Evening star., 1922-06-04
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

/ h6NNEUIs
TINE House is about ready to
| shut down it's legislative mill
| with many important pro-
posaIs unconsidered, including
| several major measures to which the
! administration is emphatically COM
mitted. The only new legislation that
has any chance of passing the House
| is the ship subsidy bill, and that only
| because of the insistence of President
Harding.
| This disposition on the part of the
House is based on two considerations:
/ First. the House has already sent to
! the Senate more measures of prime
Importance than the Senate can pass
| at this session. Second. with a threat
| ened deficit of $3.50. .000, 800 to $500, ,oo0.-
600, the House members do not want
to take the responsibility for initial
| ing legislation that would call for
vast expenditures. such the Smith
McNary reclamation bill, $350.000. 900;
the Towner-Steriing bill for de-
partment of education, $100,ooo.0o0.
and the ship subsidy bill, s5o.0oo.00o-
If any big appropriation was possl-
BILE. the one most needed, and for
which there is the greatest pressure,
! is for an omnibus public building bill.
Since they cannot have that the
House members are set against any
of the new measures calling for ap-
preparations.
Laid Before the President.
This is. in substance. the way that
House Leader Mondell sized up the
situation to President Harding last
| week.
Get this picture: The. average mem
ber has before his minds eye all tue
time that threatened deficit in the
next fiscal year, which shifts, accord
| ing to the temper of the one making
| the estimate. from s250,000,000 to
| s400, ,0o0. 900. Furthermore, the House
| has passed quite an array of bills OF
primary Importance. which the Sem
ate has not considered, or. if consid-
| cred has not passed, of which the
tariff and the soldiers bonus are most
; conspicuous.
! There are FIVE appropriation bills
still pending; the Navy scrapping bill.
| of primary Importance to carry out
the treaty; the Sterling Lehltach re-
classification bill, the Liberian loan
! bill, the Philippine Indebtedness bill,
the anti-lynching bill, the blue sky
| Legislation. a new immigration meas
! ure and the China trade bill, among
| others.
May Pass Ship Subsidy.
House Leader Mondell admits that
! there may be an exception made by
the House in the case of the ship
| subsidy bill. because the President is
very anxious to have it considered at
an early date. Representative Ed
monds of Pennsylvania, who has been
| in charge Of this measure, says that
rewritten bill will probably be in
! troduced in the House this week
with the prospect that 1t will be
passed at this session. In the COM
mittee opposition comes from the
| south. and when the measure gets
\ into the legislative chamber opposi-
tion will come from the great agri-
cultural section of the west. The
leaders from Minnesota. Kansas;
Iowa and Nebraska want to put off
consideration of this measure until
they can get back home and sound
out the sentiment Of the voters
House Leader Mondell admits that
there is some disposition on the re-
up, at least until after the House
membership is here in larger num-
bers, for consideration of conference
reports on the tariff and soldiers
bonus measures. and until they have
had an opportunity of studying the
bill as it is reported to the House
from the merchant marine committee
This feeling does not relate entirely
to the ship subsidy measure itself.
but is in accordance with the general
sentiment that the House has already
passed more legislation than the Sem
ate can possibly take care of, and,
therefore there is no special rush.
Ship subsidy legislation may be