Evening star., 1939-08-06
Congress Adiourns

The first session OF the Seventy
sixth Congress has passed into his
tory, and with its passing has gone
much Of the enormous prestige en-
joyed by President Roosevelt when
he was returned to Office little less
than three years ago by a record
breaking vote. AS matters stand now,
the President is in the unhappy posi-
ton of a general who has seen his
army reduced to impotency by de-
fections to the enemy. What this
presages for 1910, no man can say,
but one thing is certain: If Mr..
Roosevelt aspires to succeed himself
or to force the selection of a man of
his own choice as the next Demo-
cratic nominee his task has been
made infinitely more difficult by the
party revolt in Congress which came
to head during the last three weeks
of the session.
BY all odds the outstanding de-
velopment during the session was
the reputation OF the economic
philosophy Of the New Deal, partic-
ularly the fiat refusal of the House
to sanction another effort to bring
about recovery by spending or lend
ing huge sums of borrowed money.
And this, paradoxical though it
seems, can hardly be called an econ
omy move, for the total of appropria-
tions exceeds $13,OOOOOO,OOO, the
largest of any peace time session.
But If the House stands firm in its
rejection of the pump printing
theories-a matter which will be
determined by the reaction of
constituents to the revolt-the out
look for the next session, from the
Presidents point OF view, is not
bright, for every indication has
pointed to the conclusion that the sole
recovery formula of the New Deal is
to spend more and more money.
There were other defeats, of course.
The administrations neutrality pro-
gram was wrecked by the isolationist
bloc in the Senate, with the result,
in The Stars opinion, that the likeli-
hood of war, and even Of this coun-
try's involvement in war, has been
increased rather than decreased;
the Hatch clean politics" bill was
passed, which will certainly make it
more difficult for the administration
to control the next Democratic con-
vention; the 100000, 900 housing
authority expansion bill was rejected,
and the President, virtually yielding
the point after long, hard fight,
saw the remnants of the undistrib-
uted profits tax thrown out of the
new revenue bill.
The session was not wholly one of
Illustration Of the Presidents pro-
gram, however. In sharply curtailed
form, he secured passage Of a gov
ernment reorganization bill He also
salvaged his power to devalue the
dollar and continue the s., 100000 900
stabilization fund after winning what
at first looked like losing battle,
and secured passage of a law wiping
out tax exemptions on governmental
salaries. Other legislative actions
which might be considered victories
for the administration were the pas
sage of the National Defense Act
and the approval by the Senate of
several Roosevelt appointees, notably
Attorney General Murphy, Secretary
Of Commerce Hopkins and Supreme
Court Justice Frankfurter. Congress
also passed farm bill embodying all
Of the items sought by the President,
and even added some $500, ,0O0,0 to
the total in the face of protests by
Mr.. Roosevelt that he did not want
the money unless accompanied by ad-
ditional taxes.
There was one legislative battle in
which the administration occupied a
more or less neutral position. That
struggle resulted in the overhauling
of the relief setup, including elimina-
ton Of the prevailing wage" and
inclusion Of provision designed to
rotate relief jobs. Another accom-
plishment, which probably belongs