Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-06-17

This is the annual period at which
you hear business leaders express the
ferVent hope that Congress viii make
it snappy, wind up and 60 home. Cap
tains of industry additionally hold the
view that uncertainty oVerShadowS the
situation as long as Capitol Hill Is on
the job, with nobody knowing what it
may do next. At the moment big bust
ness is chiefly anxious over aspects of
the Roosevelt legislative reform program
like social security, the labor disputes
bill and the Federal Reserve banking
measure. The utility holding company
legislation is also q DOGGY. 1t has fire.
quently happened, throughout the New
Deal and before, that business turned
out to be unduly alarmed over the
effects OF legislation. The securities
exchange law is a case in point. So
there are those who risk the predic-
ton that many black spots now en-
viSioned by elements for which the
United States Chamber of Commerce
speaks will not prove to be half as dark
as they seem to be. Innumerable bust
ness authorities have been elamoring
for relief from N. r. A. restrictions.
With code RECOMMENDATION out of the
window, industrial leaders now have a
chance TO prove whether humiliation
of the Blue Eagle is the boon they said
1t would be.
Undoubtedly one of the reasons Presi-
dent Roosevelt would like Congress 70
speed matters Up is that he wants to
concentrate administration energies on
making the dirt ny" on work relief.
Despite delays in getting the monu-
mental movement under way, r. d. r.
insists 1t will reach its peak, as sched-
uled, by November. The President calls
it "a purely mathematical proposition"
consisting of the task OF giving $500 200
persons work at total cost Of $4,000
100000. That means, he explains, cut
ting the cloth all along the line strictly
according to the measure. The big prob
lem is to allocate projects and nix tndi-
vidual cost limitations so as TO permit
the broad unemployment objective to
be attained within the financial con-
fines Congress set up. That may mean
digging up more low-cost projects than
have hitherto been proposed. Despite
rumors of comprehensive revisions in
plans, President Roosevelt insists that
the basic purpose of the project is I'M
changed. What he's chiefly concerned
about is rushing it into full swing. All
hands are under orders to that end.
Members of the House Naval Affairs
Committee, about 10 in number, will
start for the West Coast by airplane
during the next few days to inspect
Pacific naval defenSes, all the way from
Bremerton, Wash, to San Diego. Their
studies will include q look at Monterey
Bay. Calf, the famous Robert Louis
Stevenson Treasure Island region, as
a site for q proposed new submarine
base. The Representatives also viii
explore the feasibility of converting
Sunnyvale, at the southern tip OF San
Francisco Bay, former headquarters OF
the dirigible Macon, into a base for
heavier than-air craft. When the COM
mitteemen have finished their tour OF
the coast they plan to proceed by ship
to Hawaii for q survey Of conditions at
Pearl Harbor.
From a California constituent Of these
observations comes the following CON-
mmication: 1.-THE holding Of the Re-
publican grass roots convention IN
Lincoln's former home town presents an
interesting paradox. The keynote seems
to be Save the Constitution The
presumption Is that the spirit OF the
Great Emancipator win add strength to
the cause. The leaders of the conven-
ton seem unmindful Of the fact that
Lincoln was the Republican candidate
for President not long after the Supreme
Court dealt severe blow 10 that party
by the bred Scott decision Conse-