Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1934-07-05
National Topics Interpreted

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ever has had, Presi-
ident Roosevelt has started what he
hopes will be the final drive for eco
nomic recovery. He has all Of the
weapons in his own hands. There can
be no mistake that he is prepared to
use them.
When the second session of the Sew
enty-third congress adjourned, the
work 1t had done together with the
enactments of the first session, COM
pleted the transfer to the Chief Execu-
tive Of more authority than any con-
gress ever before had delegated to the
head Of the government. In fact, a
survey Of the acts seems to Indicate
that congress delegated to Mr.. Roose-
welt at least 80 per cent of the power
ordinarily reserved to the legislative
branch alone. Some of the grants were
Of a temporary character, of course,
but nevertheless the President has
them and they cannot be taken away
until after the first Of January, 1895,
irrespective Of their nature, unless ext
gencies should arise under which Mr..
Roosevelt will call the congress back
for an extraordinary session. Those
exigencies do not now appear on the
horizon.
The above paragraphs are neces-
sary prelude to the further statement
that for the coming six months, at
least, the country will have a distinc-
tive one-man control. Ordinarily, we
are prone to consider this government
Of ours in a little different manner
because, in a period when congress
Is In session, the restrictions which
Its enactments embody serve to cir
cumscribe the powers of the executive
branch of the government. In the
forthcoming six months, however, the
executive branch may operate with all
Of the freedom discretionary author
ity carries in the New Deal legisla-
ton.
Because Of the great speed which
characterized passage of the New
Deal legislation for which the Presi-
dent asked, its full meaning was over
looked temporarily In many cases.
Now that congress has gone, however,
appraisals are possible In the light Of
the relationship existing between vari-
GUS items of the New Deal, and this
has occasioned more than the usual
amount of discussion in Washington.
One line of discussion frequently
heard Is that Mr.. Roosevelt has placed
himself in spot where he can claim
full personal credit for the success Of
his program. By the same token, and
since success is not yet assured, he is on
the spot where he must accept full re-
sponsibility for failure Of any part Of
the program to accomplish the job
which he has outlined. From what
hear around Washington, there seems
no disposition anywhere to take away
any of the credit. The politicians on
the Presidents side dare not seek any
of the credit, for their records show
them to have been wholly subservient
to his will Anti-administration poll
ticians are continuing to play dead,
for their strategy is apparently one
of allowing the calf all of the rope.
II failure attends any units Of the
program, they will make great capt.
tai of 1t. If success is complete, they
can do nothing about 1t anyway, thus
they are in blind alley for the time
being.
This position, am told, does not
mean that the Republicans and other
anti-administration groups will not
Her letters that they are going to TO-
ment trouble by attacks on various of
the policies to show vulnerable points.
As I said at the outset, the story
Of the Seventy-third congress is the
story Of the broad
Just a Loan est loan of power
of Pouer ever given. 1t must
be described as a
loan Of power, because congress can
take 1t back at any time by muster
ing sufficient votes for repeal of the
laws 1t enacted. But 1t must be re-
membered that, under the so-called
Norris amendment to the federal Con-
stitution, the recently adjourned ses-
sion Of congress was the last session.
In otherwords, when adjournment was
voted, 1t was an adjournment sine die.
1t was finished. 1t cannot be recon-
vened without call by the President
and that, as reported above, Is hard
ly within the realm Of possibilities. All
Of which is by way of saying that Mr..
Roosevelt will have the use of these
loaned powers completely and unequiv-
ocally certainly until next January.
It might be added that he will have
most Of them for much longer be-
cause, although congress can exercise
Its right to take them back, recovery
of the grants Of power Is not as easy
az It may seem. For example, nor
mally, repeal Of law Is accomplished
by q majority vote in congress. But
one must stop to consider here that
Mr.. Roosevelt may not want to give
up the authority vested in him. He
has the power to veto an act of con-
gress. Then, to get those powers back
congress must override the veto. To
override veto 1t is necessary under
the terms of the Constitution that
two-thirds of each house shall have
voted in the affirmative