Evening star., 1935-05-01

There will be head-on collision be-
tween eminent New Deal friend and
foe at Pittsburgh on Saturday eve
ming, May 4. At the annual banquet
Of the steel metropolis famous Amen
Corner, Senator Joe Robinson Of
Arkansas. Democratic majority leader,
and Senator L. J. Dickinson, a Re-
publican 1886 white hope, Of Iowa,
will participate In a bipartisan dis
Some Reflections on the New Deal." )"
Instead of set speeches, the affair will
take the form Of joint debate. with
Dickinson leading of in attack on
Roosevelt policies, and Robinson re-
joining in defense, both combatants
later being allotted opportunity for
rebuttal. John O'Toole. collector of
internal revenue at Pittsburgh, will
preside over the oratorical fisticuffs,
for which there have already been
more than 1000 reservations. The tip
is out that no punches will be pulled
and that the going is to be hot and
heavy from start to finish. II Is ex-
pected that Senator Guffey and Gov.
Earle, as well as former Senator David
A. Reed, will be among those in ring
side seats.
President Roosevelt's vigorous
though soft-spoken radio appeal to
Congress to speed his must" legis-
lative program-social security, N. R.
A. renewal, and the utilities, banking
and transportation measures-may
not spur Capitol Hill. especially the
Senate, into prompt action all along
the line, but gradually it's expected
that F. D. RS admonitions and wishes
will soak in and accelerate the slow
motion of the recent past. The White
House board of strategy obviously de-
cided that moderation in the presi-
Dental broadcast would be more effec-
tive at this time than big stick stuff.
The Presidents failure to refer to a
number of current issues tells story
of its own. He was eloquently silent
about A. A. A. amendments, the 30
hour week, the bonus, food and drugs
legislation, the anti-lynching bill, the
Wagner labor disputes measure and
taxation. Many authorities >deduce
from this that Mr.. Roosevelt will lose
no sleep if these various propositions
are either junked altogether. or
shelved until next session. The busi-
ness which Mr.. Roosevelt does want
enacted right away is more than
enough, because of its controversial
nature, to keep the congressional
mills grinding far into the Summer.
His radio allusion to the preSiden-
tial duty of occasionally seeing the
country Sin long-range perspective
touches upon point which Mr.. Roose-
velt has mentioned more than once
since his recent return from Florida.
He confesses himself an ardent be-
lever in the wisdom of getting away
from the trees in order to have pc
riodical look at the whole forest. Some
members of his cabinet seem to share
the same view. One Of them recently
told a congressional committee that
he thought there was much to be said
for the suggestion that the head of an
executive department ought to spend
at least so per cent of his time away
from Washington, brushing shoulders
with the people and feeling the ma
tional pulse.
X \ X X
Exhaustive studies are under way
at the Bureau of Internal Revenue
regarding disposition of the income
tax pink slips, on which Congress put
the Indian sign after millions of tax.
payers had filed them. Several prob
lens" remain to be Strengthened out
before the slips are consigned to OBJ
nvion. For one thing, there is a GER
tain number of taxpayers who. be-
fore the slip was repealed, received
extensions of time in which to file
returns. Many other taxpayers, antic-
ipating repeal, or for other reasons
did not submit slips on March Is
Until various angles raised by these
questions are thoroughly explored
there will apparently be no decision
ebout the fate Of the slips. Tho pre-