Evening star., 1938-04-17
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.

BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.
Congress. which week ago success
fully challenged President Roosevelt's
leadership, today is catching its
second wind and reviewing the Chief
Executives dramatic bid Thursday to
recapture that leadership.
Efforts to assay the Presidents new
program are under way on Capitol
Hill. Generally it is admitted that he
has fired his biggest guns; that his
proposed spending and lending pro-
gram will appeal to a great many
people and will impress a great many
of the legislators.
However. the conservative DEM
ocrats and Republicans, who defeated
the Presidents reorganization bill and
threw his pet tax theories out of the
new revenue bill and who appeared
bent on having Congress take charge
OF recovery program have by no
means given up the ship. They are
oldlng their time. awaiting the Presi-
dents recovery measures in bill form.
They are waiting also. to hear more
definitely from their constituents,
Much More to the Program.
They are taking coenizance Of the
fact that the Presidents new program
for this Congress includes not only
the s4,5oo, 100000 lending and spend
ing bill or bills, but that it also
includes:
/. Passage Of the wage hour bill.
q Restoration Of the undistributed
prof1s tax and the capital gains tax
in It's House form to the new revenue
bill
3. TAXATION Of Federal and State
salaries by both the Federal Govern
ment and the States, and taxation of
all interest on future Federal and
State and municipal bond issues.
4. Legislation to strengthen the
laws against monopoly.
To a Congress that is anxious to
wind up its work and 20 home to
campaign for denomination and re-
election. such program is anything
but welcome. Members have talked
OF adjournment May IA, and certainly
not later than June /.
How Much Will Be Enactede
How much of this program the
President really expects to have en-
acted into law is bit uncertain
Some Of the Democratic members of
the Senate and House yesterday were
inclined to believe the President
would get little beyond. the spending
and lending program They added
that. Of course. they expected all the
annual appropriation bills to 70
through and also the administration
new billion-dollar naval construction
bill. which already has passed the
House and is to be considered in the
Senate on Tuesday.
Having registered strongly with his
message to Congress on relief and
recovery. the President plans to send
this week two more messages. one
dealing with taxation Of Government
salaries and securities of all kinds and
the other with the problem Of monop-
oily.
The President. in recommending
that taxation. both, State and Federal,
apply to all Government salaries and
to all future Government issues of
securities. is stealing bit Of thunder
from Senator Byrd of Virginia, who
has been one Of the strongest Demo-
cratic critics of some of the Presidents
policies and measures. Senator Byrd
however. has proposed q constitu-
tional amendment to bring about such
taxation, while the President is ex-
pected to propose that it be done
simply by the passage Of a Fedora,
law. The new revenue bill. now dead
locked in conference. carries an
amendment offered by Senator Borah.
Republican. of Idaho for the taxa
ton of future Government bond
issues.
Tax Issue Widely Discussed.
Whether a constitutional amend
ment would be necessary to carry out
the plan to tax interest on Govern
ment bonds and to tax all Govern
ment salaries was a disputed question
at the Capitol yesterday. The pro-
posal has many friends. including
Senator Harrison of Mississippi,
chairman Of the Senate Finance Com
mittee. He believes the Federal in
come tax should be levied against
(See SPENDING, Page A-3)