Evening star., 1934-10-21
POLICIES OF NEW DEAL
REMAIN DEEP, MYSTERY
Roosevelt Rumored Ready to Go Con.
servative but Observer Believes Con.
gress Will Not Permit 1t.

the Black-Connery bill Tor that end.
But by establishing the 36-hour week
in the cotton garment industry the
President has clearly indicated that
he Is ready to 60 considerable dis
tance in shortening work hours. In
other words, while the administration
may not be willing to go as far as de-
manded by organized labor, there Is
every indication that it will in large
degree accede to labor's demands.
In the judgment of not a few able
observers in and out of Congress,
President Roosevelt will not be In a
position to hold his party to a con-
servative course or to swing 1t to
the right after the election. As some
OF them put it, the New Deal has
been encouraging radical forces
which are much easier to set In mo-
tion than to stop. The approach of
the election emphasizes more and
more plainly what was indicated
months ago-that the new Congress
will be a radical body, or, at least,
will have an exceptionally strong
radical contingent.
Votes Won on Promises.
It will contain a long list of mem
bers who have won votes by telling
their constituents the scope Of Gov
eminent expenditures and painting
the advantages of largess from the
Treasury and making promises TO
work for continuation of the bounty
from Washington; who have told the
voters much about new plans for
Government beneficence, and little
about the Constitution or about the
magnitude of the public debt and
what 1t means eventually in high
taxes.
In encouraging Democratic candi-
dates TO talk about Federal dispen-
sation Of funds in their districts,
James A. Farley, national chairman,
undoubtedly has increased the list of
those of his party who will be
elected to Congress, but he has also
increased the difficulty the admins
tration faces in meeting the demands
Of the new Congress.
Vague talk is heard in Washington
about pairing the budget, keeping
department expenditures in check,
and generally trying to curtail Gov
ernment expenditures. But it is clear
that the new Congress will be a
spending institution. The call for big
expenditures is certain to be insistent.
1t is not possible at this time to cal
culate how the administration can
hold those expenditures in check to
any great extent. While in theory
the President can always use the
veto, in this instance he cannot well
use 1t in the face of the assurances
given by multitude of Democratic
candidates that Democratic success
this Fall will mean continued Gov
ernment benefits.
Watch Insurgent.
It will be of moment to the ad-
ministration whether the progressive
Republican or insurgent bloc in Con-
gresS, especially in the Senate, is
strengthened or weakened. II Senator
Robert M. La Toilette of Wisconsin,
Senator Henrik Shipstead of Mime
sofa, and Senator Bronson Cutting of
New Mexico are defeated, the ad-
ministration will have little to worry
about the insurgent bloc.
But If they are reelected, it is cer-
tain that the insurgent bloc will be
a militant group, not amenable to
White House wishes, especially since
the Democratic organization has tried
to unhorse them. What Mr.. Roosevelt
has to apprehend, if he tries to take
conservative course after election,
Is open war with the Senate insurgents,
provided they are not virtually wiped
out at the polls.
Other Presidents have found the
inSurgent block a troublesome factor,
and President Roosevelt is likely to
have the same experience, unless he
goes along with it and supports the
radical ideas for which It stands
ideas which go further than the New
Deal, and which were advocated by
men like the older La Toilette, Norris
and other insurgents long before many
Of. the New Dealers got into politics.
Some talk is heard that the Presi-
dent will decide, in the interest of
calming the disturbed waters, to put
of large share of his New Deal pro-
gram until the second session of the
new Congress, instead of the first
session, which will meet January 8.
The objection, however, is that the
second session of the new Congress
the seventy -fourth-will meet virtually
in the midst of the 1896 presidential
campaign. That will be an inauspicious
time for consideration of important
legislation on its merits. Hence it is
generally expected that the burden
of law-making for the Seventy fourth
Congress will fall on the session this
Winter and Spring.
Copyright. 1e34)