Evening star., 1936-05-18
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY G. Could Lincoln.

p. w. A. from the money appropriated
in the deficiency bill for Hopkins Works
Progress Administration apparently has
eased q situation that needed easing.
The report that Secretary Ickes had a
showdown with the President few days
ago has been Observation-Disclosures it did
not come from Mr.. Ickes. The loss of
Mr.. Ickes from the cabinet-particularly
If an ugly breach followed-might have
political ramifications. Mr.. Ickes, in
addition to being recognized widely as
a good and able public servant, is also
one of those old progressive Republicans
whose support is so urgently needed by
the President in his coming campaign
for reelection.
Just what the difference is between an
allotment made to the Ickes P. w. A. by
the President and an allotment made to
the same agency by act of Congress it is
difficult to understand. 1t may, perhaps,
look better, since the President has in
sisted that all the money appropriated
for relief works shall 60 in this deficiency
bill to Harry Hopkins. He has insisted
that all the money asked is needed by
Hopkins and that none of it should be
earmarked by Congress for Ickes'
P. w. A. And in that form the bill went
through the House of Representatives
despite the demand of Representative
Better OF New York, Democrat, and
others that some portion of the money
should be turned over to the p. w. A.
The deficiency bill is now before the
Senate Appropriations Committee. There
were signs of an approaching brisk row
in the committee and in the Senate to
allot some of the money to the P. w. A.
Whether this will be headed off by the
Presidents new purpose to turn some
of the money over to IckeS remains to be
seen. The President has said he will
give some of the money also to Rexford
G. Tugwell for his Rural ReSettlement
Administration. The House had made
no provision for the Tugwell agency. 1t
may be that 1t is an easier and more
graceful method of giving Tugwell
money to couple with the gift an allot-
ment for the p. w. A. In the meantime
Congress is wondering why these "appro-
priations' for P. w. A. and r. S. A.
should be made by the President and
not by the legislative body.
The Talmadge threat in Georgia to
the denomination of President Roosevelt
has fattened out for the time being.
The anti-Roosevelt Georgia Governor,
Eugene Talmadge. failed to enter the
primary in Georgia against the PreSi-
dent. So the Georgia delegation to the
Democratic National Convention auto
matically becomes solid Roosevelt dele
cation 1t looks as though anti-Roosevelt
rlxc iv,f Iay +io,, ,rr;II
be conspicuous only by an entire absence.
If reports from New York are correct, Al
Smith. elected delegate to the national
convention, will not attend. If the former
Governor and Democratic nominee for
President went to the convention in Phil
adelphia. he would, of course, have been
constantly in the spotlight. But in his
opposition to the denomination of the
President he would have been a mi
nority-probably a minority of one. And
so the convention will be love-feast.
The only cloud on the horizon is the
promised fight of some of the delegates,
particularly those from the South, to
fight the proposal. backed by Chairman
James A. Farley of the Democratic Ma
tional Committee, to abrogate the time
honored two-thirds rule of nominating
candidates for President and Vice PreSi-
dent.
The only effective Democratic opposi-
ton in the preconvention campaign to
the denomination of President Roosevelt
is coming from the entry of Col. Henry
Breckenridge, WilSonian Democrat, into
the preference primaries in four of the
States. Col. Breckenridge has rolled up
appreciable votes in three States, Mary
land, Pennsylvania and Ohio. He is
entered in the preference primary in
New Jersey. 1t appears that President
RooSeveltS name has not been placed on
this preference primary ballot, but Frank
Hague, Democratic boss of New Jersey,
has entered a complete slate of Demo-
Gratis pledged to Roosevelt. So the Presi-
dent will have the delegation. But
whether the President takes part in the
preference primary or not, the effect of
having Breckenridge in the primary is
exactly the same The votes cast for
Breckenridge will be cast only by those
Democrats who are opposed to the re-
nomination of the President. They will
give picture of the division among the
Democrats of New Jersey-great or small
as the case may be-over President
Roosevelt and his policies.
The New Jersey primary provides a
contest between Senator Borah of Idaho
and Gov. Landon of Kansas in their
race for the Republican presidential
nomination. Landon has the Republican
organization forces with him, and Borah
has not. 1t is the same kind of race that
Borah has encountered in Ohio, Illinois
and other States. There is a great
amount of speculation as to what the
Senator from Idaho will do if he is de-
feated for the nomination. AS he has
said in number of his preconvention
campaign speeches, he has never yet
bolted the party, although Knox and
Landon and others Joined with the Bull
Moose in 1912 and 1914. What will be
his attitude if Landon or Knox should
be nominated and a liberal Republican
platform adopted at the national con-
vention? 1t does not appear reasonable
to suppose that Senator Borah will turn
Democrat unless he has some very strong
reasons for so doing. But what joy to
the Democrats If he did! Undoubtedly
the Idaho Senator has great deal of
influence and his voice is potent in cam
paigns. If he lined up with the Roose-
welt Democrats, it would make the task
of the Republicans all the more difficult.
If Senator Borah goes over to the
New Deal, he will have to do lot of
swallowing. He will have to swallow the
bureaucracy which has been set up by
the Roosevelt administration and which