The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1936-04-21
NEWSPAPERS OPINION
ALAPSE In LEADERSHIP


differs from its predecessor appears in the relation
s,i,, between Congress and President. Some of the
oneoed shortcomings of the Hoover regime are
..oribod 70 the fact that Congress would not co
Onerate with the President. In the Roosevelt AID
ministration one fault that is now coming more to
nnblic notice is tendency Of the PRESIDENT some
times to 90 ahead without the cooperation OF Con
gresS. g.. oo,..
Snspension of any further allotments for carry
mo on the Quoddy power development and the
Florida ship canal terminates two of the most
uosteful proec.s that the Administration has thus
far charged off to the taxpayer.
launched bv the President his own initia-
ti,a these colossal enterprises have swallowed up
the s12,OOO,OOO which he allotted from federal
raI;af funds to set them going. Mr.. Roosevelt no"
mrs II ND TO Congress finish what he started by
asLiro It to appropriate $2OO0OO,0O0. But Con-
,oss ;s thinking for itself bit these days and 1t
NOW seems pretty certain that the Quoddy basin
md rho Florida canal are sunk in their own Dig
gingS.
Couoress refused once before to appropriate
funds IN finish these projects. 1t probably will re-
;ocr +he proposals again Evidently Congress is in
m mood to rescue schemes launched without its
approval.
neciaIly its attitude toward the canal.
Apparently no adequate engineering survey was
made to determine the feasibility of such start
ling undertaking. Here was plan to construct a
cutoff from the Atlantic Seaboard to the Gulf ports
twice as long as the Suez Canal and much more
COSTLY 1t was something to think twice about;
something to study and weigh in the light of en-
oineering and economic onsideration; something
for Congress to deliberate upon.
In starting the canal, the President committed
TO Congress the responsibility for raising the mil
lions of dollars needed to complete it without con-
sulting Congress at all Now that the initial allot-
ment has been used up, Mr.. Roosevelt leaves it to
Congress whether the work shall be completed or
abandoned.
When Congress yielded much of its authority for
emergency spending into the hands of the Presi-
dent, the idea was to safeguard public relief and
social reconstruction from the temptations of pork
barrel abuses. The irresponsible way in when
Quoddy and the Florida canal were begun and
abandoned will cause many to question the wisdom
of Congress in surrendering to the Chief Execu-
tive it's power to control the money it appropriates
for emergency purposes.
But in the last analysis the responsibility for these
WaSteful ventures rests WIN the ffeSluenl JuSI
as Mr. Hoover was blamed for whatever happened
through Congress failing to follow his leadership,
SO President Roosevelt must be held liable for
mistakes that result through his going ahead with
out Congress.
The pic -ure of abandoned excavations Of empty
villages. of idle workers concentrated in remote
construction camps is not one to inspire public con-
fidence in the present system. There is much
at stake however, than the fiscal losses t. be
written off against the single-handed ventures in
which the President seems to have been SwayCd
more by personal sentiment than by q sense Of eX-
ecutive responsibility.
In his Baltimore speech the other night, Presi-
dent Roosevelt referred quite frankly to his expert
mental mood. To try something and II that
doesn't work to try something else is all very wei.
But there is more to it than just that. There is
need for carefr( planning in allotng and admin
isterng public works funds. ..'
Conditions today require much clearer concep-
ton of the need for intelligent and responsible CO.
operation between the legislative and executive
branches of the Government than that evidenced
by the Quoddy and Florida canal projects. In
creased budgetary authority for the Chief EXecu-
tive may be the way to free Congress from pork
barrel and pressure politics But before the
American people take such steps they will require
more evidence of fiscal responsibility on the part
OF the observation-disclosures Science Monitor