Evening star., 1933-05-11
The Political Mill
By G. Gould Lincoln.

Bank reform legislation has come out
In the open at last, with the tntrodiic-
ton OF the Glass bill in the Senate and
the steagall bill in the House. The
measures are similar, though not iden-
teal, the main difference lying In the
manner In which the insurance feature
Of the bills are to be extended to non
banks OF the Federal Reserve
System. The administration has not
given. 70 far Is can be learned. it, un-
qualified support to the Glass bill or 70
that OF Mr.. Steagall. Indeed. there u
the Treasury Is entirely willing to have
this legislation passed over on the theory
that It may rock the boat Of business re-
covery. On the other hand, with mil
lions of Americans caught In closed
banks, the interest In banking reform u
intense throughout the country. The
committees now have jur-
over these measures. II they
report them PROMPTLY to the House and
Senate. the demand for their passage
may become too strong to prevent &C
ton at the present session. Further
more, the administration could scarcely
set itself up openly IN opposition to bank
reform legislation once the reform leg
islation gets under way, even II 1t
wanted to do 50.
4 -
There are lots Of ways Of killing q cat
beside choking 1t to death with cream.
There are just as many ways Of killing
legislation on Capitol Hill. However
this bank reform legislation Is going to
take lot Of killing, Pace it y really
brought forward for consideration and
action. The sentiment Is strong among
the legislators for such legislation. It
may be expected that the measure Will
be assailed by many bankers. No one
likes to be disturbed in the methods OF
business he has been accustomed to for
years. When the Federal reserve act
the Wilson administration there was
violent opposition to the measure, re-
medal as 1t was and valuable as 1t
proved to be. The Democrats, then in
control, resorted finally to party caucus
action to get the measure through.
The administration, in its efforts TO
bring about balanced budget through
reduction OF governmental expenditures,
is proposing to lop $50 ,000, 900 from ex-
penditures for the Navy during the
next fiscal year, and approximately
500, ,0OG, 900 from the expenditures for
the Army. When the Army and Navy
appropriate bills were put through the
last Congress, expenditures for the
armed forces Of the United States had
been drastically cut. Now 1t Is pro-
posed to reduce these by another sl43.-
900, 900. A saving of $4,000 600 IN
governmental expenditures is not to
be sneezed at. On the other hand,
such O large saving must mean a cor
large reduction in military
and naval efficiency. You can't have
something for nothing. as a general
proposition, In this world. The ques-
ton Is whether it Is to the interest Of
the people to reduce national defense
in order to save this amount Of the
taxpayers money. The American peo-
pie might suffer in billions of wealth as
well as in millions of lives II this coun-
try became q prey to foreign enemies.
Speak softly and carry Q big stick"
was a maxim Of the late President
Theodore Roosevelt. Is there less
chance of war, and war involving the
United States. today than there was
in 1906, for example? The plans re-
ported now for reducing military and
naval expenditures look to appreciable
reductions In the personnel OF the
Army, Navy and Marine Corps, organ
izations that have been cut and cut
again, until they are ridiculously small
for nation the size Of this. Not
only do these plans call for reduc-
ton Of the personnel Of the regular
services, but they propose to cut out
training activities for military sery-
ice regarded, at least since the World
War. as essential measures OF pre-
paredness.
In their efforts at economy the nations
outside the United States have been
careful to maintain as far as possible
armies and navies which they deemed
necessary for national defense. There
will be no general reduction OF armed
forces until the world has reached an
agreement to disarm. Yet the United
States keeps right ahead slashing its
budget for national defense The Navy
has already been allowed to drop into
third place in several categories OF war
vessels. The great difficulty about get
ting behind in the matter OF national
defense lies in the fact that naval YES
sells and naval personnel cannot be
created overnight, nor can q trained
army be provided without months and
years Of preparation. The American
people had an object lesson in regard
to this matter just about Is years ago.
1t cost them billions of dollars Further
more had the United States been more
az that firno there
would have been greater hesitation
about drawing this country into that
conflict. The present Roosevelt admin
istration may with advantage give
attention to the attitude CT the last
Roosevelt administration toward national
defense.
The administrator legislative pro-
gram for the special session of Congress
is moving forward rapidly, but there are
still several measures of major impor-
tance to be considered and passed
among them the railroad bill and the
public works and industries bill. The talk
among the administration leaders is
for adjournment by June II, or even
earlier This leaves just q month in
which to dispose of the remaining legis-
AdtAVL. SOLSi CoolOAldl "a y
working on the railroad bill, holding
hearings so far. The public works and
industries control bill is still in the
making, although it may be sent to the
Congress this week. Measures of such
far-reaching importance ordinarily
would require weeks of consideration in
House and Senate. But speed is the
order of the day. It may be possible to
get them through in the month still
remaining before the opening of the
World Economic Conference in London.
While it is perfectly possible for Con-
gress to continue in session while the
Economic Conference is at work, there
seems to be desire to give the admin
istration an entirely free hand in nego-
tiations abroad at this conference, and
a fear that with Congress in Washing
ton 1t might be used as a sounding
board to upset some Of the plans for
agreement In London.
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The securities bill, providing for the