Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1936-01-16
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desire to see all Of the political issues
aired in congressional debates. 1t is
only natural and logical as well that
the Republican minority in the house
and senate will seek to foment as
much debate as possible in order to
obtain record of what the majority
party thinks or proposes to do If re-
turned to power.
In all respects, the session will be the
most political, therefore, since Mr..
Roosevelt took Office. His Presidential
message on the state of the Union al
ready is being kicked back and forth
and picked to pieces in the preliminary
campaign gunfire There is simply no
way by which this situation can be
avoided. The opening Of congress
was the opening of the 1886 cam
paign.
In an earlier letter, / reported to
you concerning the question of a
neutrality policy and
congress declared at that time
May Stall that 1t was the most
important item to
come before the current session. It re-
mains so. I believe the situation is
even more delicate than in my earlier
ANALYSIS Of this problem and 1t may
well be that congress will stall along
in reaching a decision on this policy in
order to give foreign developments an
opportunity to manifest themselves fur
Their. The administration apparently is
willing to let congress work out the
legislation without much interference
but the leaders realize that a decision
will be difficult as long as foreign
maneuvers continue to present an al
most daily change in the scenery.
Reference is made to the neutrality
question here because it is one Of the
things entering into the combination
that will cause longer session than
the President wishes.
There seems to be no doubt that
passage of bill to pay the soldiers
bonus at an early date will be accom-
plished In this session. Likewise, there
40 ALL 0AJ LAlC SAduOW VI a uOuUL LIldL
If congress passes such legislation and
Mr.. Roosevelt vetoes it, the bill will
be passed over the veto. 1t is cam
paign year and it Is not a good time
Tor politicians to antagonize an or
| ganizati0n with the vast membership
Of the American Legion or the other
groups Of ex-service men. This legis-
lation will not contribute much to the
length Of the session but in all such
cases representatives and senators
must make their speeches and be on
record as to why they voted for OF
| against bill.
The Townsend plan cannot get any
where in the current session. I do
not mean that it will be lodged as
subject Of discussion. This is impos-
sible. There will be plenty Of debate
on 1t. In the end, however, it will be
sidetracked.
Then, there was flock Of infia-
tionary schemes due to horn in on the
parade as the session moves forward.
Farm mortgage refnancing is one
Of them. It is unfortunate that the in
flationists-those who are willing to
prostitute the currency in any manner
are leading in this fight.
In all probability, also, the current
session Of congress will be called upon
-, .. to meet some prob
Waiting lens resulting from
Decisions adverse decisions by
the Supreme Court of
the United States. The court has be-
fore it any number Of cases involving
New Deal policies, including such as
the AAA, the iva with its Tennessee
Valley power yardstick, the attempt to
regulate wages and hours of labor I'M
der the Guffey coal bill known as the
Little MIRA, and a half dozen other
policy propositions. 1t seems unlikely.
although no one can guess, that all of
these measures will be held constitu-
tional If any are held invalid, nat
urally the President will ask congress
to draft new legislation.
AS a sample Of the political aspect
OF the current session, one can sight
the Juror that was stirred up when
President Roosevelt delivered his mas
sage on the state Of the Union to a
night session Of congress. EXCEPT for
one instance, Presidents always have
delivered or sent their message to con-
gress at noon Of day after the session
has hadtwo or three meetings. Mr.. Roose-
vent chose to get his message to con-
gress on the very first day of the cur
rent session but in order to do 1t and
allow for consummation of the usual
routine Of the opening day, 1t was
necessary to hold joint session at
night.
The White House announcement of
this decision Immediately preclpitated
a biting demand from Henry P.
Fletcher, Republican national chair
man. Mr.. Fletcher charged that since
the Presidents speech was being de-
livered tout Of hours" and was being
broadcast to potentially the greatest
radio audience ever to listen to a
Presidential message Of this kind. the
broadcasting companies must agree TO
allocate time for the Republicans 10
answer 1t. The Republican chairman
asserted that the message was reduced