Evening star., 1937-01-05
The Seventy.fifth Congress.

The new Congress, Seventy-fifth in line
since the first Congress assembled March
4, 1889, in New York, meets at noon to-
day. Before its term shall have been
completed the United States will have
seen virtually century and q half of
legislative control by this body. The
country has seen many important acts
by the Congress, acts that have changed
the channel of American life, acts that
have brought the nation into conflict
with foreign nations. The incoming
Congress, however, may be faced with
action upon measures as far-reaching
as any that have gone before. Take, for
example. the proposed joint resolution
by which an amendment to the ConSti-
tuition may be submitted to the States
giving the Congress, the State Legisla-
lures or both the right to pass laws
limiting hours of labor and fixing mini
mum wages. There is step, If it IS
taken, that may have more effect upon
American nfe-and liberty-than is pos
sible to predict with certainty today.
The new Congress comes to Washing
ton, however, with many other big prob
lens before 1t. 1t Is presumed to have
q mandate from the people-just as the
President who was reelected at the same
time. That mandate will be variously
interpreted, depending upon the group
or the individual voter who happens to
be doing the interpreting. The labor
group interpretS the election as man.
date to Congress to put through all kinds
Of legislation affecting the workers, in
cluding thirty-hour work week, maxi
mum hours and minimum wages, laws
leading to the closed shop. The Negro
voters, who gave their allegiance to the
Roosevelt New Deal in the election, see
a mandate to enact laws that will in
sure them the right to vote in certain
States Of the Union where the privilege
has been denied them, indirectly, for
many years, and they see mandate
to enact q Federal anti-lynching law.
The relief workers see a mandate to
continue huge appropriations for relief,
and the farmers are confident that the
election meant they should be treated
generously and laws dealing with crop
control, crop insurance and the like
enacted.
In both the Senate and the House the
New Deal majoritieS are tremendous.
There are even some of the few Repub-
licans left in Congress who will 60 along
with the New Deal administration and
its legislative program. The President
should have comparatively plain sailing
during the session. The very multiplicity
Of the problems, which include making
permanent or further extending some
of the laws enacted during the last four
years, is almost staggering.
The demand for haste in enacting
legislation does not exist as 1t did in
1888, when the country was in the
depths of a devastating depression. The
Congress should give ample time to the
consideration Of the measures which
come before it. The only cloud of large
dimensions on the horizon is the threat
to industrial peace of the country. With
labor calling upon Congress for new
laws, the National Legislature might
either be stampeded into quick and
favorable action or, If the temper Of the
country turns sour, the labor leaders
taking the employees into strikes may
find they have different Congress with
which to deal.
No more important problem confronts
the Congress than the fiscal affairs of
the Nation. It is true that revenues are
increasing. They are not. however, keep
ing pace with expenditures. The public
debt Is at . staggering height. Taxes
and interest charges are very heavy,
though many of them are indirect and
almost concealed. The Congress must
not let its generous impulses continue to
outrun sound financing.