Evening star., 1935-01-24
Olitical Mill
By C.. Could Lincoln.

| By C.. Could Lincoln.
President Roosevelt is going to get
his lump-sum appropriation for work
relief, with no strings attached, 50
far as the House Is concerned. WhethE
or not the House amends the bill In
some particulars, relating to the pun
ishments which may be imposed for
violations Of regulations laid down
by the President and regarding the
proposal to authorize the President
to extend the life of existing emer-
gency agencies of the Government
for another two years, the House Is
going to vote the Chief Executive the
sum Of $4,000, 600, 900 to use as he
sees At. There seems no reason for
the administration to worry about its
influence with the Congress in the
light Of such action. It is q little
early to say what the Senate is going
to do with the work relief bill. No
gag rules; such as that adopted In the
House yesterday, are possible In the
Upper House But Senator Robinson,
the Democratic leader, and other ad-
ministration Senators are confident
the measure will 60 through as the
President desires 1t.
~ y ~
There were 40 Democratic votes
cast against the gag rule when 1t was
adopted by the House in preparation
for the consideration Of the work re-
lief bill. On the other hand, 246
Democrats voted for the adoption Of
the rule. The surprising thing is not
that there were 40 insurgents, but
that the administration could vote
such a huge block Of members for a
drastic rule. The administration made
q few concessions in the matter Of
opening parts of the bill to the pres
entation of amendments from the
floor. But did it permit any amend
ment to the all-important section
authorizing the appropriation in Q
lump sum of $4,000, ,000,0 900, to be
handled by the President? 1t did not.
The other amendments, even If they
be adopted, make little difference so
far as the vast power placed IN the
hands of the President is concerned,
the power to spend four thousand mil
lion dollars. The hand that controls
the purse can certainly rock the Ma
ton, and probably in any direction 1t
sees At.
A great deal is being made by some
members Of Congress Of a seeming
victory against Secretary Harold L:
Ickes, Secretary Of the Interior ana
administrator Of public works. The
word was passed out that Speaker
Byrns had told the Democratic caucus
of the House that the President, not
MFR. Ickes, was to allocate the money
for the various projects. Ine
remark seemed to appease tne
members, though just why Is q
little difficult to explain. They OBJ
iected to Mr.. Ickes largely because ne
would not give them all the projects
and all the Jobs they asked. the
President will have to get some one
to run the work relief administration
or whatever 1t may be called-for
him. If he does not turn to Mr.. 1ckes
he may get some one else VINO VIII
be lust as boiled In protecting
public funds and considering the pub
lie welfare as Mr.. Ickes has been. AS
a matter of fact, it would seem par
ticularly ridiculous to scrap pubic
works administration which has been
set I'D with a good deal Of care and
then to build up another. Not only
would it take time, but If politics Is
to play a more important part In the
set-up than Mr.. Ickes permitted 1t to
play in the development Of the pres
ent organization, it would be mighty
poor exchange.
It looks as though the Senate may
get to a vote on the World Court at
a comparatively early date. Senator
Robinson of Arkansas, who has
charge of the protocols in the Senate,
is suggesting that he will ask Inn
itation of debate before long. This,
Of course, may not meet with the de-
sires of opponents of American ad-
herence to the court. They would
prefer to see it side tracked and the
right Of way given to social security
legislation, the appropriation bills and
what not. The simple truth Of the
matter seems to be, however, that
the social security legislation is not
likely to reach the Senate Tor con-
siderable time. Hearings may last
another couple of weeks, and any way
the House will have to act on the
economic security bill before the Sen
ate takes it up, since it proposes ap-
propriations. The $4,000, 100000 work
relief bill might give the opponents
of the World Court a respite In the
Senate. But that bill is not likely
to reach the Upper House for several
days. 1t must first be passed by the
House and then be considered by the
Senate Committee.
When the vote on the court is
taken, administration leaders say.
there will probably not be more than
"a or 25 votes cast in opposition, If
that many. It would take 80 votes
to prevent ratification. The first
rounds will be fought over proposed
reservations; for example, that OF
Senator Norris of Nebraska, which
calls for a two-thirds vote Of the Sen
ate before a question in which the
United States has an interest can be
submitted to the World Court. Presi-
dent Roosevelt takes the ground that
such an amendment would be an
encroachment on the Executive, which
is charged with handling the foreign
relations of the United States. He
is opposed to the Norris reservation.
Reservations are the pet method in
the Senate to kill treaties which have
been negotiated by the Executive. They
constitute the chief menace today to
the successful ratification OF the
World Court protocols by the Senate.
** y
Senator Josiah w. Bailey of North
Carolina, discussing the World Court
in the Senate yesterday, very peril
nently remarked that he saw no rea-
son why the United States, Of all the
great nations of the earth, should de-
cline to become a member Of court
of international justice. He said:
Are we to argue here that there Is
something special about the United
States Of America that we cannot af-
ford fo adhere IN q c0Iirt which will