Evening star., 1935-03-07
|ThePOlitical Mill
By G. Could Lincoln.

II the French custom Of dueling
for members Of Parliament who fnd
themselves at o'ds were transplanted
to Washington today what q fine
crop Of entertainment there would be.
The fourth political duel in fourteen
months has Just been fought in
France. Americans have been won't
to smile at these French duels, which
have produced little blood. But surely
the French must roar with laughter
at the figure which some Of the Amer
ican legislators cut in their word
duels. The Senator from Louisiana,
Huey P. Long, has made the personal
attack, mudslinging Of an intimate
nature, the fad, If not the custom,
in the Senate chamber. The other
Senators have stood his jibes as long
as they could without little retail
alton. In the last day or two, led
by Senator Robinson of Arkansas,
the Democratic leader. they have
opened up on Long in kind.
|
There Is o rule Of the Senate which
might have some bearing on the Sen
ate situation today If it were enforced.
1t reads: mo Senator in debate shall,
directly or indirectly, by any form Of
words impute to another Senator or to
| other Senators any conduct or motive
unworthy or unbecoming Senator" !"
1t Is true that II the rule were en-
forced, the galleries Of the Senate
chamber would not be overcrowded as
they are day after day. But the en-
forcement Of the rule might at least
make it possible for the Senate to 60
forward with questions Of great i'm
portance to the country instead OF
listening to hours of vituperative re-
marks and ridicule.
America loves a wise-cracker. 1t Is
likely to forgive him for anything else
he may do, provided he gives the
people chance to laugh. Led by Gen.
| Hugh S. johnson, who as q phrase
maker has Huey Long beaten a mile.
number Of gentlemen have turned
on the louisiana King1sh. 1t remains
to see who will laugh last.
+ ~
While the country has been hang
| ing on the latest words of the Sena-
elsewhere, the administration seems to
have won its fight to give President
Roosevelt a free hand in paying the
security" wage to some $500, 900
workers on work relief projects. kTwo
Republican Senators from Vermont,
Senators Austin and Gibson, are about
to change their votes from aye" to
mo" on the McCarran prevailing
wage" amendment to the $4,880 .O0O,-
900 work relief bill Whether there
have been any Democratic defections
from the prevailing wage amendment
is still to be determined But II all
the rest Of the Senators hold fast
to their positions, as shown IN the
first vote the Senate took on the
McCarran amendment when it was
adoped. A TO 43, the change of the
Vermonters will turn the trick for
the President. The only hope for the
prevailing wage amendment seems to
lie in possible change of some Sena-
tors from support of the Presidents
security wage over to the prevailing
wage. II there is to be any such
change it has not yet manifested itself.
Within day or two the show down
is likely 70 come. II the security
wage is adopted and it fails to have
q disastrous political effect it will
be surprising to q lot Of people.
The greatest political foot ball of
the lot, the soldiers bonus cash pay
ment proposal, Is about to come before
the House, reported favorably to that
body by the Ways and Means Commit
tee The committee has decided by
a narrow vote in favor of the Vinson
bill. which has the backing Of the
American Legion, as against the Pat
man bill. The Vinson bill does not
provide for currency imitation. The
Patman bill does. So there will be a
showdown in the House on this in
flation question. for the supporters of
the Patman bill plan to offer 1t as a
substitute for the Vinson bill when
the time comes for voting on the
bonus.
President Roosevelt has been against
the immediate cash payment Of the
soldiers bonus, which under the law is
not due until 1945. It will take more
than $4,000, 900 900 to make The set
tlement If Congress should put the bill
through Notwithstanding the Presi-
dents disapproval. 1t seems certain
that the President will have a bonus
bill sent to him sooner or later, despite
the efforts that may be made to have
the measure sidetracked in the Senate.
More than q majority In both Houses
will vote for it. Whether two-thirds
of the membership Of each House will
support the bill over the veto is the
only uncertain factor in the situation.
The President has turned his back
on currency imitation and further de-
valuation Of the dollar. That will
give hope to many people. The danger
is, however, that If there are continued
huge appropriations for all kinds OF
purposes, including work relief and
the bonus. there will come a time
when the imitation route will be tried
to ease the Government out of some
of its debts. If that comes, it is going
to make the earlier years Of the de-
preston look like good times. The
first man who will feel the impact
will be the man who works for wages
or salary.
II 4 4 4
The passing Of Justice Oliver Wen
dell Holmes of the Supreme Court has
brought to the attention of the coun-
try again the real worth of q man
who devoted himself to the service of
his country unselfishly and the real
gratitude with which the people as
whole look on such q man. Justice
Holmes death has brought a revival
of anecdotes about him. He was one
of the most distinguished humorists
as we'll as one of the most distin-
p1lished ilIrists who ever sat on the