Evening star., 1934-03-19
The Political Mill
By C.. Could Lincoln.

| Roosevelt administration demanding
legislation that treads on the toes Of
lot Of their constituents, not to
mention that some of the legislation
! does violence to the beliefs Of men,
bers of Congress themselves, the ad-
ministration leaders on Capitol Hill
are having their troubles. They have
succeeded remarkably well In the past,
and their success has been due to the
tremendous popularity Of the man in
the White House, who has put forward
his recommendations to Congress and
who has had the backing Of public
opinion. Gradually, however, the
number Of soreheads Is growing. At
present they are In groups, sore be-
cause Of one particular policy or
activity Of the administration, or they
| are isolated individuals. The danger
| lies, Of course, in an eventual con-
| solidation Of all the soreheads. 1t was
Just that kind of thing that made
continuance Of the Democrats in
power after the World War. The
people as a whole went forward with
the Wilson administration to win the
war; they have gone forward with the
| Roosevelt administration in the last
| year to win their way to recovery in
kbusiness, unemployment and better
conditions generally. The American
people, however, do not like to be told
what to do, even though 1t may be
necessary. The very RECOMMENDATION
which may be necessary to carry for
ward necessary plan or policy makes
enemies.
Unrest among the voters makes It
self felt quite promptly in the halls
| of Congress. The revolt against the
administration leadership in House
and Senate In recent weeks over the
question of veterans compensation
and restoration of pay to Government
| workers has not been so serious be-
cause OF the issues involved, but be-
cause of the breach made in the
solid front which the Democrats have
been able to show to their opposition
on Capitol Hill in the past, an oppo-
sition which is numerically small and
which for the most part IS divided
between the Republican regulars and
the Republican progressiveS. Speaker
Rainey, according to reports, is keep
ing a record of the way the Demo-
Gratis In the House are voting on ad-
miniStration measures. Its purpose,
presumably, is to blacklist those Demo-
Gratis who run counter to the admin
istration on frequent occasions. Black
listing Is dangerous practice, and
frequently turns men into violent op-
ponents who otherwise might be will
| IL H1,- r. - \,
the very leadership which blacklists
them.
Speaker Rainey himself, however,
has been showing signs Of restiveness.
He did not like at all what Secretary
Of the Treasury Morgenthau had to
say about the silver question before
a House committee the other day,
when the Secretary allowed that
enough had been done for silver for
the time being. So the Speaker said
he would recognize Representative
Dies of Texas and Representative
suspend the rules of the House and
pass silver bills which these gentle
men have introduced and on which
they have obtained favorable reports
from the Committee on Coinage,
Weights and Measures. Mr.. Rainey
is an ardent believer in the remoneti-
zation Of silver, in the greater use Of
the white metal for money and for
reserves against which paper money
should be issued. II Mr.. Morgenthau
was speaking for the administration
| and there seems to be reason to be-
lieve that he was-Mr. Rainey's own
action becomes In a measure kind
of revolt against the administration
leadership Just where will the
Speaker be left If todays votes in the
House pass these silver bills?
The House has had a way in the
past-the long past as well as the
immediate past-of putting through
legislation which majority Of its
members have believed to be popular
with strong groups Of constituents
and then watching the legislation die
in the Senate. That is one expla-
nation Of the big vote which was cast
in the House for the soldiers bonus
bill. House members had no idea
that the Senate would pass this bonus
bill, and they may be right. But If
they send a silver bill over to the
Senate, perhaps thinking that the
Senate will turn it down, they may
be taking a long chance. There Is a
| big contingent in the Senate which Is
strong for increased use Of silver for
monetary purposes. Its difficulty SO
far has been unwillingness to run
counter to President Roosevelt, who
has been given wide powers to deal
with all monetary questions. But
some of these Senators have been
disappointed because nothing more
tangible has been done to remonetize
silver by the administration.
y
Republican members Of Congress
are really looking forward to the
passage of the Roosevelt tariff bill.
They say that it is going to make a
real issue" in the coming campaign
Of 1894 and in that still further re-
moved campaign of 1886. They may
be right. Nothing that any one does
about the tariff ever seems to be
right. There is always good sized
slice of the population which is hurt
by any tariff measure. The Repub-
ncans doubt very much that they can
prevent the passage of the Roosevelt
tariff bill, which gives the President
authority to make reciprocal trade
agreements with other nations and to
reduce the tariff duties or raise them
by SO per cent in order to reach such
agreements. In the House the meas
ure will be passed by considerable
vote after, for the House, a long
debate. In the Senate the opposition
may be stronger, but in the end the
measure is expected to triumph. 1t
will be interesting to see just how
some of the progressive Republicans
in the Senate, among them Senator
Norris of Nebraska, react to this pro-
posal to give the President so much
power over the tariff duties. They
were violently opposed to the present
sections Of the tariff act, which give
the President authority to raise or
lower tariff duties by so per cent
Azl