The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-12-03
The Lame Duck Session Opens

SEVENTEEN congress opens today. The two
houses will formally assemble, listen to the
information of prayers by their chaplins and
then as is customary, adjourn out of respect
to those members who have died during the
recess. Not those who have passed out polit-
ically, but physically, though there will be
considerable mourning for and by the former.
This session is known as the lame duck
session. as the members defeated a month
ago still hold office until the inauguration of
Hoover on March 4th. Although politically
dead, many of the members of both houses
will continue to function as they did before.
This session will concern itself first with
the unfinished business of voting appro-
priations with which to carry on the various
departments of the government. But the
first order is by no means the most important
of the session.
Most important as affecting the new and
aggressive turn of American Imperialism is
the administration cruiser bill which passed
the lower house of congress at the last session
cations are that this move to strengthen the
predatory power of dollar despotism will be
passed. This is considered essential as pre-
limnary to putting into effect at the first
session of the Hoover congress year from
now the ambitious naval program espoused
by Coolidge in his armistice day speech and
amplified in detail by Secretary Wilbur in
his report on the construction program of the
navy department.
Next in order is the question of ratifica-
ton by the senate of the Kellogg treaty,
which requires two-thirds vote. That inn
peralist swinde which had as its purpose an
attempt to place the United States in the
position of undisputed leader of world re-
action and to counterfeit the demand of the
Soviet Union for immediate and complete
disarmament also has favorable chance of
ratification Senator Borah, chairman of the
Foreign Relations Committee who has here
tofore opposed the Mellon-C oolidge-Kellogg
policies in the arena of world diplomacy, is
now completely won over to>the Kellogg pact.
Senators Nye, Brookhart and Howell, leaders
of the so-called farm bloc, who lined up in the
camp of Hoover, will also abandon their
former line of opposition and vote regular"
leaders" are highly flattered that they have
attained recognition in the official family.
Brookhart, the most flamboyant of all assail-
ants of the old guard, elected as a progress
sive against the late Albert B. Cummins, who
in his time came into the senate as an Iowa
defender of the farmer and died special
pleader for imperialism, is following in the
footsteps Of Cummins.
Hiram Johnson of California, who is
alternately "revolter" and a regular will
support the full imperialist program in eX
change for support of his Boulder Dam
power project, which involves the expendi-
ture of millions of dollars by the government
in behalf of the interests of the railroads and
the industrialists, who want cheap power, and
the California real estate sharks who want
to enhance their property values.
Even the 'irreconcilable' Senator McNary
has been brought into the fold and, as loyal
supporter of Hoover, will present new farm
relief bill without the equalization fee, the
only section of the old McNary- Haugen bill
that was considered of benefit to the farmers.
All in all the lame duck session will be one
of complete servility to the program of Wall
Street in foreign and domestic matters. Just
as Borah, during the campaign, forgot all the
harsh words he had said about Hoover be-
fore the secretary Of commerce became the
presidential nominee so the other progress
sive' and farm bloc leaders have bowed in
worshipful awe before the moloch of i'm
perialism. The new wave has engulfed them.
Briefly the short session beginning today
recognizes it's mission as the forerunner of
the Seventy first session of congress, which
will carry into effect the full program de-
manded by the new offensive of American
imperialism under Hoover.
1t is hardly necessary to remark that moth
ing whatsoever will be done that will bene-
fit the exploited workers and farmers of the
United States. Not even so much as a GEES
ture will be made toward any form of social
legislation in behalf of the masses. More
openly and brazenly than ever will the legis-
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