Evening star., 1936-11-28
Congress Shuns Radicalisrn
Even in the Heyday Of Emergency Legislation 1t Put
Time Limit on Excess Powers.

measure. The usual period was two
years. take the following dates
from a compilation made by the Bos-
ton Herald: The President's power
over the gold content Of the dollar
ends January 80, 1897. His power to
manage the $4,000, ,ooo,o ,o06 fund to
stabilize exchange ends on the same
date. The power Of the Reconstruc-
ton Finance Corporation to make
new loans ends on February /, 1887.
The power of the Electric Farm and
Home Authority to make loans for
appliances ends on the same date.
The power Of the Federal Housing Ad.
ministration to make modernization
loans ends April /. 1887. The power
granted to the President In the neu-
trality act expires May /, 1887. The
authority Of the State Department to
make trade agreements ends June /,
1887. The power Of the Federal Gov
eminent to prevent interstate ship
ment Of oil in excess Of quotas adopted
by the States ends June 80. 1887.
There are several others.
Renewal for Some.
Some OF these powers will be re-
neWed. That some should be re-
newed. there is general agreement.
The need to stabilize exchange con-
tinues and that entails continuance
of the Presidents power over the
stabilization fund and the gold con.
tent Of the dollar. Many feel there Is
need that the r. F. c. authority to
make loans be extended for a further
year. And so as to several OF the
other emergency powers and agencies.
The point is that the last two Con-
crosses. with respect to some IS i'm.
portant measures, put q time limit
on them. A Congress that did that
was not an unthinking one nor q
careless one nor q radical one.
True, the last Congress passed,
without time limit, the most extreme
Of the New Deal legislation, the DO.
tato control act, which put q penalty
OF imprisonment on raising, and even
on buying. potatoes not authorized
by Government quotas or not pack
aged as the Government directs or
with the packages not bearing a Gov
ernment stamp. But the vote in the
House was close, ia to l6s, and i'm
mediately afterward it was felt the
act would not have been passed at
all had Congress understood 1t and
had the House leaders not restricted
the debate to one hour.
Majority Coming Back.
On the whole the record Of the
last Congress was not radical The
new Congress that meets in January
does not materially vary in personnel.
The number of Democrats in the
House has been increased from 322
to 329. The seven additional ones
are new. There Is no reason to sup
pose these are necessarily radical.
and their number is negligible. OF
the 322 Democrats remaining, who
compose the rest OF the Democratic
majority. nearly all are the same who
held seats last year. The number of
members of the House having avow-
edly radical or extreme progressive
views, the Farmer Labor members
from Minnesota and the Progressive
ones from Wisconsin, are less than
a score in all.
In the new Congress in both the
Senate and House there will be a dis
position to function. to be conscious
Of the prerogative of the legislative
branch Of Government. In the 1878
Congress there will be no sense Of
hurry or emergency. as there was in
the 1884 one, and to some extent
in the 1856 one. Beyond this. and
to some extent causing this. the spirit
Of urgency has been lifted from the
country and the people by the reced-
ing of depression, the progress into
recovery.
tcopyrisht. 1851