The Washington times., 1934-06-19
HOME SECURITY,
PENSIONS
ON PROGRAM
Chief Executive to Welcome
Smaller House Majority;
COP. Gains Certain
By GEORGE r. HOLMES
international News Service
atnRR CnrRaannndant

By GEORGE r. HOLMES
international News Service
Staff Correspondent
The tumultuouS Seventy-third
Congress behind him. President
Roosevelt already is looking for.
ward to the Seventy.fourth-and
planning.
The Seventy-third, which shat
tered all peacetime records in ap-
propriating money and in other
directions, he regards as an
emergency Congress, a recovery
Congress whose efforts necessarily
were devoted to meeting an un-
paraIleled series Of national crises.
He wants the Seventy-fourth to
be q Congress Of reconstruction.
Far.Reaching Changes
To that end, he is already plan
ming q series Of recommendations
which, If adopted, may well change
the whole character Of the Amer
ican Government.
He gave only a hint Of it in his
message on social legislation, in
which he outlined three ohjectiveS
for the Congress that is to be
elected in November and takes its
seat in January.
These objectiveS were:
The security Of the home.
The security Of livelihood.
The security Of social inSur.
ance.
The first, security Of the home,
has been partially attained
through the creation Of the Home
Owners Loan corpora ito n,
through which distressed home
owners may obtain Federal funds
to finance mortgages, and through
the new housing bill, which opens
the Federal treasury to those am.
bilious to build or renovate their
homes.
More Truculent
The other two objectiveS-jobs,
old age pensions, health insurance,
ct cetera-must await the aS yet
unborn Seventy-fourth Congress.
1T. is unlikely that the Seventy
fourth Congress will be as tract
able as the Seventy third. The ex-
piring Congress came to Washing.
ton for its first session in Q daZed
AMd ENa1uS1doroI "of
It was so amenable to executive
direction that emergency measures
Of vast importance were enacted
without the dazed members even
having lead the bills. The second
session was different. On several
occasions, notably in the economy
and veterans act, it rose up and
successfully defied the White
House.
It is in the cards for the Seven
ty-fourth Congress to be more
truculent.
The Democrats cannot hope to
maintain their enormous majority
in the House, a majority Of 200
votes in o total membership Of
435. The pendulum which swung
so far to the Democratic side in
1892 must inevitable swing back
to some extent, or else all history
and precedent is wrong.
Many VIII Return
There are approximately 100
congressional districts in which
the winners in 1882, most Demo
cratic, were elected by margins Of
less than 5000 votes.
Many Democrats have repre-
sonted districts in the Seventy
third Congress that are normally
Republican. The Republicans be-
Heve, and the Democrats privately
concede, that Q good many Of
these seats are going to return to
their Republican tradition.
In the Senate, it is different.
Only q third Of its membership
come up for reelection. And most
Of the Democratic seats at stake
are in the solid and impregnsble
South.
On the other hand, the Demo.
~A~VO 4A0VV q 4C64 N44oS44SG Va IA.
creasing their already comfort
able Senate majority.
Ohio, Maryland, Indiana, Mis-
souri,, all are now represented by
Republicans.
The Democrats are going to con-
eentrate their senatorial fire in
these States, and they are con-
ceded to have good chances.
Expect Loss In House
Thus. the prospect is that the
Democrats will lose seats in the
House, which they can well az
ford to, and at least hold their
own, if not increase their strength
in the Senate.
Publicly, the Democrats talk Of
not losing anything in the ap-
preaching November. Off the
record, the leaders say that any
thing less than a loss Of so seats