Evening star., 1934-10-29
ECONOMIC POLICY
HELD REAL ISSUE.
Election of Radicals May
Embarrass Roosevelt,
Says Observer.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.


In little more than a week there1l
be q congressional election. It's out
come will not affect the Democratic
or the Republican party. as such, ma
teriaily either way. The Democrats
now have a substantial majority in
both houses of Congress. The Demo-
Gratis will retain that majority.
What is of great importance, how
ever, is what kind of Democrats and
what kind of Republicans will be
elected
Hardly ever in the memory of the
oldest political observers has there
been a congressional election in which
this aspect has been Of such profound
significance.
If more radicals are elected, Presi-
dent Roosevelt himself may be en-
barrassed, for the time may come
when, irrespective Of party labels, Mr..
Roosevelt will want all those who agree
with sound economic plans to line up
with him and for those who want un-
sound proposals adopted to line up
against him, so the country may know
the difference.
Issue Made of Funds.
The men elected to Congress next
week will take office next January.
What they promise in the campaign
now they will be inclined to vote for
In the Winter session.
Plenty of promises are being made.
Many of them involve larger outlays
OF public funds than Mr.. Roosevelt has
in mind
While there is difficulty in balancing
the budget now because relief expend-
itures and other items of necessity
make it impossible, the budget never
could be balanced if all the pledges of
money being made on the stump were
to be fulfilled
The campaign has in it plenty Of
hypocrisy on both sides-among Re-
publicans and Democrats. There are,
OF course, Democrats who never intend
to support Mr.. Roosevelt, and who are
asking the people to vote for them on
the ground they will uphold the Presi-
dents hands. When such proposals as
a soldiers bonus bill come along, 1t is
probable that many of the members
will vote to override his veto.
Character Declared Need.
There are also Republicans who say
now they will support Mr.. Roosevelt
when they think he is right, and yet
they may have no intention of doing
anything except embarrassing ac-
tivities
So the public must appraise such q
candidate on his integrity and char
acter and the devotion he may really
give to the public service
The Republicans on the stump are
saying they will accord Mr.. Roosevelt
support on relief policies that are
sound, but will vote against him when
the people feel he is pursuing wrong
policies. The Democrats are pledging
100 per cent support, and it Is on this
ground that Republicans are asking
for votes-they declare that 1t is
better to elect independent-minded
members of Congress than those who
will surrender the legislative power to
the executive branch of the Govern
ment
Curiously enough, the radicalism
that may crop up in Congress will find
staunch opponents from the Demo-
Gratis in the South. There used to be
time in the North when political
capital was made out of the prospect
that Southern members OF Congress
would dominate congressional commit
tees. The Northern conservatives.
however, may now look forward with
some degree Of comfort to these same
Southern conservatives
Strategy Aids Southerners.
1t is true that conservatives and
radicals alike from the South. with
some few exceptions, like Senators
Byrd and Glass of Virginia or Gore
OF Oklahoma, have seemed to be rub
Der stamps for White House desires.
but this Is a strategy which may turn
out in the end to be helpful to those
same Southern Democrats when they
find themselves aligned against radical
tendencies. The chances are Mr..
Roosevelt will find in the imitation
controversies and in the matter of
balancing the budget that he will have
TO rely on Southern conservatives
to lead the fight. The Northern
-NNPNSASoiAo, Va COuISt, are usually
conservative.
The big question of paramount in
terest to the country is whether Mr..
Roosevelt is going to be able to con-
troll the radical tendencies of the next
Congress. He will need Republican
as we'll as Democratic aid
The difficulty in deciding how to
vote lies IN the fact that both Repub-
ican and Democratic candidates on
the stump are SO anxious to win that
they do not reveal to the audiences
their fundamental beliefs or how they
will stand when the test comes.
Prejudices, claims of how Government
relief money has helped district, and
all sorts of extraneous subjects are
being introduced to get votes.
Just what the outcome of the elec-
tion will mean, therefore, in terms of
party strength is a foregone conclu-
sion, but what it will mean in terms
of real help or real hindrance to the
President. when he tries to steer
middle Of -the-road course between
radicals Of the reactionary type and
conservatives of the same extreme
tendency, is not going to be known
till January, when some vital ques-
tions will be voted on and Mr.. Roose-
velt's leadership will undergo its most
sever trials.