New Britain herald., 1927-10-20
VESTS f. ]. p. BLOC
 STAR7LES SENATE
May Dictate Policies and Hold
 Balance Of Power
BY GEORGE H, MANNING

BY GEORGE H. MANNING
 Washington Bureau of the \. B. Heraldl
 Washington, D. C., Oct. 20-The formation Of a third caucus in the senate makes even more precarious the hold the administration will have over that body. which Is to consist Of 4s republicans (with two of them not yet seatedl, 4 demo- crats, and one farmer-labor mem- Der.
 The orga nization of the western progressive republicans Into bloc 10 bring about unified action on measures of particular interest 10 he west is likely to have more eff feet upon legislation than upon the nomination of the republican candi- late for president next year.
 The legislation In which the Western insurgents are most inter ested includes; Farm relief, water power development. taxation, tariff on farm products, and the dovelop- ment of inland waterways. Since the chief purpose Of the Republican Progressive conference" is, accord ing to its spokesman, Senator Will liam E. Borah of Idaho, to make the eastern republicans realize that there Is lot of the country west of the Mississippi river, to be con- sidered, both In enacting legislation and in choosing the party's standard bearer, some solidarity may be evolved out Of the hitherto morgan ized and dissenting progressive sen- ators from the west.
 For example, on farm relief. there IS Senator Borah, who continues 10 believe that the NcNary- -Haugen farm bill Is unconstitutional, at- tempting 10 reach an agreement with McNary of Oregon, Norbeck and McMaster of South Dakota, Nye and Frazier of North Dakota, and Brookhart Of Iowa, all of whom voted for the McNary- Haugen bill. It is believed here that a modified farm bill, perhaps eliminating the equalization fee to which so many objected. may be formulated and advocated by the Westerners
 The majority of this group is also opposed to the Mellon plan of tax reduction. In fact, while their policy on taxation is hy no means deter mined, many of them do not feel that a reduction in taxes can be safely made now, and are convinced that the surplus should go to the retirement of the public debt. Sen ator Borah does not "see how the debt could be retired too fast" The East gets most of the benefit from tax reduction anyway, the western. CTS claim.
 Problems of West
 One of the greatest problems of the West Is the development of wa ter power, inland waterways, irriga- tion. and protection against floods. The new Progressive conference" is taking up the question of Boulder Dam. and, particularly if Senator Hiram Johnson of California joins the group, as he is expected to, the new caucus may unite on a plan for ne development Of Boulder Dam by the Government-for most of the Nesterners are for Government ownership of water power.
 The present tariff rates on West ern farm products, the Western Re publicans feel, are much too low in comparison with the rates on manu- factured products of the East Many of them feel that the Flexible tar iff' is quite infleyible when it comes to Western agricultural products The group will try 10 get higher rates on flaxseed. milk and cream, peanuts soy beans. cottonseed onions, eggs and egg product cheer ries, fresh and canned tomatoes, and fresh and canned corn, either from the Tariff Commission, or through legislation. In fact. the group has rot announced agreement on any