Evening star., 1934-12-31
The Political Mill
By C. Could Lincoln.

The eyes of the Nation focus on
Washington this week. Congress
opens and-perhaps more important
the President will send his annual
message, containing general outline
of his program for the coming year.
Admittedly, the congressional session
carries with it certain potentialities.
There Is the chance that the legisla-
| tive body may run to excesses. The
administration, however, has turned
its back on excesses in the matter Of
| currency imitation and on expenditures
OF huge sums of money which are not
ear-marked for relief. 1t may be ex-
pected that q struggle, which is as old
as the National Government, will come
between the executive and the legisla-
ture. 1t may be expected also that
the executive, which never loomed
stronger than it does today, will be the
victor in this struggle, although the
legislative branch of the Government
may make breaches In the wall here
and there. Particularly Is this likely
to be true in connection with the cash
payment of the soldiers bonus.
n u
| The time is at hand for the selec-
ton of the Democratic candidates for
! Speaker of the House and for floor
leader. A great deal of preliminary
skirmishing has been under way for
| many weeks. Representative Joseph
| w. Byrns of Tennessee, who has been
floor leader in the present Congress,
is destined TO become Speaker. The
| opposition, which gave the appear
ance of being strong at one time, has
sifted away, leaving him the only real
| contender for this high Office. Once
he Is nominated, his election to the
speakership on Thursday, when the
House organizes, is only a matter of
form, in the light of the heavy Demo-
cratic majority in the House. The
Republicans are expected to put for
ward Representative Smell of New
York as their candidate for Speaker
an empty honor, except that it will
carry with 1t the minority leadership
Of the House. There has been an
insurgent movement among some of
the progressive Republican members
Of the House against Mr.. Smell, but it
| Is not likely to assume dangerous pro-
portions in opposition to his leader
ship.
| The Democratic caucus of the House
Is set for Wednesday, at 1880 pm, in
the House chamber. This will be the
first time that the 322 members elect
ed TO the Seventy-fourth Congress
have met together. There will be
more than 100 new faces among them,
men who are not members of the old
Congress. This is a very considerable
proportion Of new blood in the House.
particularly when it is remembered
that there is no change in the political
control Of the House-the Democrats
merely having strengthened their hold
on that body in the November elec-
tions. The contest for Democratic
floor leader may bring a real fight
in the caucus, although reports are
to the effect that Representative Bans-
head of Alabama has the inside track
| for this Office.
On the Senate side of the Capitol
the Democratic organization is intact.
Senator Joseph T. Robinson of Ar
kansas, veteran leader of his party in
the Upper House. will continue in that
role. Senator James Hamilton Lewis
OF Illinois, Democratic whip and as
sistant to the leader, will again call for
| quorums when the Senate meets and
see to it that his party colleagues are
on hand when important votes are to
be taken. Senator Key Pittman of Ne
vada Is expected to continue as Presi-
dent pro tempore of the Senate, presid-
| ing over that body when the Vice Presl~
dent is absent. The Democratic mem
| bership Of the Senate has been in
creased by the elections to unprece-
| dented limits A. gain of nine seats
| was made by the Democrats and they
failed to lose single seat in the elec-
tions. This gives the Democrats more
| than two-thirds of the entire member
| ship of the Senate and puts them in a
position to do pretty much as they
please. The Republicans have shown
no disposition whatever to unseat their
leader, Senator Charles McNary of
Oregon, and he will continue to func-
ton as the G. o. P. chief during the
! coming session.
y II
There is distinct movement on for
presidential boom for Senator VIII
liam E. Borah of Idaho. Senator
Borah, be 1t well understood, Is not
/ promoting this boom himself. But
certain members of the Republican
party believe that in him they find the
| ideal champion to put forward for the
presidency in 1896. He is regarded
J as the most potent voice in opposition
to President Roosevelt, who is to be
the Democratic choice for the presi-
Dental nomination beyond a doubt,
unless he himself should decline, and
there is nothing in the cards today
| that would indicate the President will
not be q candidate to succeed himself.
! Two years more Is a comparatively
short time in which to put through
the program which has already been
| outlined by the administration for
permanent recovery in this country.
Furthermore, 1t will require several
years to put the various measures into
efficient working order.
Il \ X X
l
standing opponent among the Repub-
licans Of some Of the New Deal pro-
| gram. He has fought for a long time
against the features of the national
recovery act which permit waving of
| antitrust laws, on the ground that
they tend to huge business monopoly
and to place unwarranted burdens on
the consuming public. He is not of
the school which believes that Amer
ica's agricultural population will gain
through drastic restriction of produc-
ton. Rather does he believe that in
| the end the peoples of other countries
will be the winners, with the American
farmer finding his markets more and
more restricted. Senator Borah, 1t Is
true, has called for a reorganization
of the Republican national machinery
without delay. And this might well
make him persona non grata to some
| of the older leaders in the party whose
political scalps he has sought. But
the men who are urging Senator
Borah to get into the race take the
N-e