Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-03-09
The Political Mill
By 6. Could Lincols.

team, the House and Senate. And the
Democrats in Congress will have their
first chance to show how they VIII per-
form. If there Is anything in num-
bers, the Democrats should have an
easy time Of 1t, provided they viii stick
together. In the House the Rainey-
Byrns-Cullen combination Is In COM
mand. to the great grief Of the members
who pinned al their hopes On Nc
Dune Of Alabama In the recent speak
ership race. Over on the Senate side
Senator Robinson Of Arkansas was re-
elected Democratic leader without 4
rihie Of excitement. The talk Of q re-
volt against the veteran leader amounted
to nothing. And when Senator Robinson
made his motion to make ma jority vote
In the party caucus Of the Senate bind
ing only three Senators voted against
him. One was Long of LouisianA, who
has sought to bait the Democratic leader
ever since he, Long, came to the Senate q
year ago. The others were Mc0in OF
Kansas, who may have feared an At
tempt to bind him to vote for . beer
bill, when the Sunflower State stiIl
clines to the water wagon, and Costigan
Of Colorado was the third. Mr. Cost
gan Is 4 kind Of Democratic La Toilette
II the Congress takes q recess, after
passing the Roosevelt emergency bank
ing legislation, for two or three weeks,
there Will be loud walls from some Of
the members, who insist that now Is the
time to tackle budget balancing, farm
relief, beer bills. unemployment relief
and q lot Of other measures. However,
President Roosevelt has indicated that
there has been no time in which to
prepare permanent banking legislation,
nor q program covering other major
problems. That being the case. the ad-
ministrstion would be glad to have the
Congress OF its hands for . few days
after the emergency legislation has
been put through. This would give the
President an opportunity not only to
get his legislative program In readiness.
but would also permit him to 20 ahead
and NIL the key positions in the Govern
ment. During the banking emergency
the appointing Of onlcials has come
almost to q standstill, although the
Capital has been swarming with candi-
dates for all the many thousand Jobs
which are now to be filled with Demo-
Gratis.
The movement for SOME hind OF Gov
ernmeht insurance of bank deposits rs
an inducement to bring the people back
to normal use Of the banks has gained
great Roadway, despite the fact that up
to this time the President has given II
no encouragement As matter Of fact
it looks as though something must be
done to help the situation that grew up
In this country since Gov Comstock
issued his proclamation closing the
banks in Michigan for holiday" That
was a signal to the depositors In the
rest Of the States and they were of In
their wild scramble to take cash out OF
the banks and put 1t in the sock. When
Maryland fell in line with a bank holi-
day the jig wss up. and a national holi-
day the only thing left that was possible
to keep any money in the banks Now
If the banks are opened up again for
business as usual. the danger. it Is fear
ed by some members of Congress; Il
that Withdrawals would be continued a
before. unless the Government in some
way holsters up the banks and gives the
people confidence. In some quarters 1t
Is said that the thing to do Is to let
the weaker banks 60 to the wall Well,
that Is what has been going on for q
long period, and finally II looked a.
though the whole structure was going
to pot. when the President stepped in
and declared a National holiday.
The other side of the picture is the
danger to the Government, and more
particularly to Government credit. II 1t
becomes too much involved in the bank
ing business. The credit of the Govern
ment must be maintained at oil costs
President Roosevelt has made 1t clear
he Is bent on maintaining the Govern
ment credit whatever happens For
mer President Hoover used to insist that
this could be done only by balancing the
Government budget, 20 that the Gov
eminent receipts would approximate
Government disbursements Mr.. Hoo
yer urged the Congress again and again
to pass legislation calculated to do this
thing. With the Democrats in control
Of the House and the insurgent Repub-
licans holding the balance of power in
the Senate, recommendation from
Mr.. Hoover had about as much chance
In the last Congress as lump Of ice on
Pennsylvania avenue in July.
There Is q loud demand in important
quarters that law be passed penal
izing men and women who hold their
money out Of banks. Well, if the Gov
eminent is to seek to coerce these men
and women into putting their money
into the banks the corollary is that the
Government should give these people
some assurance they will be able to
get the money out Of the banks when
they need 1t. Senator Pat Harrison
of Mississippi. chairman of the Senate
Finance Committee, wants q big tax
on boarding of gold and currency. But
he also sees the justice of a Govern
ment guaranty of bank deposits under
all the circumstances. and advocates
such q guaranty for all solvent banks
The crying need of the moment is
some medium of exchange, whether 1t be
the existing currency, new Federal Re-
serve notes or scrip issued locally by
clearing houses. This Is a matter that
the administration Is expected to deal
with today in the recommendations of
the President to Congress. 1t is one
thing to close up to banks. 1t Is an
other to make them open up again
and do business as heretofore.
today was elected secretary Of the
Senate. has been in the employ of the
Senate for more than a quarter of a
century. For years he has been the
trusted Democratic secretary-his title
has been secretary to the minority.
He knows more about the working of
the Senate, and more about the work.
ings Of the Democratic Senators than the
Senators do themselves. He has proved
himself many times worth his weight
In gold to the Democrats Of the Senate.
even in these days Of monetary strin,
geney. He was sergeant at arms of
the Democratic National Convention in
Chicago last June, and has held similar
posts in the past. He served, too. as
secretary of the Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee for
several years. Col. Halsey's. name has
been put forward many times by the
Democrats as their candidate for sec
rotary Of the Senate when, because of
the Republican majority in that body.
he had not the ghost of show to be
elected His many friends In the Capi-
tai were greatly pleased. therefore. when
the Democrats agreed upon him for