Evening star., 1938-04-22
THE POLITICAL
MILL,
BY G.. GOULD LINCOLN.

Presidents demand for a continuance
OF his undistributed profits tax and capi-
tai gains tax. The second is the coming
pump printing bill, which is opposed
by many Democrats who do not believe
that 1t Is wise to run the country further
into debt or that the country can spend
itself out Of the depression. The third
is the wage-hour bill, remodeled to get
it out Of committee and to win some Re-
publican votes from the North by deny
ing Southern differentials.
The President seems to have a better
chance to win in the fight for his
pump printing" legislation than in the
other two contests. However, even
against the pump priming program a
considerable public sentiment is form
ing. Letters are beginning to come in
large numbers to some of the Senators
and Representatives denouncing the
spending program-although there are
also some letters favorhg it.
Opponents of the New Deal among
the Democrats say that all three OF these
bills, the spending bill, the administra-
ton tax bill as opposed to the Senate
bill, and the wage-hour BILL instead of
restoring the much-needed confidence
OF business are calculated to shake it.
One Democratic Senator used the home
ly phrase punk" when discussing the
wage-hour bill and its injection into
the picture at time when recession and
depression are the order OF the day.
Republican members Of the House
Rules Committee. which next week will
consider the appeals of the House Labor
Committee for special rule for the
consideration Of the wage-hour bill.
are ponderlng the question Of their own
attitude. If they should remain firm
against special rule they would supply
the Southern Democrats in the commit
tee more than enough votes to block
the bill. However one Of these Repub-
ncan members is pointing out that the
revised bill has removed the differentials
for the Southern industrialists and also
has turned the administration over to
the Department of Labor instead of
setting up new board to run it. From
his point OF view. these changes make
the bill very different affair. 1t is al
most superfluous to say that he halls
from the North.
There is still the chance, however,
that If the House now passes the new
Wage-hOur bill and it is sent to confer
ence. it will come out of conference with
Southern differentials restored 1t is
believed the President will grant such
concessions to the South and his South
ern friends.
What the administration sometimes
fails to obtain in one Of the two houses
Of Congress, it frequently is able to get
from conference committee repre-
senting both houses and. incidentally,
representing the administration leader
ship. If the House. for example, had
passed the Presidents reorganization
bill and sent it to conference, even with
many changes appealing to groups of
House members. it might very well have
emerged from conference in a way en-
tirely distasteful to the majority of the
House members.
The tax bill, now in conference, is a
case in point. The administration is
fighting for dear life to save the Presi-
dents pet undistributed profits tax If
the question were referred to the House
itself for vote, the administration
might take licking. Apparently the
House leaders fear such test, for they
have continued to refuse to accede to
the urging of Senator Pat Harrison and
the other Senate conferees to submit
the matter to the House for vote The
House managers are seeking to bull the
thing through in conference. The i'm
passe continues.
NewsWeek and its editors have
gathered the views of 48 Washington
correspondents of newspapers in all
parts OF the country and Of 10 poll
ticians, five Republican and five Demo-
cratic, on probable changes in the politi-
cal makeup of the House and Senate
after the November elections. Their
purpose was to get line on such ques-
tons as whether the Roosevelt New
Deal is slipping and whether the Repub-
llcan party may stage real comeback
this year. The results of the question:
naire sent to all those participating are
included in the current issue of News
week. The average of the forecasts of
both groups political writer's and poll
ticians, is that the Republicans will gain
so seats in the House and four seats in
the Senate as result Of the elections
Such changes in the political makeup
Of the overwhelming Democratic House
and Senate can have no effect on party
control. However If the Republicans
should gain as many as 60 seats in the
House, the President would probably
face much stronger opposition in the
next Congress, through a coalition of
anti-New Deal Democrats and the Re-
publicans, than he has in the present
Congress.
The really interesting question which
the party primaries and the congress
sional elections next November may de-
eide Is whether more anti-New Deal
Democrats are to have places in the
new Congress than in the Seventy-fifth
Congress. No one believes that the Re-
publicans can wrest control of the House
from the Democrats. It would take
political upheaval of tremendous di-
mensionS to bring about such a change.
But there is real contest on in many
OF the States between those Democrats
who believe in following Roosevelt and
the New Dealers wherever they lead and
those who are thinking more for them
selves.
wrapped up in this contest among the
Democrats is battle for control of the
next Democratic congressional conven-
ton IN 1910. The party will have to
decide whether to nominate as a sue
cessor to Roosevelt another New Dealer
or conservative Democrat. If a con-
servative is named-and he NAV be-a
third party may be started nationally.
If Roosevelt wins control and is either
nominated himself or brings about the
nomination of one OF his followers, ready
to carry on his program, conservative
Democrats and RenuhliconO Nov, ,,~,4.