Evening star., 1932-07-18
Congress Adjourns.

delay.
Congress Adjourns.
The first session of the Seventy-Sec-
ond Congress. after nearly eight months
of labor, has ended. The great problems
which confronted the body when II met
last December were the depression, with
accompanying unemployment, and the
need for balancing the Governments
budget in order to insure the credit and
financial stability of the Nation. In the
main, the Congress has carried out the
program of relief legislation laid down
has, by the enactment of additional tax
legislation and by economies in govern
mental expenditure, taken long steps
toward balancing the Government
budget. If the estimates of revenue and
of savings are correct. that desired end
has been accomplished.
The session will be remembered both
for the measure of cooperation between
the Congress and the President in deal
ing with important measures and for
the bitter conflict on other measures
between the Chief Executive and the
Legislature Political control of the
Congress was divided, with the Demo-
Gratis in charge of the House and the
Republicans nominally IN charge of the
Senate A coalition of insurgent Re-
publicans and Democrats in the SEN
ate was in position at any time to over
ride the administration forces. Under
such circumstances, the fact that Mr..
Hoover was able to prevail upon the
Congress to write into legislation his
relief program is evidence of the value
Of that program.
The President took a firm stand
against various unsound proposals for
relief. including direct appropriations to
aid the distress in the country He
argued that such donations would be
in effect a Government dole, and that
once saddled with the dole, this coun-
try would be unable to shake it off.
The Congress has added to the tax
burden Of the people by upwards of
billion dollars, in order to balance the
budget. 1t discarded the general man
ufacturers' excise tax, to apply special
excise or sales taxes on small number
of industries In its efforts to bring
about economy and reduction Of gov
ernmental expenditures, the Congress
put through the economy bill" de-
signed to save the Government total
of $3.50 900, 600. The President here had
his way. He set his face against hori-
zontal cuts in the pay of Government
employees, as he has opposed wage cuts
in industry since the depression began.
He proposed as substitute the fur
Tough plan, by which the rates OF pay
were retained, but the Government en-
ployes were forced to take furloughs
without pay.
Efforts to have the Congress put
through bill to authorize the payment
of the soldiers bonus failed. The House.
by vote of 226 to ITS, passed the bonus
bill, but the Senate turned the measure
down overwhelmingly, 81 to 18. This
measure was strongly opposed by the
President and by the Senate on the
ground that 1t would be disastrous to
the finances of the Government and
would add to the burdens of the already
tax-oppresSed people.
Nearly all of the important legisla-
ton enacted was of an emergency and
temporary nature. The Congress, IN
deed, dedicated itself to dealing with
the conditions growing out of the bust
ness depression, side-tracking at least
temporarily railroad, public utility and
antitrust legislation, all of which were
pressing for consideration and which
would be permanent measures. It did,
however, early in its session finally pu.
through the Norris resolution for an
amendment to the Constitution doing
away with the lame duck" or short
sessions of Congress. Already a dozen
Although the prohibition question
was constantly agitated in both houses
Of Congress, the Senate and House
continued to vote dry" except for the
final vote in the Senate. On Saturday,
by vote of 81 to 81, the Senate agreed
to take up the Glass resolution pro-
posing repeal of the eighteenth amend
ment. Effort after effort was made to
put through a measure to legalize beer.
All were Overwhelmingly defeated. The
vets showed, however, gains in both the
Senate and House as compared to
earlier years.
The closing hours of the session were
marked with bitterness as the Senate
and House wrangled over the relief bill,
and the home loan bank bill, the last
of the great measures in the Presi-
dents program of relief. In the end,
the House had It's way with the pro-
posal that the loans made under the
Finance Corporation be
made public from time to time. The
relief measure was sent to the Presi- |
dent containing the publicity clause,
opposed by the administration
and he has announced that he will
sign it. The home loan bank bill car
ries the Glass currency initiation pro-
posal.
In spite of bold premises, Russia has !
as yet been unable to evolve social T,