The New York herald., 1922-10-17
TUESDAY. OCTOBER II, 1922
Harding on Congress.

President HARDING pays the Sixty
seventh Congress a tribute in which
The New YORK HERALD cannot con-
cur. He gives House Majority Leader
MoNDELL praise from which THE New
YORK HERALD dissents.
The creditable acts which are on
the technical record of this Congress
are, as a matter of fact, very largely
due to the Harding Administration
1t was because of President HARDING
Secretary MELLON, Budget Director
DAWES and others personally and di-
rectly responsible to the Chief Ex-
ecutive that the Government spend
ings were broadaxed so that the Con-
gress appropriations could be corre-
spondingly cut down.
1t was because of President HAIR
DING and those of his administrative
: aids who carried out his retrench-
ment policy in the teeth Of selfish op-
position that taxes could be reduced
and were reduced.
1t was because of President HAIR
DING and his veto power that Con-
gress was not permitted to saddle the
expense of the five billion dollar
bonus on the American people when
Congress tried its hardest to do that
very thing.
1t was because of President HAIR
DTNG's call for and success with the
international Conference for the Limi-
tation of Armament that the military
burdens Of the American public could
be lightened and the army and navy
appropriations reduced by hundreds
of millions.
1t was because of President HAIR
DrNG's plain notice that he would
not stand for any bills providing for
avoidable expenditures that the pork
barrel appropriations Congress lead
ers have wanted to put through and
still want to put through have not
been passed and probably will not be
passed by the end of the present
Congress.
1t was because of President HAIR
DING's insistence that a provision
should go into the tariff bill empow-
erfng the President to revise unsound
and unsafe rates by Executive action
that the Fordney-McCumber measure
was saved from being an insufferable
tariff monstrosity capable of costing
American consumers billions of dol
lars a year.
In the big bulk all worthwhile
legislation coming from the Sixty
seventh Congress emanated from
President HARDING.
That is the truer record of the
Sixty-seventh Congress as estab-
lished by its acts both of commission
and of omission.
The outstanding thing in favor of
the Republican majority in Congress
is that Il is no worse than the Demo-
cratic minority. Both sides alike
have been playing politics. have been
playing to the vote back home. with
mighty little heart in true construc-
've work
is for Majority Leader MoNDELI
n elf. whom the President good
Iredly compliments in respect of
fine resources of patience, sound
judgment. candor and legislative ex-
perience." the measure OF MoNDErI
may be best taken by the American
people on the lines Of his most con-
spicuous act in the recent session.
This was the gag he applied to free
speech in the House of Representa-
tives when members not afraid of
bloc threats and political pressure
wanted to stand up on the floor OF
Congress in the service of the public
and debate and fight against the
bonus measure which the Fordneys
and Mondells iammed through the
House under their gag rule.
That was MoNDELL in the most no
table moment of his House majority
leadership.