out of its slump there lissome is some truth in that but there Is truth in the reports that we are not protected as a nation natio nand and that our army and our our navy would be like a terrier fighting a police allce dog if we should have to mix it with any foreign power railroad picture important As Is the th defense program the railroad rall road picture Is as important ta n ta in a domestic way iv ayes as is the defense program indeed I 1 can not help wondering what our defense program would be like if the rail lines break breakdown down I 1 Iam am told th that a thi the war var department has i figures aga re showing that if the ra railroads were called upon to haul 25 per cent more traffic now than they hauled in 1937 so some me of the freight trains would be bi taking short cuts A across chirt corn fields and trying to leap over creeks some of the senators and pome some administration officials want to 0 provide additional government loans to thi the rail lines to help th them em build up their rights of way that sounds foolish to me to loan them more money is simply to break their hicks backs with added debt they have haje all of the debt that they constand can stand now I 1 have about reached the conclusion chatan that an actual subsidy to the railroads may be the best and the ch cheapest thing to do give them cash treat them as other means means of transportation hive have been treated there is na no use denyi denying ngit it for the government has subsidized iced waterways it Is giving cold cash to the merchant marine it has subsidized highway construction which in turn enabled thi the sale of motor cars it has given funds for or airport construction st t and has construction lighted 1 airways for planes each and everyone every one of these isa is a subsidy brid and calling balling them other name does not change thi the fact it ii would seem to me therefore i p that atif if the administration and con gress areas were were to vote i a plain piaia subsidy of a couple of hundred million dollars byear a year for i say three years they would ber be rebuilding an industry we must have for peace as well ai war thi the funds could be granted grante for ii use seon on roadbeds roadbed and b buildings 3 1 0 western newspaper U union |
