Evening star., 1932-12-02

Apart altogether from what is act
ually accomplished on Capitol Hill in
the immediate weeks ahead on such par
amount issues as the repeal OF the
eighteenth amendment, the immediate
return of beer, the international debts,
the balancing of the budget, the install
lation Of governmental economies, ana
the crucial farm problem, the last ses-
sion of the Seventy-second Congress,
which convenes December 5, Is practi-
cally assured of place in history. 1t
will be in all probability the last lame
duck" session. The Norris amendment
to the Constitution abolishing so-called
hold-o over sessions has already been
ratified by II States. With 43 State
Legislatures to convene early next year,
there is little doubt that enough States
will act favorably on the amendment
to assure the requisite SO in season to
affect the term of the next Congress.
The fact that the session which con-
venes next Monday contains more lame
ducks than any session in recent his
tory, together with the important prob
| lens confronting 1t, comes by way OF a
climactic argument in support OF the
long fight waged by Senator George
w. Norris Of Nebraska.
X X
Well-informed circles in washington
! and elsewhere attach tremendous sig
| nifcance to a statement attributed to
Bernard M. Baruch of New York dur
| ing the recent huddle between him and
| Gov. Roosevelt on the foreign debt
problem. The report has it that Mr..
Baruch opined that European debts to
the United States should be regarded
as "blue chips in poker game" There
Is always premium on blue chips, no
matter what the game is. They rep
resent stakes of such high value that
they can often control the development
of the game. Put tersely, those who
attribute SO much Importance to the
Baruch observation take it that he
meant simply this: That the Demo-
cratic administration, which comes into
power next March 4, has its own diplo-
matte game to play; that 1t must play
1t with due regard to all its aims and
commitments; that these aims include
such matters as tariff agreements, re-
duction of armaments, debt policies and
so on all of which must be considered
Jointly, and that the status of the debts,
now advantageous to the United States
from bargaining standpoint, at least,
should not be radically altered until
the game gets under way. Incidentally,
Baruch's familiarity with the problem
goes back to the very beginning OF
reparations and debt understanding,
since he was chairman Of the War In
dustries Board when European nations
were using American credit to buy war
materials and was adviser to President
Wilson during the formulation Of the
financial sections Of the Versailles
treaty.
n X
There Is always something admirable
and gallant about Lady Nancy Astor OF
London, who Is now sojournlng In near
by Virginia and has hosts of friends In
Washington No matter how thick the
fire, this brilliant member Of the British
Parliament always sticks to her guns
During her II years in the House Of
Commons she has, in season and Out
of season, directed her most telling
was wont to refer as the beer barons
whisky lords and ticket-of-leave mer
from the drink trade" And now she beat.
the prohibition leaders in the United
States to 1t with an almost unanSwer'
able explanation of what happened or
the liquor question on November last
Not q wet victory" says the 1ndoml'
table member from Plymouth, "but &
protest against too much drinking undel
prohibition"
X
Probably no statement hurtled from
the ramparts Of either party in tn
recent unpleasantness created NOR
widespread comment, coupled with dee
Indignation In some quarters, than tn
intimation in President Hoover's Mad
son Square Garden speech that grass
would grow In the streets Of some o
our cities II the G. o. P. was not givel
a mandate to continue In charge Of tn
l Government in Washington. BY on
, Of those curious historical condolences
the language used by President Hoove
5 on this particular occasion was prac
tically identical with that used by WI