Evening star., 1934-01-29
The Political Mill
BY C.. Gould Lincoln.

The present session Of the Seventy
third Congress gives promise of being
as expeditions in the matter Of legisla-
ton as the special session called by
President Roosevelt last Spring. It has
been here q little more than three weeks
and already 1t has bitten sharply into
the administrations program. putting
through the Federal liquor tax bill, the
| bill extending the life of the Recon-
struction Finance Corporation, the bill
placing Government guarantee on the
$4,000 900. 900 Of principal in the au-
tnorizeo !arm mortgage bonds, and the
Presidents gold program bill. All of
these measures have passed both houses
i OF CONGRESS. and some Of them are al
ready laws. In addition, the House has
passed four Of the annual appropriation
bills. The Congress has confined itself
exclusively to the routine work of the
supply bills and to the Presidents pro-
gram. Apparently there Is to be no
general legislative session. session In
which Congress Is its own self-starter
and puts through laws which its own
members think up and consider neces-
Sary for the good of the country. And,
generally speaking, the country will not
as whole shed any tears over the situ-
alton. A lot Of people think there are
already too many laws on the statute
books as 1t is.
The machinery on Capitol Hill has
been working smoothly. No monkey
wrenches have been hurled yet II the
present degree of cooperation with the
White House is maintained, the session
may end early in May certainly by
June l. The one fly in the ointment
to date is the failure of the Senate to
accept the st. Lawrence waterway
treaty with Canada with grace The
PRESIDENT has recommended the rati-
f1cation OF the treaty, and, 1t Is said,
wants 1t ratified. But today two-thirds
| OF the Senators. the requisite number
for the ratification OF a treaty, would
not vote for the treaty The President
may be able to get enough of the re-
calc1trant Democrats into line. He will
make the effort, and make 1t stren-
uously 1t Is reported However, some
OF these Senators are giving heed to the
wishes OF their own particular States
in this matter of the St. Lawrence
waterway, and the problem of winning
over a sufficient number of them Is a
tough one.
The Senate so far has not taken UP
for consideration any Of the annual
appropriation bills which the House has
sent to 1t for action. The first of these
measures, the independent Offices appro-
priation bill, into which the House
wrote the administration dictum on
economy" as it relates to cuts in Gov
eminent workers pay and cuts in COM
pensation for the veterans. is still pend
ing before the subcommittee to which
it was referred. The question of vet
eranS' compensation and the salary
cuts for the Government employees are
the only questions in the appropriation
bills which threaten trouble this ses-
| sion, and once they are settled and the
independent Offices bill Is out of the
way the rest of the supply bills are
likely to go through the Senate-as
we'll as the House-with little trouble
and as fast as creased lightning Ap-
propriating billions of dollars is one of
the easiest things that Congress does
! There are no harder working men in
the Goyernment-any branch-than the
members of the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees. They ex-
anime deeply into the budget estimates
and the various and thousands of items
od appropriation. But once these COM
mittees have reported to their respec-
tive houses the supply bills are acted
upon promptly
+&A
The Presidents recent executive
orders, liberalizing the compensation of
the veterans to the extent of an addi-
t1onal S21 900. 900 beyond the budget
| hgures. are said to represent the extent
to which the administration-the Presi-
dent-will yield in the matter of
veterans compensation. However, the
veterans organizations and some of
their friends in the Senate are still
hammering at the Treasury doors for
more; Also the veterans are demand
Ing that what Is done be done by law
instead of by executive order. feeling
that under a law they would be more
secure" The subcommittee is still
nearing the veterans, but expects to get
| through with them today.
With regard to the pay cut Of the
Government workers. the subcommittee
and the full committee are still waiting
to hear just what kind of an agree
ment for more liberal treatment can
be made with the White House. Under
the existing economy act, the question
OF restoring their pay to the workers is
| tied in with increases in cost of living
Those increases, while they have ma
terialized, have not been sufficient, the
President has held, to warrant an i'm
restoring the pay. On the other hand,
there is nothing to prevent Congress
from passing any new law it desires,
disregarding the old economy act. It is
| at liberty to write into the pending
! independent offices bill such restoration
OF pay as 1t deems wise. The President
| may acquiesce in such action by the
Congress. 1t Is for such acquiescence
| that the leaders in the Senate are now
angling and, they believe, with good
chance Of success.
The passage of the Presidents gold
bill, which is to be followed promptly,
it is believed, by proclamation cut
ting the gold content Of the dollar to
| so per cent of what it has been, GER
| tainly gives a good reason for restora-
tion of Government pay The purpose
Of the cut in the gold content of the
dollar Is to shove higher prices Of all
kinds Of commodities in terms of dol
lars. That means an increase in the
cost Of living. Indeed. the delay of
the Independent Offices appropriation
bill in the Senate Committee on Ap-
| preparations, permitting the gold bill
to pass the Senate before the pay cut
| question Is taken up, almost seems to
| have been purposely intended Fur
thermore, 1t has been privately reported
that the President has been personally
desirous to give the Government work.
ers the advantage Of any increase in
| cost of living and to restore to them
their pay. He was only halted in max
ing the necessary executive order by
the figures which were reported to him
| on the cost Of living by the statistical
bureaus Of the Department Of Labor.
Il
While the action of the Congress has
been rapid. the date of adjournment
will be governed by the extent Of the
| program which President Roosevelt
sends to Capitol Hill If he requests
OF Congress new legislation relating to
the farmers. for example. doing away
with the processing taxes" and the
payment to farmers for acreage reduc-
tion and substituting a new plan for