Evening star., 1939-02-19

Associated Pr.
The thunderbolts that have been n.y.
ing between Congress and President
Roosevelt give fleeting flashes OF light
from much deeper storm-the tempest
stirred by democracy hurrying up to
date.
At the vortex of the turmoil are forces
which ultimately will decide whether
Government setup by the people. of the
people. for the people in small agra
rian country $50 years ago can adjust
itself to great industrial nation.
One of these forces is the President
Another is Congress.
A third Is the relentless march of
time.
Can the first two keep pace with the
third and still remain in harmonious
balance as the Constitution says they
should?
The direction of the thunderbolts may
presage the answer
One bolt has struck in international
affairs. 1t has revealed the President in
action on foreign policy. 1t has shown
some Senators challenging him not to
60 too far.
Judicial Bolt Strikes.
One bolt has struck in judicial ap-
pointments. 1t has lighted up a Presi-
dent insistent on unfettered choice of
his own nomipees, and q Senate de-
termined to have its say.
One bolt has struck in unemployment
relief. 1t has illumined the President
fighting for more spending and Congress
fighting for retrenchment.
Each bolt has disclosed q struggle be-
tween the executive and the legislature
But the last bolt gives the most light on
the basic conflict. For the President,
In calling for more relief funds, and Con-
gress, in cutting his appropriation, both
claim to be the true representative Of
the peoples will.
In support of the President, his par
tisans point out that he is elected by the
Nation as a whole, whereas Congress is
made up of men chosen by comparatively
small groups Of the electorate. The an
swer on behalf Of Congress is that Con-
gress is the sole representative body
recognized by the Constitution: that it
is given exclusive powers by the Consti-
tuition in keeping with that function,
and that to bow too far to the executives
wishes would set the country moving
down the road toward one-man rule
1t is a matter of history that totali-
tarianism abroad has grown with the aid
of the national legislatures which voted
more and more of their own prerogatives
into the executives hands until they had
no power left.
Dictator Fears Voiced.
Critics of President Roosevelt fire.
thing was happening here. One of the
Presidents own appointees, Thomas
Amlie of Wisconsin, said at a Senate
hearing into his qualifications for Inter-
state Commerce commissioner that at
least a limited dictatorship" appeared
to him to be imminent. Others have
gone so far as to accuse the President
of promoting such trend. Not only has,
the President denied this charge en-
phatically, but he has repeatedly criti-
cized totalitarian governments.
Congress within the last few weeks
has begun to pull in the reins on the
emergency powers 1t delegated to the
President in the dark days of 1888 and
1894.
Rein No. /: Unemployment relief. A
hundred and fifty million dollars was
Topped off the amount the President de-
manded for the w. P. A. It was the first
time anything like this had happened;
heretofore the President was given as
much as he asked, with freedom to spend
1t as he saw fit. Now Senator Byrnes,
Democrat. of South Carolina has offered
bill to take the spending power away
from the White House and put it on a
fixed allotment basis with grants to the
States determined automatically by the
population and the amount Of unem-
ployment.
Rein No. 2: The House Banking Com
mittee put a $loO00o,O0o limit on the
spending of the Export Import Bank,
which is subsidiary of the Reconstruc-
ton Finance Corp, which in turn is
under the Presidents control This was
intended as brake on the Presidents
activity in international affairs, for the
Export Import Bank could be used to
finance such things as airplane sales to
France.
Secrecy Cloud Lifted.
Rein No. 3: The Foreign Affairs Com
mittee of the Senate voted to permit its
members to make public any informa-
ton, short Of military secrets, given to
them in secret meetings. This followed
the now famous secret conference be-
tween the President and members Of
the committee, and the disagreement
over what was said there.
Rein No. 4: The House knocked ST.
203, ,000-the cost Of three new power
dams-out Of the appropriation for the
T. v. A., one Of the executive agencies.
Rein No S: The National Labor Re-
lations Board. one Of the most powerful
and most controversial agencies under