The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1935-02-21
Home Affairs to the Fore

cursion into foreign parts and is
now ready to engage in rehabilita-
ton of domestic affairs to the ex-'
clusion of international problems,
except the matter of reciprocal
treaties. It is true that Depart
ment Hull of the Department of
State, Secretary Roper of the De-
partment of Commerce and Sena-
tor Borah, in the senate, have talk
ed about foreign affairs in one way
or another, but none of them oc-
casioned any observation or sug-
gestions from the White House by
their assertions.
Among the occurrences in the re-
cent period that tend to show how
the administration again is putting
home affairs to the forefront are
the new banking bill, the plans for
recovery revival under the five
billion dollar public works bill, and
the determination of house and SEN
ate lately, under a White House
spur, to clip the wings or, if not
wholly eradicate the so-called hold
ing companies. Attention might
be called also to the uprising in the
Department of Agriculture where
Secretary Wallace and Agricul-
tural Adjustment Administrator
Chester Davis combined few days
ago to eliminate left-wing MEM
bers of their respective staffs.
They did it summarily, but the end
is not yet, either as respects plans
of Messrs. Wallace and Davis, or
the yelps that may be expected
from the radicals who were ousted.
The general information is that,
Sin shelving foreign matters, Mr..
Roosevelt has determined to lay
aside the st. Laurence waterway
controversy until pressing do
nestle matters" are disposed of.
Almost in the same breath it can
be said that new activity has been
disclosed on the part of the New
Dealers to spread their doctrine
into the states and establish, if
possible, uniform laws everywhere
concerning privately owned utili-
ties such as electricity and gas.
While no one Will say so, it is
the understanding that consider
able pressure is being placed be-
hind the effort to get state legisla-
lures to pass uniform public utili-
ties bills, measures which have
been drafted in the Public Works
administration here.
New Banking Bill
Probably as important as any
legislation that has gone to con-
gress in recent months is the new
banking bill. 1t was transmitted to
congress in a most unspectacular
manner. There was no out-and-out
endorsement by the White House,
nor was the sponsoring of the draft
made clear. The legislation was
dropped into the house hopper the
day after Representative Steagal,
chairman of the house committee
on banking and currency, had CIV
Ell out his own summarization.
Chairman Fletcher of the senate
committee on banking and currency
received the bill the same day as
Mr.. Steagall and Immediately went
into a hubble with himself behind
closed doors to study the draft.
Later he announced with apparent
pleasure that it was a great piece
of legislation.
Now that the bill has been print
ed and is available for public in
spection, perfect furore has been
aroused. The conservative critics
began to squawk Immediately that
the measure proposes to destroy
the Federal Reserve system and
concentrate on power of credit and
currency expansion or contraction.
In the hands of small group in
the Treasury they contend that
this amounts to establishment of
central bank and that, under our
political system, a central bank
would mean an unstable currency.
What more could there be then,
they ask, to destroy confidence in
the currency which we use?
New Dealers, in defense of this
new banking legislation, have been
given to making wise-cracks about
the Old Dealers, who, they assert
desire to see conditions of 1928 and
1929 repeated. It seems to me, that
central banks exist in most OF the
major countries of the world and
that their services has not been a
bad thing at all. Further, the
New Dealers argue that the politi-
cai capital of the United States is
in Washington and the financial
capital has been in New York. Why
they ask, should there be such a
division?
in between these two schools of |
thought are sound money aivo-
Gates and courageous conservatives
who take the position that the oil |
has many good qualities and that |
it likewise has many provisions de-
finitely to be avoided.
Centralized Control
To summarize the banking leg
islation-and / think it is of para
mount interest to everyone because
it touches the currency and credi. |
SO directly-She real end likely to !