Montana labor news., 1937-06-03
PRESIDENT RETURNS
With FIGHT SLOGAN
By HENRY ION


tanned from his fishing cruise in the
Gulf of Mexico, President Roosevelt
returned to Washington echoing his
war cry of campaign days, We've
just begun to fight"
The Presidents return was greet
ed with relief on the part of har-
assed administration leaders who
felt the congressional situation get
ting a little bit out of hand and pri-
vately wondered if the President was
willing to compromise or his court
plan. His appearance of firmness
and apparent determination to push
through the vague but progressive
detectives of the New Deal eased
the tension considerably.
Observers noted that the situation
existing in Congress, the threat of
revolt and the willingness to back
slide, is similar to an occasion in
1884 when, responding to the prod
ding of administration enemies, the
congressional mice scampered out
for their bit of fun.
AT that time the House rebelled
against his veto of an Independent
Offices Appropriation and the SEN
ate prepared to do likewise. In
addition, emasculatory amendments
were tackled on to the administra-
TONS tax and stock exchange laws.
When the President returned from
his 1884 fishing trip he made a little
speech to the boys at the Union
Station. He told them that he didn't
mind staying in Washington all sum-
mer and that he was now "a tough
guy" having learned some lessons
from the barracuda and the shark.
The cat returned, the mice ended
their play.
Though there are differences in
the political situation existing in
1884 and the present there was the
same reaction here to the President S
return. The House appropriations
committee, overturning the action of
its subcommittee, restored the relief
appropriation, a sorry enough thing,
to its original 81, 0O,0O0,OO0 and con
fidence was expressed that the mea-
sure will pass in that form.
In addition to action on the relief
measure, no Senator, within 48 hours
of the Presidents return, offered a
new compromise measure on the SUI
preme Court, marking a significant
lull in the attacks on the bill.
In r%easserting his determination to
carry on his fight for the as yet
unformulated pieces of legislation,
the President said that his trip away
from Washington convinced him that
the people as a whole understood
the aims of the administration and
felt the same way about them as
they did when they gave the Demo-
cratic party majorities in 1882, 1884
and 1886.
Just what legislation the President
has in mind will probably not be
disclosed until after the determine
ton of the court fight. AT best, il
is thought, it will merely be an at
tempt to consolidate and patch the
existing economic framework. Bust
ness men are not worried about
coming legislation and the cry OF
Socialism" and Communism" that
was hurled about so frequently dur
ing the last campaign has been com
pletely forgotten.
At present the best guess is that
Congress will leave Washington to
itself about the middle of August
after having passed the necessary
appropriation bills and disposed of
the court fight, Many persons be-
lieve that the President will get his
court bill as proposed but few are
yet bold enough to predict that turn.
A great many eventualities are pos
sible.