The Omaha guide., 1938-05-28
Economic Highlights

third of the members of the Sen
ate must go again before the vo-
tiers for reelection. AS a result,
the lawmakers are keeping their
ears to the ground and seeking to
mend their political fences-some
of which are badly broken down.
That is a hard job in an ordinary
election year. Today, with a major
depression confronting them. with
a large number of great, unsettled
issues raging about their heads.
with the cleavage between the fri
ends and opponents of the Roose-
cvelt Administration growing shar-
err it is much harder than usual
And that goes a long way toward
explaining some of Congress re-
cent remarkable actions.
The Wage and Hours bill is a
case in point. Administration
leaders frankly gave up all hope
for passage of this measure some
time ago-it was strongly opposed
by the influential Southern bloc Of
the Democratic party, which wish
es to keep the existing wage diff
ferential between Northern and
Southern labor. The White House
pressed on behalf of the bill, but
its chances of success seemed
slight. Then came the Florida sem
atorial primary-long awaited as
a test of New Deal strength. The
issues in this primary e fairly
clear-cut-Senator Pepper. an ar
dent Roosevelt hacker, who has
voted for practically every White
House sponsored measure, vas OPP
posed by ex-Representative Will
cox. an anti-New Deal Democrat
who had opposed the Supreme
Court and government reorganiza-
ton measures. Senator Pepper
won an overwhelming victory. And
q dav or two later when a Wage
and Hours bill petition was offer
ed in the House, there was almost
a riot as members fought to get
their names signed to it. Then the
House Rules Committee voted to
give the bill precedence.
w UpIHtI Ile d'HA Hull
law will go through is still a mat
ter of ouestion-chances are 10Y
in its favor, however. and lately
it has received some unlooked-for
backing from conservative sources,
such as the New England shoe in
| dustry. The main point is that the
Presidents strength in Congress
has been measurably increased by
the Pepper win. Talk is wen being
heard of reviving the once-defeat-
ed Reorganization bill. And it is
| almose a certainty that the Ad-
Illustrations new spending pro-
gram will go through practically
in its original form.
In brief. the President isn't as
influential in Congress as he was
in the honeymoon days of 1892 and
1933-but he seems stronger than
he was a few months ago. This
doesn't mean that White House
"mustn orders will be obeyed with
out question-it does mean that a
| large number of congressman who
kicked over the traces, have re
turned TO the teservatf on. and
the current outlook indicates that
the President will issue fewer
"musts" in the future-he and his
aides are dealing rather gingerly
with Congress, are using persua-
sion rather than hard mandates.
No President wants any more pol
itical turmoil than is necessary
in an election year.
Coming primaries will provide
more evidence as to the status of
the New Deal in public esteem.
The Pepper victory. while it was
significant. is not regarded by
most observers as being final
other issues than Federal policy
played a part, and the Senator is
a campaigner of unusual ability.
Not until tests have been made in
other states will the burning
question of just how strong the
President is with the rank and
file of voters, be settled. Most
forecasters think he has lost some
OUT JndI ue SIlll COiiiiiidiiN'S
q good majority in his favor. Fur
thermore the New Deal faces lit
tie opposition outside of its own
ranks-the Republicans have so
far made what even their hackers
regard as an Intellectual assault
against the New Deal citadel. All
the authorities think that the COP
will make some gains in the House
his fall-but that they will be
: small.
900
Prospects for world recovery are
moderately good. Governmental eff
forts to "prime the pump" are
largely futile. That is the gist of
the speech made recently at the
annual general meeting of the
Bank for international Settlements
at Basic, Switzerland, by J. w.
Beven its president.
Bowen gave considerable atten-
tion to the experiments" under
taken in this country during the
depression. While he condemned
no sepcifi action. he took the at
titude that they had failed. He ex-
pressly deplored currency devalu.
alton.
OF more tangible Importance, the
IS presidents reports observed
that 1897 experienve proved that