The Washington times., 1929-04-22
SURE To Be.
KILLED IN
VOTE ON
FLOOR .
! tcontinued from First PageO

LOnLlnued from rAss @oeO
fR) De Oregon, chairman: Capper
ERA Of Kansas, Thomas (R.l OIL
Hdaho: Gould R.l- Of Maine; Rams
den Cd OF Louisiana
Two OF the three absentees were
hoIled later, Shipstead F..L.l OF
Minnesota, voting for It and Ken
6rick D.) of Wyoming against,
making the final vote to 8. smith
tD) Of South Carolina did not vote.
'Razz" Given McNary
Senator McNary announced in
the Senate this afternoon that he
would report the farm bill tomor-
row and ask that it be made the
Senate's unfinished business.
He was chided a bit by Demo
crats for the committees action in
overrulfng President Hoover's wishes.
May ask the Senator whether
the debenture plan remains In the
bilI?'' queried Senator Robinson lDJ
of Arkansas, the minority leader.
''It does,' said McNary briefly.
''Was the action Of the commit
tee unanimous?" Senator Harrison
D.) of Mississippi asked.
1.-THE vote was eight to keep the
debenture plan in the bill and six
to strike it out" McNary replied.
s'It came after consideration of and
in view of the Presidents message"
Following McNary's statement the
Senate adjourned until tomorrow.
Caraway Caustic
Senator Caraway commented sar-
castically on President Hoover's
letter. to McNary, in opposition to
the plan.
cit is interesting to learn" he
said, ''that flood control the naval
building program, and 'other' means
Of relieving the farmer are cost"
ing too much for the Treasury to
stand another 5000, 100000. sup
pose they are going to relieve the
farmer by hauling him around on
a battleship."
Face to face with the first real
test of his leadership, Mr.. Hoover
has cracked the whip over Con-
gress in the farm relief fight in a
manner reminiscent Of Roosevelt or
Wilson.
Abandoning his hitherto passive
attitude, he informed Congress in
positive terms that he was opposed
to the debenture plan, which the old
McNary-Haugenites favored as a i
substitute for the equalization fee, |
and he indicated plainly that only a |
veto awaits any farm bill contain |
ing it.
McNary Quits Fight
The Presidents opposition, ex-
pressed in a letter to the Senate |
Agriculture Committee, sounds the |
death knell Of the debenture plan, |
and by the same token definitely |
assures the passage Of a farm relief |
bill for which he stands sponsor. OF |
that there can be no doubt.
The well-disciplined House already |
3s behind him. It is only a minority
of the recalcitrant Senate with
which he has to deal.
Senator McNary, the chairman,
who twice fathered bills President |
Coolidge vetoed, expressed the gen.
eral attitude of his colleagues when
he said today:
"I will not favor the debenture |
plan now that the President has
expressed opposition to it. I don't
know what the committee will do. |
But l don't want to do anything |
fooHsh-such as passing a bill Ger.
tain to be vetoed. I am finished |!
with sham battles-we have fought |
them for the last four years. This |
time want to get the farmer some
relief.
$50 long as the President disap- |
proves the depenture plan. ! shall |
vote for the plan which I know he
will approve"
Mr.. Hoover cited 10 reasons why |
he is opposed to the debenture |
plan, among them being that it |
would cost the Treasury $500, 900 900 |
a year. which would go mostly to |
speculators rather than to the farm |
ers themselves; that it would Stim- |
ulate over-production, and disturb |
the basis Of crop diversification: |
that it would necessitate revision of |
import tariffs; that it would stfmu- |
late speculation and manipulation, |
and finally because it would con-
fuse and minimize the more far
reaching plan for farm relief upon |
which there is now general agree
ment.
The hackers of the debenture |
plan, however, manage to extract |
one bit OF comfort out of the |
situation-they have forced Mr., |
Hoover to assume the responsibility |
for killing the plan, and to accept |
corresponding responsibility for the |
bill that will be enacted.
1t was responsibility which Mr.. |
Hoover did not want to assume.
For the past five weeks there has
been incessant sparring between
Capitol Hill and the White House |
over who was to take up the axe
''to kill Cock Robin" Mr.. Hoover |
insisted that the Senate committee |
itself do the job, but the COM
naittee didn't relish it--not with |
the farm organizations standing
over them with a political club
poised and waiting.
So eventually Mr.. Hoover had to
do it himself.
The result, OF course, is that
when the farm bill energies from
Congress it will bear, indelibly, the
White House stamp. Therefore,
Mr.. Hoover assumes responsibility
for its success or failure.
If it works, everything will be
politically lovely for the Administra.
ton and for the farmer. If it
doesn't work, that is something else
again. The farm organizations that
backed the deoenture plan will be
in a position to say I'VE told you
so" and to exact such political
retribution as they are capable of.
In any event, Mr.. Hoover has
''kiIled Cock Robin" and the re.
sponsibility is, in view of his letter,
inescapably his.