Evening star., 1933-02-05
Congress Is Having Hard Time Catching
Up With Depression or Anything Else

plus complete free trade with the
United States, plus certain amount Of
protective lowering about by the United
States Navy. In any case, Mr.. Quezon
is thought here to be strong enough in
Manila to render the work of this ses-
sion Of this Congress on the subject
Of the Philippines futile.
X
An unbalanced budget and an unfreed
Filipino nation would then represent
this sessions achievements up to now.
Meanwhile the prospects for pros
perity through beer and other liquors
grow DINNER. The Senate and the
House are in disagreement, in the case
of the beer bill, on the point Of the
amount Of intoxication. If any, produced
by given amount of alcohol They
are in disagreement in the case of
the resolution for the repeal of the
eighteenth amendment, on the point OF
the proper powers, If any, to be exer-
ciSed over the liquor traffic by the Fed
eral Government. The chances increase
that, in so far as liquors are necessary
to prosperity, this session of the Con-
gress will leave them to be supplied by
the bootleggers.
Prosperity was also to be brought
back to us through the self -liquidat-
ing" works to be financed by the Re-
construction Finance Corporation. The
corporation has now authorized eX-
penditures of Federal money toward
that end in the amount of some $780,
000, 900. 1t has actually made advances
of cash toward that end in the amount
Of s18,000,000.
Senator Wagner Of New York has
been always convinced that not much
prosperity could be purchased for $18,-
000,0 900. He has bill for making the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
move faster and farther. But where
is this bill? 1t is not even on the Sen
ate calendar. It Is only at the stage
of being made the subject of hearings
by subcommittee of the Committee
on Banking and Currency.
The remaining prosperity bills of
major importance are the domestic al
1otment-plan farm relief bill, the Glass
Guardia -McKeown bill for facilitating
the general relief of debtors and the
general reduction Of debts.
The allotment-plan bill has passed
the House; but numerous Senators are
hoping they will never have to face a
roll call on It; and the growing opinion
is that in this session of the Congress
it may perish in silence. The Glass
banking reform bill has passed the Sem
ate and may conceivably pass the
House; but its value is much more in
the field of ultimate than in the field
Of immediate economic relief The La
Guardia -McKeown bill. which has an
enormous immediate value, and which
has passed the House. is so full Of
clauses provoking constitutional argu-
mentations that the great constitutional
jurists Of the Senate will be deserting
all their precedents of senatorial be-
havior If they fail to spend day after
day on the Senate floor trying to guess
what the Supreme Court of the United
States will finally say about 1t.
In these circumstances, and with 10
appropriation bills still to be passed. 1t
is suspected in some quarters that the
only additional piece Of major positive
legislation that will get enacted in this
session will be the resolution vetoing
President Hoover's executive orders re-
organizing governmental bureaus. This
session will then be able to say that 1t
at any rate stopped something.
(copyriRht. 1881