Nogales international., 1934-01-06

10 SeC OOIlc Will IldVC W w NtoAAN
at this session.
Third, and most important of the
items which seem likely to make
this session of Congress memorable.
1t will have to decide whether the
United States of America is going
20 Swing to the left" and go in
for a Socialism in it's more radical
form, or whether the Eliddle-of-
the-road policy, neither radical nor
ra-conservative, is going to be
the guiding principle for further
progress toward recovery.
Set-Up OF Congress
What Congress will decide is any,
body'S guecs as yet, but some of the
considerations which will contribute
toward the decision are obvious.
This is Democratic Congress
That party has 316 members, as
against only ia Republicans and
five Farmer-Labor. That, on the
face of it, if recent political history
counted for anything, would mean
decidedly Conservative attitude:
for the Democratic party has been
almost as conservative as the Re-
publican since 1920. Indeed, many
of the most radical members of
both houses in the past few years
have worn the Republican label
The only party represented which is
avowedly radical is the Farmer
Labor
But political labels count for lit
lie or nothing in these days. There
S still a strong conservative ele-
ment in the Democratic party but
It is nowhere nearly aas dominant
as it was four years ago. And in
Congress there is no strong leader
ship that can hold the various ele-
ments of the party together if its
members show signs of splitting up
into minor groups.
The only leadership is in tha
White House or OUTSIDE OF public
life entirely. Beyond doubt there
vill be vigorous efforts made to
form a conservative Democratic
bloc, to stand as a bulwark against
the assaults of the radical element.
How far that effort will succeed will
depend upon how far the President
goes in proposing or asserting to a
program more radical than that
which he asked for, and got, last
Spring.
The Roosevelt Success
Just where the President will
3tand, as between the eager young
revolutionists in his Administration,
who would turn the nation over to
Socialism willy-nilly, and the con-
servative element, which thinks his
program as developed so far con-
tains elements Of danger and needs
trimming, is as yet matter OF
opinion. Mr.. RooSevelt's success as
practical politician is largely due
to the fact that he does not tip his
hand in advance There is no doubt
that the majority of the Democratic
majority. will follow him wherever
he leads, but there is a good deal
Of doubt as to whether most OF
them would follow him any farther
to the Left.
Every members is keenly conscious
hat his term of office expires at
the end of this calendar year, and
that the only way he can get pack
'nto Congress is by the vote OF the
constituency that elected min last
year. And most of them don't know,
yet, how their constituents like the
New Deal as far as it got. They are
going to view every new proposal
With one eye on the voters OF their
home districts. This is one session
when Congress will have it's collec-
tive. ear close to the grass roots, to
catch the first mutterings Of ap-
proval or dicapproval.
Last Spring, in the extra session,
there were no such misgivings. They
had been elected in the greatest po-
litical landslide in our history, along
with Mr.. Roosevelt, in response to
a universal clamor for ''New Deal"
The precise nature of the New Deal
was not clear in the minds Of the
voters, of the members of Congress
perhaps not even in that Of the
President. But they knew their con-
stituents were behind them in de-
string something to be done, ano
that speedily They didn't try to fl
cure it out for themselves, but gave
the President broad powers to rur
5he United States about as he saw
fit. It was frankly an experiment
ut that was what everybody wanted