Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-13
The Political Mill
BY C. Could Lincoln.

Senator Jim" Watson of Indiana,
Republican leader of the Upper House,
| has goaded his longtime friend and
antagonist, the Democratic leader,
Senator Joe" Robinson, into making a
statement that when the new Congress
convenes the Democrats are going to
undertake a downward revision of the
| Smoot-Hawley tariff act. The Repub-
Ican leader accomplished this end by
the expedient Of asserting in public
| statement that the Democrats said
lot Of nasty things about the Republican
tariff law, but never mentioned any Of
| the rates which they would lower II
they had the chance-any specific rates.
| X
: Just what the Democrats can do in
regard to the tariff during the coming
session Is decidedly prcblematical. In
the first place, tariff bills under the
1 Constitution originate not in the Sen
ate, but In the House. If the Demo-
Gratis organize the House. they will Sc
lect the next Ways and Means Commit
tee, the committee designated to handle
all tariff legislation. Under such cir
cumstances they might get bill revis-
ing the Smoot-Hawley bill reported to
\ the House. But then their troubles
would begin in earnest. In the first
|
| House-and the same Is true in the
| Senate-are anxious to have adequate"
protection for the products OF their
4 own States. The Democratic leaders
would have great difficulty in lining up
the members of their own party for
a bill cutting right and left into the
! schedules of the tariff act as 1t now
stands. On the other hand if the Re-
publicans organize the House, and they
| a m a
| to the contrary and the threats OF Re
| publican insurgents, the G. o. p. will
! pick the next Ways and Means Com
mittee, and a Democratic tariff bill
would have just about as much chance
as nothing at all of receiving favorable
consideration from such committee.
Perhaps the Democrats are counting
on playing the game again with the
| Republican Progressives in their as
saults on the tariff and on the Repub-
lican administration. But not all OF
the Progressives will go along with the
Democrats on the tariff matter. Be-
sides. the coalition between Democrats
| and ProgresSiVes has been tried in Con-
! greSS before, but without much benefit
to the Democrats when the time comes
| for national election. Many of the
| Democrats themselves are averse to
| letting the Progressive tail to such a
4
coalition. as it has in past efforts to
embarrass the G. o. p regulars.
Undoubtedly bills proposing to re-
duce tariff rates on certain items will
! be introduced when Congress convenes
Perhaps that is what is meant now
! by serious effort to amend the tariff
bill. The introduction of bills how
ever is a pastime in which any mem
Der of the Congress may indulge with
| honnaniVo ha
| strategy of the Democrats attacking
| the tariff probably would be to have
| Congress pass some tariff measures.
send them to President Hoover and
| have the President veto them. Then
| the Democratic spellbinders would be
in position to go to the country and
proclaim the President a supporter of
the wicked and outrageous" rates
carried in the Smoot-Hawley law.
II the Robinson statement regarding
the tariff is serious. then it means that
! the Democrats are going to do their
level best to organize the House. And,
doubtless, they will do all in their power
! to nize that body, despite the fact
that 1t has been urged in some Demo-
cratic quarters that to put the Demo-
cratic party in a position of such re-
sponSibility in the House just before the
| national campaign would be a political
mistake. Such an argument, however.
is absurd. The Democrats will be
blamed by the G.. o. p for the failure
Of legislation advanced by the admin
stration at the coming session any way,
whether they organize the House or
| not Furthermore, it has been reported
in well informed quarters that Demo-
| cratic efforts to win the support of
insurgent Republicans when it comes to
the election Of Speaker and the or
| ganization of the House have already
| taken the form of promises of prefer
| ment of one kind or another. The Re-
; publicans on paper still have a bare
majority Of the House membership
The election in the first Ohio district,
however, to fill the vacancy caused by
| the death of Speaker Longworth, may
| upset the balance, giving the Republic
ans 2l7. the Democrats pit end the
Farmer Labor party l out of a total
membership of 435.
Ohio. that usually strong Republican
| State, is to be battle-ground this Fall,
with all eyes focused on the first dis
trict And up in the twentieth Ohio
! district there may be an interesting con-
test. too. Former Senator Atlee Pome-
rene, who has been one of the Govern
ment'S counsel in the oil lease cases,
| having finally sent Albert B. Fall to
| jail, is now being urged to run for the
| House vacancy in that district. It Is a
Democratic district in Cleveland repre-
sented for many years by the late Rep
| reSentative Charles A. Mooney. A Spe-
cial election this Fall will be held to
fill the vacancy. Mr. Pomerene so far
/ Is considering the proposal made by
| some of his friends that he get back into
congressional life. In 1922 Pomerene
was defeated for reelection by Senator
Simeon D. FeSs, the present chairman
of the Republican National Committee
He tried to stage a comeback in 1926
but failed. If he decided to make an
effort to come to the House. he would
have to overcome the opposition of
Municipal Judge Martin D. Sweeney,
who is already a candidate for the Dem
ocratic nomination in the district. One
famous Republican Senator from Ohio.
the late Theodore E. Burton, after he
had gone out of the Senate, staged a
congressional comeback by running for
the House, and still later winning re-
election to the Senate.
| X <
Repre- sentative Homer w. Hall CT the
! Bloomington ILL.,, district believes that
more can be accomplished in the way
| of lifting the country out of its present
| business depression through helping the
| Hoover administration, rather than
badgering it. In a recent letter to the
| Daily Paragraph of Bloomington, Mr..
| Hall said:
When Mr. Lincoln was President
quite number of gentlemen became
! excited and troubled about the commits
| sionS and omissions of the administra-
| ton. President Lincoln heard them pa
| tiently and then replied Gentlemen.
| suppose ell the property you are worth
was in gold and you had put it in the
| hands of Blordin to carry across the
Niagara River walking en- "A rope; would
| you shake the rope or shout at him,