Show gum A L 5 washington the best laid plans ol of mice and men will go eo off at a tangent it seems congress even when one pois balky lotical party Is numerically meri cally in supreme control ot of the national government ern ment president roosevelt called congress into extra session with very definite objectives outlined and lie he repeated them in his regular message on the state of 0 the union he wanted crop control legislation for relief of agriculture and he wanted wages and hours controlled by federal statute for the relief ol of labor but congress or a part of it has turned out to be a balky mule it has one foot out of the traces already and the driver is having a lot of trouble to kee keep p the animal hitched the above is by way of saying that scores of democratic members of the house and many senators with seats on the majority side i have come back from a summer 0 on n the bu hustings stings quite convinced that it is not popular with the voters to be a rubber stamp I 1 do not mean by that statement that the president has lost control of his party machinery or that he can not crack the whip and get things done I 1 mean that instead of having a few trants arants within his own party to deal with he now has many and members of congress are about like coyotes their courage increases as their number increases it might be mentioned in passing that at least halt half a dozen democratic members of the house have come back from home with plans to run tor for their bartys nomination to the senate next year the reason given by those with whom I 1 have talked is almost the same in each instance the incumbent senator who is up for reelection election re has been too much ot of a new dealer our people are calling for something besides rubber stan stamps Ps these potential senatorial candidates have records showing opposition to the president in some vitally important new deal policies while supporting him wholeheartedly whole heartedly in other phases ot of his program no one can say how tar far this movement will get but anyone jhc has observed congresses perform in ic other cases where the president was in his second term can not dismiss the circumstance as without significance it is the usual practice for sitting members ot of the house bouse and senate to stick close to the president as party leader in his first term because they must seek reelection election re with his support but now many of them regard president roosevelt as through and they are starting early to make their record look good to the voters whom they will canvass next year these few paragraphs above must serve to introduce evidence of a much deeper tact fact in many important places and among many powerful or influential men in congress one hears bears frequent references and observations to this effect if mr roosevelt is going to retain his control of the party and carry through on the propositions which he will make from time to time he must cast aside a part at least of his radical advisers and the schemes they concoct As I 1 related the president outlined his objectives tor for the special session two or different three years ago now they y would have been received by the representatives and senators with loud acclaim with ballyhoo but in the first few weeks of the extra session cession there has been just as much condemnation as there has been approval nor can we overlook another phase of the situation not only have many of the men at the capitol declined to affirm the presidents propositions they have gone in the other direction they have offered programs of their own they are prepared to battle for them in politics that sort of a thing often has proved fatal to the plans of the man who then occupied the white house it may not turn out that way this time but there are many observers are sure the president is going to be forced into accepting some things he did not want or does not want just now take the question of taxes tor for instance rightly or wrongly the president is being blamed tor for the current business depression and criticism ot of this sort is rolling up like lice a snowball going down hill it Is being said that two tax levies which were forced through congress are largely responsible the tax on undivided profits of corporations and the capital gains tax are used as horrible examples of these unsound policies fostered by mr roosevelt well the president is responsible to the extent that he approved ol of them they were the product however ot of some ot of the dozen or sc 10 peek a boo artists to whom the president frequently has listened as advisors I 1 think it has been generally dem that the two taxes in question have been ruinous especially to the small business it Is equally true I 1 believe that business must be given some consideration it if it ever is to get on a sound basis again and that it ought to share a attention t of legislators with labor leaders even though business has fewer votes in any event the burdens which the new deal admittedly has placed on business are serving as the springboard for a part ot of the democratic majority they can properly fight tor for these things and easily be too busy to push the presidents program through so so the ime presidents plans have gone astray they may remain n that way or they may go even further depending upon how long the backward slide of business continues of one thing you may be sure partly through his own fault and partly through the fault of the type of advisors with which he has surrounded himself mr roosevelt does not have the confidence of as many members of the legislative branch as he formerly held 0 it is a little early to attempt a report on prospects lor for the regular session ot of con looking gress that con forward venes in january yet since it is quite evident there will be nothing in the current extra session beyond crop control legislation if even that I 1 believe we might look forward a bit one of the things now evident is the position congress will take on relief for destitute and unemployed I 1 believe I 1 see a battle coming in that direction it has been apparent during the last two years that congress was dissatisfied with the relief system built up by secretary ickes and the professional reliever harry hopkins works progress administrator the requirements especially for the hopkins machine have been met with what has come to be called blank check appropriations that is congress has passed a bill appropriating two billions or three billions or whatever was thought necessary by mr hopkins it was just as simple as that congress had no strings on the money seldom was told a great deal of the details it was money to teed feed and clothe the destitute now however some observers think they detect a change they believe they see signs that congress will put an end to the blank heck check c method of handling relief As far as anyone knows now the president again will ask for a huge sum to be distributed tor for relief through mr hopkins and that is when the battle lines will form 0 0 congress therefore will be faced again with appropriation demands to provide food money and clothing and for relief likely V the request for the funds ww will come from mr roosevelt as heretofore tor for a lump sum it if the number favoring the dole grows to any considerable extent there may be a reversal of policy whether the president wants it that way or not you see in an election year and all house members and 30 odd senators face election canvasses again next year it is nice to be able to say to the he voters that they are receiving something at the hands of their representative or their senator the candidates can justify a break with the president easily and with business sliding backward as is the case now there will be plenty of relief needed for unemployed again the voters can be told that they are being given charge of these relief expenditures and that they no longer ww will have to watch washington g bureaucrats waste the taxpayers money on the horizon therefore it is possible to see the line of cleavage between the new deal and the old line democrats leading to elimination of the dangerous lump sum appropriation and a restoration to of relief ministration into the hands of local authorities there is one further consideration in the g general relief situation that attracts attention I 1 think it is reasonable to assume that the tar far flung relief machine which mr hopkins has built up is permeated to the core with political appointments it is only the usual political procedure and is not conal confided ed to the present national administration assuming therefore that there is bach a political machine it is hardly open to question that it is a roosevelt mahine machine the picture then be becomes comes clear since numerous members member of the house and senate want to control their own political destinies they want vant control of the org organizations aniza for relief in their own jurisdictions burls further it if mr Roos roosevell eveh elx should want to seek a third term nomination those democrats who want to oppose him would be quite powerless it if they had to sit idly by and witness roosevelt Rooseve kt delegates picked from their own stronghold ru 1 western newspaper union |