Evening star., 1936-03-09

Congress understood 1t perfectly
until a few days ago. Since then
there has been little confusion. Or
ders came privately from the White
House to let the $420 900, 900 Norris
rural electriflcation compromise 60
through.
There 1DdS really no great OBJ
lection to lending Government
money for the building of rural
electric lines. The Norris bill
probably represented good idea.
But what stumped those many Con-
gressmen who are not in the know is
how come it becomes the only excep-
tion to the economy rule In fact,
the matter has stumped a good many
congressional leaders who know the
ms and outs of it.
Norris Seen Favorite.
The simple explanation, they say
is that Senator George Norris can
get anything he wants out of Frank
Roosevelt. And they say 1t in slightly
reSentful tone, implying that they
cannot.
When George started pushing the
bill. Frank said nothing for a while.
The money involved then was about
billion dollars for a l0-year pro-
gram. This was obviously too much
to be excused as a minor exception
during an economy drive In ordi-
nary circumstances it would have been
passed like the s5O,0o00 900 seed loan
bill and Mr.. Roosevelt would have
had to veto it.
But in the midst OF Senate de-
bate, Frank called George in for
! conference NTH Budget Director
/ Dannie (BelU. They worked out
1Cdy to get around Franks bud
getdry objections. They sliced the
amount about in halt and arranged
to tap the R. F. c. for the money.
| Thus it will not show against the
! budget
| The curtailment apparently was all
right with Norris. Experts say that
not even the curtailed ameant will
or can be loaned for the electrification
! purposes in the next few years at
least. They believe insufficient de-
mand exists. For that reason and
others the bill has come to be known
/ facetiously in Congress as Mr.. Roose-
velt's present to Senator Norris on
/ the thirty-third anniversary of the
| Nebraskan'S honest and noble con-
| greSSional career.
i Personal Political Alliance.
The friendship of Mr. Roosevelt and
Senator Norris is a unique personal
and political alliance. They rarely
| see each other. Norris lives outside
the social life of the Capital. He is
not among the Roosevelt advisers
He does not sit in the councils of
| the New Deal. He dislikeS Postmaster
General Farley and has conducted q
continuous campaign to get Roose-
| velt's right-hand man out of office.
Yet the President has paid higher
| tribute publicly to Norris than to any
| other living man. His admiration for
| the Senator transcends the power is
sue, in which they share mutual
| interest. Also it does not hurt Mr..
Roosevelt in the West.
PCOPlC WITCH UllCy
learned that Mr.. Roosevelt had quietly
reappointed Aiming Prall as chair
man of the Federal Communications
Commission for another year.
Charmdnships of such commits
Sions usually rotate from year to
year interstate commerce, Federal
tradeJ. In fact, the chairmanship
OF this Dery commission rotated last
year from Judge Sykes to PraH.
Men behind the mikes did not have
to stretch their imaginations very far
to explain the departure from custom
in this campaign year.
Mr.. Prall is good Democrat. The
next in line for the Craftsmanship is
Norman Case. who is not only a Re-
publican, but a Rhode Island Re-
publican.
Note-The F. c. C. is the strangest
of all commissions. The in-fighting
there has been so heavy that two
of the commissioners are not on speak
ing terms.