Show Bruc karts washington Washing fon digest digesi two great national policies line up queer Combi combinations nati ons presidents control of money and neutrality L legislation e isla bring about political mix up roosevelt assumes command and takes it on chin by WILLIAM BRUCKART service national press washington D C washington it has been often said aid that politics makes strange bed fellows it does that many times seldom it if ever however has there been more unfamiliar faces extending I 1 n g beyond the same bed linen as occurred recently in congress the political bed served as a temporary resting place for most of the republicans a flock of antl anti tion democrats and a sizable collection of yes m men en from the new deal camp it was such a ludicrous combination that my memory mern ory hearkened harkened bark hark ened back to the legend of the kansas wheat fields where it has been said that owls prairie dogs and rattle snakes n nest est together below ground two great national policies breast fed and clothed by the new deal were the issues that brought about the strange alignment of politicians one question was whether president roosevelt should be allowed to keep his emergency power to tinker ti with the currency and to buy silver both domestic and foreign at prices that provided a subsidy for silver producers the other question involved this nations position in its relations with other powers commonly referred to as neutrality legislation it ought to be noted in passing that the queer and somewhat humorous combination of conservative and radical political warriors delivered a series of uppercuts upper cuts to the point of mr Roosevel ts political chin they did it several times mr roosevelt did not like it he squawked about the obstructionist tactics which was what they were buthis but his shrill cry about the tactics was predicated upon argument quite as silly as the political alignment which brought about the temporary defeat trade brings about some strange combinations while mr Roosevel ts argument was as full of holes as a sieve st it strikes me that si it probably was less to be condemned ihan ban the action cf i some of the members rd of the senate in the sams same series of controversies the strangest of combinations among the politicians evolved from a trade between the republicans and the portion of cf the majority in in the senate to which I 1 have hare referred senators from silver producing states some democrats some seme new dealers and the republicans made a deal a very polite description of the transaction it worked out vs sa that the sil vente senators gave their votes to the republicans who were seeking to take away mr roose belts emergency power to change the value of the dollar the republicans also wanted to put an end to the administrations purchase of silver produced outside of the united states in return for the votes on these issues the republicans gave the silve rites their votes to increase the price paid tor for silver mined in this country the republicans gave the silver producers an additional subsidy of about 13 cents an ounce or agreed to stand for that much it was a rotten combination a trade that smells I 1 have long argued that silver purchase at prices above the market was typical of a great deal of the theory that dominates current administration policies but that senate combination on the basis which we know cannot justify nor be justified by the desire to correct unsound policies there was an old demagogue in the senate some years ago who said in a flight of oratory that it is sometimes necessary to rise above principle for the bartys sake his soul ought to rest in peace forever because his goal was more than achieved by the rare political trade among the senators and by the type of ar gumert mr roosevelt made in demanding retention of his emergency powers over money no attack made by anyone upon stabilization fund while mr roosevelt was only temporarily defeated in his program tor for control of the money of the country it might be well to review the shallow argument he put up as the reasons why the emergency powers should be continued he said tor for example that taking away his control of the dollar and the right to subsidize silver was like laying up half of the navys ships in the navy yards I 1 do not follow that analogy so I 1 will forget about that one the other argument was that withdrawal of the power to devalue the dollar would place the nations currency a gain again in the hands of the wall street gamblers mr roosevelt said they would speculate in currencies and that there would be trade wars again it was the same old story when you have no other goat jump on wall street but it is well just here to point out one phase of the situation that resulted largely from the stubbornness of the president throughout the battle with the senate over the so called monetary bill there never vas as an attack by anybody upon the stabilization fund also an emergency proposition there Is in that fund and it Is managed by the treasury which seeks by purchase or sale of foreign currencies to maintain some even relationship between american and foreign money it has worked well it will be continued without a doubt and it certainly should be As a piece of constructive money machinery it shines like the millions of dollars of unneeded and useless silver that has been purchased by subsidy payments the stabilization fund Is the thing that prevents wall street speculation in currencies not the presidents power to devalue the dollar but because mr roosevelt insisted on all 11 of the powers being continued beyond june 30 of this year the whole thing went smash thus was necessitated new legislation to get even the good parts of the program roosevelt takes command of situation program flops mention ought to be made of how the whole program crashed or was tossed out when the republicans and the democrats and new dealers from silver states made their deal it appeared that mr roosevelt would be satisfied to continue to buy silver from american producers and to operate the stabilization fund buthe but he he rushed to washington from his hyde park N Y estate and took command the bill which the senate had subjected to emasculation under the strange bed fellow combination originated in the house it has to be sent back to the house therefore to have the amendments considered that meant a conference between special delegations from the house and the senate and here was where mr roosevelt got busy he directed the house delegation to refuse the senate amendments and the senate conference delegation being headed up by majority leader barkley another equally fervent new dealer senator wagner of new york and a sometimes new dealer byrnes of south carolina yielded to the demands of the administration that circumstance is not unusual in legislative affairs but it was thought the senate coalition of republicans public ans and senators would be able to force some sort of a compromise that did not happen all of the senators who had sold their votes for a higher price for silver turned tail and ran they idt eft the republicans holding the bag which would have been very bad for the republicans except that all of this happened during the day of june 30 and the powers involved were to expire at midnight that night by limitation in the law itself the republicans were pretty sore about the situation they had the element of time on their side however everand and so they engaged in legitimate discussion of the amendments of the perfidy of the senators of mr Roosevel ts reasons and other things until after the witching hour of midnight the whole thing ended on a sour note voting usually reflects sentiment of the people so the circumstances as we have seen fail to do credit either to the president or the senate republicans or the senate new dealers it was a pretty low grade of politics but it disclosed one thing there is rather large representation in the house and the senate which has lagging confidence in mr roosevelt now pursuing that further I 1 have noted the usual voting of house and senate rather reflects the sentiment throughout the country I 1 think tills this lack of confidence in mr roosevelt is further shown by the long drawn out battle over what powers the president should have in dealing with international problems mr roosevelt has asked for rights that would let him designate war zones and would permit him to order americans away from them he has sought to obtain legislative authority to sell arms and munitions it if they are sold tor for cash and carried away from our shores by boats of the purchasing nation some of the things he has sought seem to me to be reasonable but the h house 0 use has not thought so and I 1 expect the senate will have many words to say about them also there is so much stalling and maneuvering and efforts to save political faces aces that certain conclusions are able I 1 referred to the lack of confidence in mr roosevelt displayed in several ways it is perhaps more manifest with respect to the neu question than in any other way indeed it has been gossiped around capitol hallways for or a couple 0 of f months that congress will not adjourn as long as international crises are popping around like firecrackers that of course Is an exah aeration ge ration but it is not exaggeration to say that a considerable number of senators and representatives do not noi want ant to leave mr roosevelt or an entirely tree free hand in Internal tonai dealing ine released lessed by western newspaper uni union j |