Montana labor news., 1932-06-09
THE WASHINGTON SCENE
(By LAURENCE TODD.)

WAsHINGToN-F. P)-on the front page of the Congressional Rec
ord for Saturday, May %, appeared a message which he who a might
well read. 1t as printed by Senator Jones, C. c. P. stalwsrt, to whom
it was addressed. It was dated Tacoma, in his state, and said: "Due to
the fact that the unemployed ire on the verge of starvation, drop all other
legislation and act for direct food relief or take the consequences. (signed)
Paul l. Jones, Alexander Chisholm, Fred Isachson, John Melville, c. L" Sea-
grove, H. c. McCord-Unemployed Citizens League, Executive Board"
Jones did not drop other Legislation. On the contrary, he resumed his
activities as chairman of the appropriations committee, which is increas-
ing the army of the unemployed by cutting down the appropriations for
the various branches of the government service. But the message did APP
pear in print with its blunt threat, and it set many other legislators to
thinking o a possible day of reckoning with the voters. Frontpage posi-
ton "a given in all Washington papers, on Monday, to Senator Cossiganhs
bill proposing that $4,000 be voted Immediately for feeding and sheleaing
the transient or homeless unemployed who may be in the capital during
June; also 100000 for relief of restitution in the District of Columbia
during the coming fiscal year. This as the progressves' response to evil
denee that the administration proposed to do nothing to feed o shelter
the thousands o war veterans who have ONE and are coming to Wash
ngton to demand cash payment Of the soldier bonus. Local charity funds
had been exhausted, and congress as the municipal government had done
nothing to meet its responsibility for hunger relief
Speaker Garner, o Tuesday morning, May 81, made a long plea for
his jobess relief and construction loan program, before the House commit
tee on ways and means. While he talked, squads of the "bonus brigade"
army which had arrived from the Pacific coast were visiting the offices
of all members of the House, trying to induce them to sign the Patman
motion for discharge of the bonus bill from committee. Some of these
veterans denied that they were here for a ouarrel with radicals-as the
would be solely with members of the House and Senate. They laughed
at the excited proposals by Police Superintendent Glassford that they get
out of town within two days unless congress provided them with funds
for a longer stay. They said they were here because congress had failed
to give them funds; they were prepared to stay a long while if congress
continued to ignore their demands.
AS the veterans crossed the plaza in front of the capitol they were
watched by Police Captain Gnash, who finds a dangerous Communist plot
in almost every public occasion. Gnash had mobnfzed so or nor police
along the front of the building. He feared, it was reported, that Com
munits would rush the Supreme Court. which that day was handing
Scottsboro, Ala until it should have heard the cae argued next October
No radicals cam along, but President Hoover arrived at DON to tell the
Senate that In your hands at this moment is the answer 20 the question
whether democracy has the capacity to act speedily enough to save itself
in emergency" So the police got a look At the presidential limousine and
its secretseryice guard, and all was we'll The Senate voted, later in the
Afternoon to kill the power-trust joker which Hoover and Smoot had tried
to rush over, as a test Of democracys failure, in the tax bill. Hoover had
stolen Woodrow Wilson's copyrighted hury-up phrase-"Time is of the
essence" In view of the Presidents extreme bashfulness in giving help in
fastening the passage of a reasonable tax measure, some of the Democrats
resented this plagiarism from the war president. They took a good look at
the scheme for taxing consumers of eectricty-oHered IS a substitute
for taxation of power companies earnings-and they voted to cling to
democratic government a while longer.
But relief for the starving unemployed was still sidetacked. It's advo-
Gates were too few. Not enough messages such as that from the Unem-
pOyed Citizens League at Tacoma had come to the lawmakers.