Evening star., 1932-07-22
CONGRESS RECORD
0BSCURED BY TALK
Much Sound Legislation AC-
compIished Through Efforts
of Both Parties.
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

BY MARK SULLIVAN.
An incorrect impression of the recent
Congress is being created by this weeks
mutual barrage of reproach and Jibe
between Democratic and Republican
leaders. The essential fact is that the
Democratic Congress made a record
which. considering the conditions, was
extraordinarily good.
Understanding will be facilitated by
barring in mind that the Democrats as
the opposition party in a campaign
year coinciding with depression had
the dlsCOntented, to create. as Speaker
Garner publicly and repeatedly puts 1t,
the impression that the Democrats are
for what he calls the masses" as
against, again to use his word; the
Glasses" All that, however took the
form of gestures and speeches.
The fundamental record of legislation
ADEQUATE in scope. OF some IS pro-
posals made by President Hoover for
legislation to speed recovery, all but one
were passed. The exception, an act to
facilitate reopening of closed banks.
was postponed, largely in Difference TO
Democratic Senator Glass of Virginia,
of future general banking act.
Much Credit to Glass.
Senator Glass. incidentally. is more
responsible for the excellence OF tins
Congress record than any other one
man. Because the remedial measures
were in part fiscal in nature, because
Senator Glass is the acknowledged au-
thority on such legislation. because of
the universal confidence both parties
have in him, and finally because OF
. the prodigious hard work done by TINS
: 74-year-old Senator, the remedial leg
islation was not only enacted but was
kept sound.
The words and gestures that were
designed as campaign appeals have ere
ated a widespread apprehension that
some of the remedial measures contain
peril of currency imitation or other dan
ger They do not wholly different
thing. credit imitation, is frankly in
tended and is actively being put in ef-
feet. An unSound fiscal measure could
no more get by Senator Glass than
deliberate importation OF cholera germs.
It is true the House passed kind of
pious or rather impious resolution
suuinting toward currency imitation.
That was. on the part of Republican
members as well as Democratic. one of
the gestures for political effect on con-
stituents 1t was not enacted. nor
really meant to be. The same is true
of Speaker Gamers proposal to make
Government loans to any indivldual'
which he continues to exploit, with
what political wisdom remains to be
seen. What Garner desired for that
measure, it is a fair Judgment to say,
was not to have it enacted but to have
n Inr1t
and to make the veto conspicuous.
Within 36 hours after the veto, Con-
gress passed, without resistance by Gar
ner. a measure which omitted the any
1ndividual' clause.
Real Cooperation Evident.
At all times, the work of Congress
had this double character of gestures
made to appeal to Gamers masses"
but Of real cooperation by both parties
to enact sound measures. That pro-
longing the depression might help the
Democrats is political fact That
they enacted program lnteu1glbly de-
signed to end depression is a legislative
fact.
President Hoover proposed from time
10 time what was designed to be an
adequate program for recovery of de-
preston. He got practically all of it by
cooperation from sound-minded Demo-
cratic leaders, cooperation often
half concealed and half ashamed. He
got 1t also, of course, by virtue of his
own persistence. patience and resource
fulness. The chief detail of his tech
nique was to call the Democratic leaders
into innumerable and prolonged con-
ferences with him, in which he held
their more or less unwilling eyes to the
unacceptable facts.
No President ever called leaders of
the opposition party into so many con-
ferences. Garner publicly said this was
all wrong, but privately did not serious
ly oppose many of the Presidents
measures. On three occasions Presi-
dent Hoover used the kind of appeal
to the country that Theodore Roosevelt
called the big stick" An example was
his denunciation of Gamers pork-bar-
rel measure to build some 1.400 post
Offices and other public buildings at a
to accept some details he did not like,
such as the publicity clause for loans
made by the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation to banks in difficulties.
Good Work Obscured.
Because the Democrats think they
must deny that President Hoover has
capacity for leadership. they really OBJ
scure much of their own good work. A
dominating motive of the Democrats,
more or less concealed for political rea-
sons. was to give President Hoover sub
stantially what he asked, so as to be
able in the campaign to hold him ac-
countable in case the depression should
become worse in spite of the Presidents
program.
This is not far from where the situa-
ton lies today. The Republicans really
feel they got the substance of what
they asked. They feel also that these
measures in action will turn the tide
of depression. All this is obscured bv
the turn the presidential campaign IS
taking. The one weighty thing the
President did not wholly get was ade-
quate economies and adequate power TO
the President to effect economy. There
will need to be more of this in the next
Congress in order to completely bal
ance the budget. BY what has been
done. however. the deficit will be re-
duced to a negligible sum when COM
pared with last years.