Evening star., 1936-03-12
REPUBLICANS NEED
SENATE WATCHDOG
Bill Providing Penalty for
Employers influencing Votes
Slips BY Unseen.
BY CARLISLE BARGERoN.


ad Wanted: A vigorous Republican
watchdog In the Senate. Pay, $4,000
o year and mileage"
After trying its best for weeks to
attract attention, apparently the story
Of how the Democrats rushed through
another one of their reign Of terror"
measures Is to attract attention. It
was q bill sponsored by Senator Van
Nuys Of Indiana, avowedly designed
to prevent employers from influencing
their employees in the next election. IT.
provides that ut shall be unlawful for
any person or corporation to influence
or attempt 10 influence through fear
or intimidation the vote of any person
employed by them, In connection with
any election at which presidential yr
vice presidential electors or Senator
or Representative IN, or q delegate or
resident commissioner to Congress are
to be voted for"
1t provides q maximum penalty OF
S., 900 fine or five years in Jail.
Passed without Roll Call.
The bill passed the Senate without q
roll call on February Z. It Is now
about to be reported out by the House
Judiciary Committee, and House lead
ers say frankly they intend to pass it
In the meantime no discussion has at
tended 1t, 1t has received little or no
publicity in the newspapers. There are
four Republicans on the Senate Judi
ciary Committee which reported the
bill to the Senate. OF them, the minds
of Senators Borah and Norris run
this way. Senator Dan Hastings has to
carry so much of the Republican op-
position on his shoulders that 1t es-
capped his attention. Senator Austin Of
Vermont frankly knew nothing Of The
bill until it was called to his attention
yesterday. It also escaped the atten-
tion of Senator King OF Utah. who, al
though q Democrat, usually watches
| such things as this.
1t was passed by the Senate In what
is called the morning hour" when
that body passes one bill right after
another if no Senator objects. The
clerk intones rapidly: Senate Bill
No. 2l34," and If no Senator says
''over," meaning that it should be held
over until another time, it is declared
passed without roll call. The roll
call an hour or so previous shows all
the Republicans present, that is, all
those who might be expected to in
quire about q bill Of this kind, except
Dickinson. Vandenberg had answered
| to his name and, Of course, McNary,
the leader. was present. King was not
| present.
Democrats Are Pleased.
1t is apparent that some of the Re-
publicans at least knew Of the import
of the measure, but their general phil
osophy these days, frankly stated, is
not to run counter to what they con-
cider the mood Of the rank and file
This was their reason for not launch
ing a vigorous fight on the Black Lob
by Committees wholesale seizure oi
kilograms.
The Democrats, when asked about
the bill, chuckled over the plight
of their Republican colleagues and
asserted gleefully that they would
not have opposed the bill had they
known fully about it, as some Of them
must.
How" the Democrats asked, "can
they be put in the light of opposing
q measure to keep the employers from
coercing their workers."
Blanket in Scope.
Lawyers pointed out, however. that
the measure is blanket in scope and
that any employer who said in the
presence of his employees, or let them
know of his feeling, that his busi.
ness would be ruined by the re-elec-
ton of Mr.. Roosevelt, would be liable
The question Of just what consti-
tutes intimidation on the part oi
the boss" Is a wide-open one, 1t l,
pointed out. For example, many
manufacturers are already putting
charts in wage-earners' pay envelopes
showing just how much Of their money
goes for taxes.
| ~ 0CNCOPS LllhJ A1OuoC 1tCRublAO60o
although not hoping to stop the bill
at least intend to see that 1t attracts
attention. TWO Of them plan to bur-
lesque 1t. Representative Perkins oi
New Jersey has introduced a bill In
this light making it unlawful for any
one connected with the government tc
tell or suggest to any one else how to
vote. This, it is explained. would de.
stroy Postmaster General Farley's use
fulness. And Representative Ransley
Of Pennsylvania plans to introduce q
measure making 1t unlawful for any
body to tell anybody else how to vote
The funny thing about it is the diff
flculty the story had in attracting at
tention In the press. Several days age
| a press association sent out q copy
righted report on it. but in the late
afternoon, in that twilight zone be-
tween the late afternoon editions and
the morning papers. The result Is
that it attracted little or no attention
Also, David Lawrence has mentioned
1t once or twice, but incidental to his
theme that there was no Republican
opposition in the Senate. Yesterday
editors began getting onto 1t and wired
their correspondents to look into the
matter.