Evening star., 1934-11-26
ThePOliticalM Mill
By G.. Could Lincoln.

Announcement from Warm Springs,
Ca, that President Roosevelt has
called Senator Robinson of Arkansas,
Democratic leader Of the Senate, and
Senator Harrison Of Mississippi,
chairman of the Finance Committee,
to confer with him is significant.
There Is very practical side to
the coming session of Congress which
is separate from the plans for social
security" and the legislative program
to carry out that idea. This practical
side has to do with dollars and cents,
| billions of them. The President has
had plenty of warning that demands
for huge appropriations and authori-
cations of money will be made by
! many groups and by heads OF New
Deal agencies, not to mention the
individual members of Congress. He
must have support on Capitol Hill
If he is to stem the spending tide
| and prevent q new flood.
Senator Robinson, as majority
leader of the Upper House, will be re-
lied upon by the President to line up
the Senators to stand with the admin
istration on this matter Of Govern
| ment expenditures. He must know
i from the President what the admins
tration's plans are. Senator Harrison,
! as head of the Finance Committee, is
an important figure when it comes to
legislation to supply revenue. Demo-
cratic leaders up to the present have
indicated that they did not believe
additional taxation would be neces-
| sary. The congressional elections are
out Of the way now, however, and the
very practical question Of seeing that
| the Government has adequate revenue
to maintain its credit may become
pressing.
| Very little talk Is heard at present
Of q balanced budget-outside Of the
Economy League and certain critical
Republicans However, President
Roosevelt may have ideas along this
line which will affect not only ap-
| propriations to be made by Congress,
but also the tax laws. The admins
tration has relied upon an increasing
It may continue to base its hope Of q
balanced budget, or q budget more
nearly In balance, on q revival of busi-
ness. The President believes that re-
covery is we'll on its way.
| ~
| President Roosevelt, 1t Is believed,
intends himself to be more than ever
the director Of the budget Since the
resignation of Lewis w. Douglas from
the ofiice Of budget director last Sum-
mer, D. w. Bell. commissioner of ac-
counts and deposits in the Treasury
Department, has served as director.
Mr.. Bell Is career man" in the
| Treasury Department. Whether Mr..
Bell continues to hold the post OF di-
rector or not, 1t is expected that the
President will keep close supervision
over what goes into the budget, and all
| important decisions will be made by
him. In addition to the regular estab-
| lishments of the Government, there
are today a large number OF New Deal
| agencies, independent establishments
| like the P. w. A. the F. E. r. A. and
| others. which spend huge sums OF
money, and their demands will have
to be considered In connection with the
budget making. Douglas, who went
out of the Office of budget director,
labored hard to keep expenditures
down and bring about a balanced
| budget. When he quit finally 1t was
generally understood that he was un-
willing to go further with the admin
istration in its spending Of huge sums
without further provision for paying
| the Governments debts. A number OF
| possible candidates for the job OF
budget director have been mentioned
| for the place, but 50 far the President
has kept Mr.. Bell on that work.
y
The Government undoubtedly will
| keep right ahead with its relief ex-
penditures this Winter and Spring.
But whether the President and the
| Congress will fall in with all the ideas
of Harry L. Hopkins, national admin
istrator of the F. E. r. A., is anothec
matter. Mr.. Hopkins has plenty, all
of which will add to the national debt.
The president Of Williams College, DR..
| Tyler bennett, took a shot at Mr..
| Hopkins criticism of New England
colleges and universities which were
unwilling to accept Government
money to aid students to get through
college. DR.. bennett said that Hop
kins was engaging in . line OF
"demagoguery" when he referred to
these institutions as "aristocratic," ,"
and pointed out that Williams Gel
lege was using its own funds to help
poor and deserving students, even to
the extent Of unbalancing its own
budget.
As long as an institution Of learn
ing is not receiving funds from the
administration its professors may feel
free to criticize the economic ideas Of
the New Deal, DR.. bennett pointed
out They might not feel free to do
so il they felt that any part Of their
salaries were coming from the Gov
ernment. The president of Williams
College put his finger on one of the
dificult spots Of much Of this Gov
ernment spending and lending. The
further the Government becomes the
creditor Of the people generally. the
more difficult it is for the people or
any part of them to criticize effectually
the administration.
The big drive to push through legis-
lation for the cash payment of the
soldiers bonus is expected to begin as
soon as Congress assemblies. If 2,000,-
900. 900 is expended for this purpose,
the public debt rises to new heights
and the budget gets still more of bal
ance. The President has shown that
he is against such payments at this
time. The Senate has been the stum-
bling block in the way Of the bonus
bill in the past. Doubtless the Presi-
dent and Senotor Robinson will count
noses again to see if there is chance
of blocking the bill in the Upper House
this Winter. No one seems to believe
1t will be possible to stop it in the
House. So far there has been no plan
for q march of the bonus seekers on
Washington similar to that which
occurred during the Hoover admins
tration. A great deal Of encourage
1 - kHyy