The Sauk Centre herald., 1936-05-21
Observations From
Washington
A Texas Quartette
(By Congressman Harold Knutson)


A Texas Quartette
In the time that I have been In
Congress many distinguished visit.
orS have been guests in the House
gallery, Albert of Belgium; Edward
of England, who was then Prince
of Wales; Balfour; Viviani, Prem
ier Of France, and many others
equally distinguished, but I do not
recall many visitors who attract
ed as much attention as the Misses
Keys, quadruplets, aged 20. seniors
at the Baylor University, Waco
Texas, visitors in the House gal
lery last Thursday. They were Rob-
erta, Mona, Mary, and Leota. In
addition to being quadruplets they
are four wholesome looking girls.
They came to the Capitol to extend
an invitation to Washingtonians to
attend the Texas Centennial Exhi-
bition next year. The Dionne quin-
tuplets will have to go some to
equal these four charming daugh-
ters of Texas. Many members avail
ed themselves of the opportunity to
greet them while they were in the
gallery.
Frazier-Lemke Bill Killed
BY a vote of 235 nays to 142 yeas
the House on Wednesday rejected
the Frazier-Lemke Farm Refinan-
cling bill. I am glad to be able to
say that eight out of the nine men,
bers from Minnesota voted for this
measure, which I consider neces-
sary to put agriculture back on its
feet. Had this measure passed 1t
would have been possible for our
farmers to have refinanced them
selves at 1k per cent interest, plus
1k per cent for amortization.
Many strange things happened
between the opening of the fight on
Monday and the final vote on We'd
nesday. On Monday the House vot-
ed to discharge the committee hav-
ing the bill in charge by vote of
220 yeas to 153 nays. This gave us
every reason to believe that we had
enough votes to pass the bill and
I am inclined to believe that the
bill would have passed had it not
been for the fact that Speaker
Ryrns personally took the floor
just before the final roll call and
read a letter from William Green,
President, American Federation of
Labor, which put that organization
definitely on record as opposed to
the F'razier-Lemke bill. The last
paragraph of Mr.. Green's letter
read as follows:
1--WE sincerely hope and trust
that the Frazier-Lemke bill will be
defeated. We rely upon the friends
of labor to vote against the pro-
posed initiation legislation"
do not believe that the Frazier
Lemke bill was inflationary. It pro-
vided for financing through the is
suance of bonds or currency. No
less an authority than Lewis w.
Douglas, former director of the
budget, has said, There is no fun
damental difference between the
issuance of new currency, virtually
greenback money, and the issuance
OF government bonds which repre-
sent more public debt" Both bonds
and greenbacks are government
obligations. Personally would not
be adverse to seeing a mild expan-
sion of currency. Up to a certain
point plentiful money in circula-
ton makes for good times. OF
course, no one wants initiation.
Would Help Big Ones
My readers will recall that I vot-
ed against the Presidents surplus
tax measures because I considered
it unfair to small business con-
Germs and I so stated in committee
and on the floor of the House. The
measure, without the dotting of an
or the crossing Of t, passed the
House by a substantial majority
and was Immediately messaged to
the Senate where it was referred
to the Finance Committee. On
Wednesday of last week Secretary
of the Treasury Morgenthau ap-
peared before the Finance Com
mittee where he discussed the tax
bill for two hours in a closed ses
sion. When the hearing was over
Senator Byrd, of Virginia Demo
craft gave out the following state.
ment: Secretary Morgenthau's
statements prove my contention
that many prosperous companies
will escape taxation under this bill
I am more convinced than evel
that this bill is advantageous tc
strong financially intrenched com
panies and disastrous to small
struggling corporations"
1t has developed in the Senate
hearings that some of the biggest
corporations in the country would
escape taxation under the bill as Il
passed the House. Senator Byrd's
conclusions dovetail with remark;
that I made against the bill in the
House on April "a when I said GAS
I see it, this legislation Is going tc
jeopardize small business. It Is 9
significant fact that no big corpor.
aHG's are opposing this legisla
ton"