Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-11-09
THE DEMOCRATS
ARE IN A HURRY
They Want to Put the Country on a Peace
Basis Before the Republicans Get
m Chance nj the lob

Chance at the Job
SENAToR MARTINS demand for re-
~ trenchment. the repeal of all war
legislation and the cancellation of war
contracts as soon as possible after peace
is certain suggests that the willy leader
of the Democratic majority has read
Alright the significance of the election
returns.
The Republicans will control the House
by majority of at least forty, and it
may go higher They are fairly GER
tain of a majority of two in the SEN
ate and it looks as if their majority
might be four. One of the campaign
issues was a demand for an accounting
for the money spent in the last two
years. SO far as it was within its power
the country decided that the accounting
should be made to Republican Con-
gress, which would not be interested in
covering up incompetency and waste.
Within two days after the result of
the election became known Senator Mar
tin announces that as soon as Congress
resumes its work it must begin to stop
all war expenditures. He says that last
year twenty-one billion dollars was
appropriated for the war and that the
appropriations this year call for the
expenditure of thirty-six billions, making
a total of fifty-seven billions. This is
fourteen billions more than any previous
estimate of which the public is aware.
The Senator is chairman of the Commit
tee on Appropriations and we must
accept his figures.
The Senator would have failed in his
duty, both as a politician and as a
patriot, if he had not risen to the occa-
sion and sounded his call. Peace is on
the way and it will be here in time for
the present Congress to begin the work
of putting the nation on a peace basis.
The Democrats put it on a war basis,
with some delay, it is true, but when
they really began they did pretty well.
They will have time before next March
to do little, with about three months
and half still before them. Every one
will agree that every war expense that
can be stopped should be stopped. Sena-
tor Martin thinks that all war contracts
of every kind should be abrogated, that
all bureaus and commissions created for
the war should be abolished, that the
shpbuilding program should be cur
tailed, that the housing enterprises
financed with public money should be
abandoned or turned over to private
capital and that the cantonments should
be emptied of the men in training, who
should be sent back home to work as
civilians.
Unfortunately, the administrative de-
partments of the Government do not
agree with him on all these items. Ar
rangements have been made for building
heavy guns and the army wants the guns
made. The shipping program, we were
told, was to be carried on for number
of years after peace was declared so
that we might have a merchant marine
big enough to make us independent of
the rest of the world. There is no agree
ment on what is to be done with the
men now in the camps. Many of them
would like to be sent to Europe to assist
in the work which our armies will have
to do for many months after peace
treaty is signed. 1t is certain that we
cannot abandon the task on which we
have set out until it is completed. Con-
seauently the uncertainty about what is
necessary will make it impossible for the
present Congress to do everything in
~ he nfrxy m
peace basis. But the political eXigencies
of the occasion will force the Democrats
to do what they can in order to deprive
the Republicans of the opportunity Of
claiming credit for abolishing the tens Of
thousands of jobs, many of them use
less, which the Democrats have created.
So we may regard the activities of
Congress in the way of reconstruction
between now and March as the pre-
liminary skirmish in the presidential
campaign of 1870, because the eyes of
every leader in Washington will be fixed
on that campaign and on the relation of
what he does now to the political pros
poets of his party then. The rest of US
are hoping that the leaders will not be
so fully occupied with the efforts to make
political capital that they will forget
the necessity of doing everything in their
power to relieve the country of every
possible expense as soon as it can be
done. If this Democratic Congress falls
down on the job the next Congress, con-
trolled by the Republicans. will enter
upon the task with light heart and a
confident hope that it will justify the
confidence of the nation.