The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-03-21
. BEHIND THE CCENESI
 WASHINGTON ! aY RODNEY DUTcHER-I
Democrat Washington Correspondent

Labor Will Benefit if Walsh
 Bill Passes, With 30-HOur- Week Measure on the Shelf
 .. IVA Decision Brings
 Great Hush to Criticisms of
 U. s. Supreme Court . |.
 Tugwell's a Target Again,
 Even if He Does Help Home
 Buyers.
 Washington, March 21.-The 30- hour-week bill, 1abor's pet, is re- garded as dead for this session of congress.
 But another bill is pending which is regarded as "just as good as far as it goes," and this one has a good chance of passing. It is the Walsh bill, which provides NRA-like reg ulation of hours and wages for all plants which hope to sell any ma- terial to the government. It provides that the government may buy material only from firms that abide by the conditions set.
 The strong feature of the Walsh
 bill is that nobody doubts that it's
 constitutional. The federal gov
 ernment has the right to buy from
 whom 1t likes and under such
 conditions as 1t likes, and nobody questions that right.
 That's why report that word
 has been passed around that the
 Walsh bill should be law by April
 1 spread considerable cOnsterna-
 tiOn in certain business circles. A backfire was immediately started. The number of industrial and producing firms that sell some- thing to the government, especial ly these days, would surprise you. Business Is Juicy
 Those government contracts are so juicy that if established firms re- fused to meet the conditions of wages and hours set, and lost the contracts, they might even see new firms set up on that basis to sup ply the government needs.
 The government might even go into the business of making its own supplies on an extensive scale if business in general refused to comply and thus become eligible for the business.
 The A. F. of L. is backing the Walsh bill strongly, and there seems little doubt that it will pass if brought to vote. The only question is whether the backfire started against 1t will be hot enough to prevent vote.
 Despite apparent loss of the 30- hour bill and the OrMahoney fed- eral incorporation bill, labor would have every reason to be fairly well satisfied with this session if the Walsh bill should go through. Lull for High Court
 Everybody in Washington has been amazed at the way agitation against the supreme court quieted down directly after the partial vic- tory of IVA. It is now regarded as certain that none of the 4O-odd proposals now pending to restrict the power of the court will pass at this session.
 In fact. the tide has receded 50 far that 1t is not likely either party will adopt a clear declaration of policy on the court in the con- ventions this summer.
 Tugwelrs Target Again
 Rex Tugwell is certainly in the middle. The Rural Resettlement end of his job is really getting something done in regard to cheap and good housing.
 So what happens? We'll, Tug well is violently assaiIed on one side by real estate subdividers who see him offering to chicken bean? and -odd-job people decent little cottages at around $500, on long time payments. The real estate subdivision promoters see their own traditional business threat ened.
 But on the other hand, extreme radicals are equally sore at Tug well for this sort of enterprise, because they claim he is just "sell- ing down the river" into home ownership and independence 8 lot of people who if footloose and would make good fod- der for the "proletarian" radical 
 The only ones who are pleased are the home buyers themselves, who are settled on acre tracts in simple cottages which they are gradually getting to own at SIP to $20 month. Copyright, 1886, NEA Service, Incl 0~ " 1|