Evening star., 1935-08-26
THE POLITICAL
MILL 49,
By G.. Could Lincoln.


about to die, came to life again. An alli-
ance of cotton and wheat State Senators
to prevent the President from reducing
the loans on cotton from IL cents a
pound to cents and force him to allow
loans of approximately 80 cents bushel
on wheat sprang into existence as a
result of the administration announce
ment that the cotton loans would be
reduced from IL to 9 cents. The ad-
journment jig was up.
There are plenty of political impli-
cations attached to the situation. The
Roosevelt leaders have talked glibly of
throwing New England, politically speak
ing, out of the window, and some of the
other Eastern States along with it. They
have pinned their faith on union of
Southern and Western States to return
Mr.. Roosevelt to the White House next
year. And now what do they find?
The West and the South joining hands
in a revolt against the President in
CongreSs-joining in game to shake"
the administration down for the benefit
of the growers Of cotton and OF wheat
If the President refuses to be shaken
down, what then? Will these cotton and
wheat States rally to him in the cleo
ton next year, after all? There is Huey
Long to campaign against him in the
South, and plenty of others to do the
same, on this issue, in the West. II
Congress passes the deficiency appro-
priation bill with the cotton and wheat
loan amendments and sends the meas
ure to the President, he will have to fish
or cut bait, he will have to permit the
measure to become law or veto it.
~ ~
This is a problem which the political
StrategiStS of the administration are
dealing with today. If they can quell
the revolt in Congress they will have
demonstrated plenty of skill. If they
can extricate the President from this
mess, they will have accomplished real
lob for their leader. Some one in the
administration apparently blundered
when he permitted the reduction of the
cotton loans, made public last Thurs
day, to be announced before Congress
had gotten safely away from Washing
ton. AS the President had to approve
this order he can scarcely escape re-
sponsibility for what happened.
of the Department of Agriculture and
Chester c. Davis, A. A. A. administrator,
were ready to resign if the wheat and
cotton loans were written into law. This
step might not break the hearts OF
lot of the members of Congress. On the
other hand. there is always the chance
that the wheat and cotton members of
Congress might find some one in office
in the places of these gentlemen who
might not be SO friendly to the outpour-
ing of money to farmers for not produc-
ing corn and pigs cotton and tobacco. etc.
1t seems clear that if the Government is
to guarantee TO the cotton and wheat
farmers hard cash up to II cents a
pound on cotton and 80 bushel on
wheat, there will not be so great a
motive for curtailing crops. and, further
that if the loans are to be continued
year after year the Government will be
loaded down tremendously with surplus
cotton and wheat. Already it has mil
lions of bales of cotton on hand as
result of the cotton loans in effect in the
past.
Congress has been in session long
enough almost to get out of hand. By
narrow margins the President won out
finally in his fight to put through the
Guffey coal bill and the utilities holding
company bill. He lost his fight for a
new inheritance tax in his ''share-the-
wealth" tax law just enacted. II the
revolt against the President on his cot
ton loan policy is successful and if Con-
gresS stays around. out of hand, there is
always the chance of anything happen
ing. The President and his leaders on
Capitol Hill will have to decide rather
quickly what must be done.
It was one Of the Presidents most
ardent supporters who stuck the knife
into adjournment Saturday night-Sena-
tor Byrnes of South Carolina. But
Senator Byrnes has the interests Of the
cotton farmers at heart, and the howls
that were going up over the lowering of
the Government loan on cotton were
too much to be born. Senator Byrnes a
member of the Senate Appropriations
Committee, took the lead in the fight for
the cotton amendment to the deficiency
bill Other friends of the President were
involved in the revolt, as well as enemies.
The President faces a real test, appar-
emily. in this fight Whether Congress
would go to the extent of passing the
cotton and wheat loan amendments over
his veto is doubtful. But that is not the
point. The President and his friends do
not want to have the Chief Executive
placed in the position of vetoing such
loans.
Only last year laSt-minute filibuster
IN the Senate for enactment of the rail-
road pension and farm moratorium laws
forced the Democratic leadership in
Congress to postpone an adjournment
of the session from Saturday night until
the following Monday. These bills
were, like the cotton and wheat loans,
not on the administration program. In
the end both the railroad pension and
the farm moratorium laws were enacted,
and the President signed them. Since
then the Supreme Court has declared
both unconstitutional, and the present
Congress has within the last week en-
acted new laws seeking to accomplish
the same things in constitutional man.
ner. Huey Long of Louisiana and others
were prominent in the f1libuster that
halted adjournment year ago. The
session had been scheduled to end Sat-
urday, June 16. 1t did not close until
Monday, June 18, and the proponents
OF the farm moratorium bill and the
railroad pension bill emerged trium-
phant. Perhaps history will repeat it
self and the cotton Senators will take
the administration for a ride.