Evening star., 1935-05-21
ROOSEVELT IS SET
ON n. R. PASSAGE
Rumored Ready to Make
Swaps for Enactment
of Legislation.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

All sorts of parliamentary strategy,
f1aneuvers, and all kinds of rumors Of
tricks, bargains and devices are in the
air as Congress faces its next 80 days
of legislative congestion.
Here are the various schemes, some
of them fanciful to be sure, but none
the less the basis of conversation in
side and outside the Capitol:
First. that the President will not
let the Wagner labor bill go through
the House if the business and indus
trial interests will help him get a
two-year extension of N. r. A.
through the Senate.
Second, that the President will not
let the Wagner bill go through the
House unless labor helps him get the
N. r. A. extension through the Senate.
Third, that the President may favor
a postponement of title two of the
banking bill until next session If he
gets N. r. A. extended and an
assurance from bankers that they will
cooperate in financing the Govern
ment debt.
May Delay Bonus Vote.
Fourth, that the leaders of the
Senate may delay vote on the over
riding of the Patman bonus bill until
they can get affirmative action on
rider to some appropriation bill carry
ing a compromise plan for the pay
ment of the bonus so that Mr.. Roose-
welt will have the excuse that he can
not veto a particular item in an ap-
preparation bill and will thus allow 1t
to become law.
Fifth, that the approval OF bonus
payment plan will enable Senators to
help sustain the veto on the Patman
bill. and this would give Mr.. Roose-
welt a personal victory.
Sixth, that the President is more
Interested in N. R. A. extension than
any other piece of legislation and Is
prepared to make sacrifices and COM
promises to get that result.
Whatever merit there is in the
foregoing outline of the ingredients
of an alleged presidential strategy,
the fact remains that some consid-
cradle diplomacy and brain power
will have to be exercised in getting
the legislative program ironed out
as the days between now and June
16, when the N. R. A. expires auto
matically, grow fewer and fewer.
Filibuster Disastrous.
A filibuster would raise Cain with
any well-laid presidential plans, and
the situation is ripe for such delay
the more tangled it becomes.
incidentally. the utility holding
company bill is in the background of
the fight and there are groups which
believe they have sufficient strength
to force a modification, but there are
no signs of any relenting on Capitol
Hill unless the White House wants
to give a hint to that effect.
Meanwhile, business and industry
and banking executives all over the
country are worried about what the
administration really wants to do to
the present economic system and
how far it is prepared to bring on an
era Of defiation and diSorganization
to achieve its reform objectives. The
business men refuse to believe that
the legislative program as whole is
to be put through without material
modification.
Business Seeks Aid.
The Business and Advisory Council,
known as the Roper Council, has
meetings scheduled this week and
next at the White House for its sub
committees in the hope that the Presi-
dent will use his influence on Capitol
Hill to get more workable legislation
from the viewpoint of the businesses
affected. But the only chance of such
changes lies in the presentation of the
argument that the New Deal is trying
to digest too much at one time and
that some of the proposals might better
go over till the January session If
cooperation is really desired in de-
veloping a practical program OF
economic recovery.
Coincident with all this is the op-
position of industry to certain features
of the unemployment insurance tax
on pay rolls and the complications
that are arising daily over the best
ways to spend the $4000,000, 900 work
relief fund without jeopardizing the
employment rolls of existing businesses.
Truly when this session has ad-
journed there will be some sighs of
relief on the part of the business
world, for no more drastic bills have
ever been brought SO far toward enact
ment as in the present legislative pro-
gram of the New Deal.
(copyright. 1935)