Evening star., 1931-12-27
BY WILLIAM HARD.

t1OOFeT stOcR S tnOugnJ Dy thOSe
playing it to be on the verge of g1ing
up bit. That Is startling enough. It's
the first time they've had any such
idea for about two years.
The reason is in the present canny
behavior OF the Democrats and progress
sive insurgent Republicans on Capitol
Hill. Most of them are in cave of
contemplation, waiting for bright
thoughts to burst upon them as to how
to doctor the depression any better
than Dr. Hoover.
The President pretty nearly grinned
at his press conference this week as he
threw fast one into the cave after
them. He had been much reproached
for not calling special session of Con-
greSs last Summer to deal with the
countrys woes. Now he told the re-
porters that he earnestly hoped that
Congress would not take long recess
during the Christmas holidays, but
would stay right here and toll to save
the country and to enact as much
legislation as possible.
Whereupon the Congress took q long
recess-till January 4.
There you are" say the Presidents S
friends. They want to legislate when
they aren't asked, and when they're
asked they won't
What the Democrats are basically
doing is to hold sessions Of their Joint
Policy Cormittee. This is a committee
of Democratic members of the Senate
and Democratic members of the House.
1t is designed to do what all the learned
academic political experts in the uni
versities say that every political party
should do-formulate policies, adum-
brate ideas solve problems, initiate
measures, announce programs.
The members of the committee, how
ever, are not acaoemic. Speaker Gar
ner and Leader Rainey of the House
are most especially not academic. They
are experienced politicians, and they
are loaded with the responsibility Of
guiding a majority and Of ruling the
House. They are not publishing any
list of projects which they might fail
to accomplish. They are not releasing
any convictions which subsequently they
might wish to withdraw. They are
waiting till they see the whites of the
eyes of each successive month before
they shoot
The situation. therefore, is that the
President on December II fired a salvo
Of ~ guns, or II points, which, he said,
constituted his program of reconStruc-
ton" while the Democrats are in q
dugout manufacturing ammunition
which they will presently discharge at
targets not yet picked.
This gives President Hoover for the
moment sort Of advantage in what
the war correspondents call morale. u
He has shelled the enemy and they
have not yet shelled him with any thick
flight of positive proposals.
But why is all this?
The first cause is that the President
sat up in the White House all Summer
thinking up II points by means OF
which to scatter the depression, for
which everybody was blaming him
while the Democrats and the Progress
sives were at home blaming him and
awaiting their reaSsemblage into their
collective selves at Washington before
thinking their points up. So now they
ere several months behind the Presi-
Gent in thinking up.
The second cause is that the Presi-
dent has run around lot of the Demo-
Gratis and has fianked them on the left
For instance:
He wants to advance couple OF
billion dollars of Government money to
things like the Federal farm loan banks
and his new home loan discount banks
and his new Reconstruction Finance
Corporation. He is in the position OF
daring the Democrats to throw more
Government money into the mouth OF
the depression than he wants to. This
makes them wonder whether to call
him or raise him or change to another
game.
Again:
TIE President has repeatedly chal.
lerged Congress on the main domestic
radical issue of these times. He re-
peated!y has asked Congress to extend
Federal regulation over the power com
Danies. That would be a lot more dras-
tic than taking one power plant on the
Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals ano
having it run by Government bureau
Federal regulation would scrutinize the
structure and supervise the behavior
and curb the excess prosperity, if any
of every big power holding company In
the whole United States. This month
the President renewed his challenge tl
regarded ''the effective regulation -o1
interstate electric power as the essen.
tial function of the reorganized Fedora
Power Commission"
If bill for that purpose Is passed
it will be the most radical achievement
Of this Congress. Mr.. Hoover can ther
claim that he led the fight toward the
assertion of the supremacy of Govern
ment over predatory private interests
The only way to stop him from that
claim would be to pass a power bill sc
radical that it would go even beyonc
the Presidents recomm endations. Nc
wonder that the Policy Committee oil
TIE Democrats before thinking things
up wants to think them over.
X X
Finally, though, there's still more
basic cause for the caution of the Demo
grassland also of the Progressives.
The depression has taken the wine
out of the sails Of large number o.
the old issues. Few statesmen on Capt.
tol Hill care anything really Just now
about passing bills on Muscle Shoals, Of
on injunctions In labor disputes, or Of