Evening star., 1934-04-29
Continued From Third Page.)

working out Of the measures now un-
der way will ultimately bring more
tragedy to the Democratic South
than to other sections.
What Is needed is that the opposi-
ton to these changes should be nom
partisan. But there is no organized
non-partisan leadership. All over the
country there are small groupings Of
resistance, but there is none that Is
Nation wide. Unless a Nation wide.
non-partisan movement arises, the
tug-of-war that is on will express it
self in the coming congressional elec-
tions, mainly as Democratic versus
Republican This is seriously unfor-
tunate But it is the way things stand
today.
The Attitude of Voters.
In the coming congressional elec-
tions, how will the voters arrive at
their decisions?
To a large extent the voters, as al
ways. will express their feelings about
existing business conditions. The
Democrats, like every party in power,
will profit by the business improve
ment. Quite loosely, as always. the
voters will assume that the business
improvement Is due wholly to the
party in power. There will be no
careful inquiry as to Just what part
of the improvement Is due TO the ad-
ministration, and what is the natural
preston. Actually, the business i'm
provement is less than would have
taken place normally. The judgment
Of observers sympathetic to the ad-
ministration Is that some Of the ad-
ministration's measures, those adopted
for what Mr.. Roosevelt calls "perma-
nent readjustment," have actually
held back recovery. The statistical
fact is that Canada and England,
which have no N. r. A. nor A. A. A.
nor new deal, have recovered farther
than the United States.
This, however, will be very difficult
for the Republicans to make clear.
The average voter will follow the
broad rule Of giving the party in
power credit for the rain, blame for
the drought. He will tend TO give the
Democrats credit for the recovery, as
he gave the Republicans blame for
the depression.
One Concrete Issue.
In the congressional election ahead
Of us, one clear issue will be N. r. A.
At least N. r. A. should be an issue
and will be If the critics of it have
the ingenuity to make the situation
simple for the voter to understand.
The vital relation between N. r. A.
and the congressional campaign now
upon US will be understood by follow
ing q relation between dates. The
present Congress, the old Congress,
will come to an end in q few weeks,
probably in June; and this Congress
will not sit again. A new Congress
will be elected in November; and that
new Congress will sit in January next
and will continue in power fer two
years; that Is, throughout 1885 and
1886.
Bearing this in mind, consider the
fate Of N. r. A. N. r. A. was enacted
June 16 last year. It was described
as an emergency measure and has
that stauts in the law books. Part Of
it, the section which authorizes the
President to impose licenses on every
business, large or small, was given q
life Of one year; that is, this one
section comes to an end in a few
weeks, on June 16. The rest of N. r..
A., N. r. A. as q whole, was given q
life Of two years-it comes to an end
June 16 Of next year.
Consequently, II N. r. A. is to be
permanent it must be renewed by the
Congress which will be chosen the
coming Summer and Fall.
Permanency Claimed.
President Roosevelt says N. r. A. is
to be permanent. He said so in his
address to. N. r. A. delegates last
March. And in his recent book "On
Our Way" the President speaks of N.
R. A. in terms which may provoke q
smile even before Mr.. Roosevelt ends
his first term in Office.
History" Mr.. Roosevelt says, prob
ably will record the national indus
trial recovery act as the most impor-
tant and far-reaching legislation ever
enacted by the American Congress; it
represents supreme effort to stabil-
ize for all time ."
"All time" Is long while.
Mr.. Roosevelt says N. r. A. is to be
permanent-yet has a manner Of not
being quite certain it will be. As to
the licensing section, which comes to
an end next June, N. r. A. Admin
istrator Gen. Hugh johnson has said
Congress will not be asked to renew
it; and at this writing, President
Roosevelt has not overruled Gen.
johnson on this point. Consequently,
the licensing section Of N. r. A., the
so-called teeth" Of 1t, the giving to
the President of arbitrary power Of life
and death over every business con-
cern-that part Of N. r. A. seems al
ready doomed.
As to the rest Of 1t, as to N. r. A. as
. whole, the life of that depends
wholly on whether the Congress chosen
this Summer and Fall Is favorable to
it. II Mr.. Roosevelt wants N. r. A.