Evening star., 1938-06-02
BY ]. A. O'LEARY,

Assurance was given the Senate to-
day by Majority Leader Barkley that
President Roosevelt has no intention
OF allotting public works funds for
municipal power projects in competi-
ton with private industry unless and
until cities seeking such projects offer
to purchase the private plant at "a
fair and reasonable price"
AS the Senate took up the con-
troversial power issue in the spending
lending bill, Senator Barkley made
known the Presidents position, in
dicating he hoped this state4ent of
policy would expedite settlement of
the question.
Meanwhile, while the Senate for the
second time in "a hours was increas-
ing the total of the relief appropria-
ton bill, this time by $100,0o0,o0
added to the P. w. A. section, Secre-
tary Of Treasury Morgenthau today
added his voice to administration ef-
forts to check the earmarking threat.
Warning by Morgenthau.
"In the present situation where we
do not expect Congress to meet again
until next January and do not know
whether the economic situation will
get better or worse" the Treasury
chief said at press conference "the
wise thing would be to give the Presi-
dent the right, as he had in other bills,
to transfer funds from one title to an
other in order to take care of the sN.
uation."
Today's action in the Senate, taken
on standing vote, was a restoration
OF sum cut from the House bill by
the Senate Appropriations Committee,
and brings the P. w. A. section back
to total of 1865 ,o00,00
This action, coupled with last nights
vote to raise. the rural electrification
loan authorization fund from SIS
100000 to 100000, 900 restores most Of
the sum cut off by the committee when
s212 100000 was added to the bill for
parity payments to farmers.
Fears Too Much Litigation.
Senator Barkley said he will not
move to write the Presidents state
ment of policy on the power question
into the law, and will oppose leaving
in the broader committee proposal, be-
cause the administration fears that
any attempt to define the policy in the
relief act will open the way for litiga-
ton in the courts that would tie UP
the P. w. A. program.
The broad committee restriction.
which would have prohibited any p.
w. A. municipal project IN composition
with private utility, appeared doomed
to defeat, when Senator Adams, Demo-
crat, Of Colorado, in charge of the bill,
announced that members of the Ap-
preparations Committee are no longer
in favor of the ban in its present form,
believeing it would go further than the
committee intended Senator Adams
said he would be willing to end the
whole controversy by moving to lay
the committee amendment on the
table, except that 1t would cut off de-
bate by others Senators who may want
to offer compromises.
Meanwhile, it appeared that laying
Mr.. Roosevelt's policy before the SEN
ate may result in speeding passage
of the bill without attempting to put
the policy into the law.
Senators Hayden of Arizona, Wagner
OF New York and Lee of Oklahoma, all
Democrats. led the fight to raise the
r. w. A. allotment back to the House
figure of 1866, 100000. The move was
resisted by Senators Adams of Colo
RADIO and Byrnes of South Carolina,
Democrats, and Borah, Republican, of
Idaho.
Later in the day the Senate faces
the two major issues in the bill,
whether to curb the administrations
discretionary power by earmarking
public works money for specific prof.
ects and whether to restrict Govern
ment competition with private indus
try in the building of utility plants.
Senator Adams pointed out the P.
(See SPENDING, Page A-s.)