Evening star., 1931-12-06
CONGRESSIONAL COALITION
HELD NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE
Democrats, With Task of Making Record
for 80 Election, Cannot Afford to
Merge With G. o. P. Forces.
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

BY MARK SULLIVAN.
TT would be the usual thing, but
quite futile, to invent some gen.
eralization about the Congress that
i sits on Monday and the condition
of Government that will accom-
pany 1t. A few important character
istics can be pointed out. They do not
all point the same way and they do
not lend themselves to generalization.
First of all, there will be no "coali-
ton government" no agreement for
non partisan action. Something like
that, judging by letters coming to
Washington. Is anticipated or yearned
for by large part of the public. The
idea was put In their minds chiefly by
| the example of Great Britain, where
| in August Prime Minister Macdonald
summoned leaders of all parties and
i factions to unite in national gov
| translated into terms of American poll
| tics, would mean that President Hoover
would appoint wholly new cabinet,
consisting of, let us say, Democrat Al
| fred E. Smith to be Secretary of State,
| Progressive Robert M. La Toilette to
be Secretary of the Treasury, Social
| list Norman Thomas to be Postmaster
| General and so on.
| That is not possible in America be-
cause of the difference in form of gov
ernment. Great Britain does not have
the clear division that we have between
executive and legislative. In Britain
the cabinet members are also mem
bers of Parliament; the cabinet in Brit
ain, indeed is speaking broadly, made
UP of the heads of important commit
tr, 10 ,nt,f ~ n
government in the formal sense is made
impossible by the forms of our goy-
ernmental institutions.
Informal Coalition Unlikely.
A different thing, an informal coan-
ton government, while possible and
| conceivable, Is so unlikely that the
| possibility can be dismissed. Informal
nom partisan Government would take
the shape of an agreement upon COM
mon action by Democratic Speaker
Garner controlling the House. together
with his Democratic associates, and on
the other side Republican President
! Hoover together with the Republican
leaders of the House and Senate.
| That can be written down on paper;
| 1t can hardly exist, in fact. 1t would
hardly be yielded by the Democrats
and it would hardly be asked by the
Republican President.
A request by President Hoover that
| the Democrats controlling the House
act in a non-partisan way would
amount to a request by him that the
President. The reason is plain-the
chief cause of the arising among the
public of wish for a coalition gov
ernment is the existence of the bust
ness depression. The chief purpose of
| the dreamed-of coalition government
would be to facilitate recovery from de-
preston. The principal political ef-
| feet of recovery from depression would
be to make reelection Of President
Hoover next November more probable.
Everybody-and especially every poll
! tician-knows that.
| To ask the Democrats to participate
in coalition government would be to
ask them to cease to be an opposition
party. 1t would be exactly the same II
| the situation of the two parties were
reversed. The thing is impossible IN
nature. If there is business recovery
| the Democrats want it to seem to come
| as the result of measures initiated IN
Congress by them. If there Is no busi-
ness recovery or insufficient recovery
the Democrats as the opposition party
want the responsibility to rest on the
Republican administration, and want
not to participate in whatever actions
are taken that fail to bring recovery
| In the essential nature of the situation
under our form Of government and our
, party system, with a presidential elec-
| tion approaching, the party out OF
power wants to mark itself off from the
| party in power. 1t would be precisely
| the same If the situation were reversed
with the Democrats in power and the
| Republicans out.
Must Make Impression.
The outstanding fact in the coming
| Congress will be continuous conscious
ness of the approaching presidential
election. Every Democrat knows the
party's principal hope next November
| lies in the impression 1t makes on the
public by its conduct this Winter as
! the majority controlling the House. The
Democrats could hardly make any i'm
preston at all If they should merge
themselves with the Republicans.
| Even If dissent from mutual agree
ment were not dictated by the condi-
tions, 1t would come about through the
personal and political convictions OF
| Speaker Garner Mr.. Garner Is to a
strong degree party man." He be-
/ lieves there is a Republican party and
/ a Democratic party and that the public
should never be in doubt as to which
is which.
Mr.. Garner was dubious about even
that degree of cooperation which
President Hoover brought about when
on October he called leaders of both
parties together and submitted to them
proposals he was about to make for a
National Credit Corporation and other
measures of relief for the depression.
Speaker Garner, as reported in the
newspapers at the time, said to Mr..
Hoover, in effect: 'Mr. President, you
are writing your party progran-and
asking Democrats to underwrite it. u
Mr.. Garner continued to voice his
doubts after the conference was over.
| He prefers action on strict party
basis. Previous to that occasion, In
June, when President Hoover by tele-
graph submitted to leaders of both par
intergovernment debts, Garner was one
Democrat who preferred not to COM
NIT himself
1t is true and no doubt will be
brought up that year ago, socn after
the election of November, 1880, when
the Democrats won the control of the
House, which now takes effect-at that
; time Garner joined with other Demo-
cratic leaders in making a voluntary
public pledge of something like CO.
operation. But the cooperation when
attempted In the Congress that sat a
year ago did not work out. In Amer
ican politics as it is non-partisan CO.
operation can be an aspiration, but
| rarely reality.
Even II Speaker Garner did not have
the temperament and conviction that
lean backward from non-partisan agree
ment, he could hardly cooperate If he
would. His speakership and his party
leadership are going to rest on the slen-
derest sort Of a majority, not over four
or five, out of a total House member
ship Of 435. To put through any policy
or measure whatever, Garner must have
the support of almost literally every
Democrat in the House. He could not
have any such unanimity, or any near
approach to II, If he were to commit