Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-04-20
The Political Mill

:. Again President Roosevelt demon
strates his grip as leader. A word from
him to the innationists on Capitol Hill
that he has or will have plans Of his
own regarding the increase Of commod-
ity prices and imitation" Of some
kind is sufhcient to call q halt Of the
efforts to write into the farm relief bill
In the Senate free silver" and other
proposals to initiate the currency.
The President Is asking again from
Congress the broadest kind of powers.
and apparently he is to be given them
now Just as he was given power to close
the banks and lay an embargo on gold
when he first entered the White House.
This grant Of power is to be written into
the farm bill after all, according to
present plans.
The power given the President, how
ever, is to be used IN his own discre-
ton. He will not be compelled to use
any Of the powers. Therein lies the
difference between . law mandatory
upon the President and the authorize
ton now. proposed. It may be ex-
pected, Of course, that the President,
having sought these broad powers, viii
certainly exercise them in an effort to
bring up commodity prices At the
same time. the President does not wish
imitation to run hog wild. 1t will be q
controlled imitation II he can bring
about such q thing.
The Presidents order yesterday re-
newing the embargo against the ship
ment Of gold out Of this country has
at last brought q definite intsrpreta-
ton In many quarters that the United
States Is Oh the gold standard, If only
temporarily. Abroad assaults upon the
American dollar have continued, and,
strangely - It may sound to American
ears, the fs'l IN the value Of the dollar
seems to be not undesired in some
quarters here. And with the fall of the
dollar, prices seem to be taking q surge
upward. Here, apparently. Is meas
ure Of imitation without the legislative
action Of Congress, except as 1t was
contained In the emergency measure
giving President Roosevelt unlimited
power to embargo the shipments Of
gold and control banks and finances
Members of the Democratic party In
Congress today express q willingness to
give the President broad powers to in
fate the currency and prices, leaving
the details Of the inflationary measures
to be taken to the Chief Executive It
begins to look as though the mere dis
cuss1on Of imitation of the currency was
to have Its effect on the American dollar
and prices. Prices, these Democratic
leaders insist, are too low, while the
value Of the dollar has been entirely
too high. 1t is high time there should
be a readjustment of values In this
Country getting back somewhere near
normal.
More slowly than many Of the mem
bers Of Congress would like, the new
administration is attending to the Job
of filling Federal Offices with Demo-
Gratis. Some Of the appointments are
not to be strictly political" it is said.
For example, Miss Perkins, Secretary Of
Labor. is to have Charles e. Wyzanski.
jr., Of Boston as solicitor of the De-
partment. Mr.. Wyzanski has a high
reputation a. young lawyer in the
Massachusetts, capital. He Is not the
selection for this post, however, of the
Massachusetts, Senators, Walsh and
Coolidge. but has been put forward by
Felix FrAnkfurter and other represent
atives Of the Harvard Law School. The
Massachusetts, Senators have been con-
suited with reference to Mr.. Wyzanski
and have said they had no objection.
However, they have made it clear that
this appointment is not to be charged
to their particular political patronage.
The Republican political leaders In
many Of the states-indeed in all Of
theM-have sensed the desire of the
a<xx, po1Y tn 1,ay fha
administration given q chance. In con-
sequence party politics have, except ir
local instances, been at standstill. The
time has not yet arrived for the G. o. p.
to launch attacks. To do SO would
merely be interpreted by the voters "a
an effort for political advantage to ham
string the Democratic President What
the voters want, and this goes for Re-
pubLcarlS as well as for Democrats, Is 4
revival Of business. They have reached
the conclusion that II the country raj
lies back Of the President in this crisis
the administration may bring back
better times There is no congressional
election until a year from next Fall.
The consequence is that the G. o. P. Is
lying low. Every now and then Re-
publican hobs up in Congress to protest
against certain measures which the
AclifOSIotS HC p1OPOSnlS. Dun t4lAs 10
more to keep the record straight. in case
those measures turn out badly than for
any real purpose Of preventing the pas
sage of these measures.
X
Republicans who have visited the
Middle West in recent weeks bring the
word that the people, even the farmers,
are, generally speaking. more hopeful.
Increased prices Of wheat, for example,
have had their effect, particularly in
the Northwest Down in Kansas, where
the wheat crop Is expected to be terribly
short this year, the farmers are wonder
ing just what is going to happen to
them. But what is their loss appears
to be to the advantage Of the farmers
in other sections.
Cotton.
From the Charlotte Observer.
The De0Ole are Ooin0 IN hear moro