Evening star., 1939-07-07


ties getting a price of II cents an
ounce for domestic silver written
into the law, as against the last
Treasury-flxed price of around GA
cents.
The Republicans who went along
with the silver crowd. voting to hike
the price of silver to II cents in
return for the silverites' support of
the move to end the Presidents de-
valuation Authority-what do they
get? They had, for a brief space,
the satisfaction of having made
monkeys out of the Democratic lead
ershlp in the Senate, but on the final
showdown they got precisely nothing.
The Republicans-old legislative
hands, a lot of them-should have
known better than to team up with
the silver bloc. They should have
known that the silverites, the best
David Harums of the Senate, would
trade them out of their eyeteetn.
This, OF course, is what happened.
The outcome should stand as a per-
petual warning to beware of the
silver fellows when they get that
particular gleam in the eye that in
dicates they are out to do some
thing" for the sacred metal.
Terrific Victory"
The story of their latest coup
can be boiled down to a few words.
They made an alliance with a group
in the Senate whose first concern
was to end the devaluation power
OF the President. BY voting with
this group they enabled the latter
to gain-for the moment-what one
OF the jubilant Republicans in the
coalition called a terrific victory"
over the administration. The Re-
publlcans, carrying out their end
OF the deal, enabled the silverites
to put over an amendment increas-
ing the silver subsidy by about l3
cents.
Then came the conference be-
tween the two Houses, and the
conferees adopted a report giving
back to the President his power
over the dollar and giving the silver
ties half of their proposed increase.
Ihls report was approved in the
House, and when it came up in the
Senate, the silver bloc-all but three
or four who wanted to 90 down the
line for the whole increase-swung
right around and voted for the re-
port, thereby getting the half loaf
Tor silver and leaving the Repub-
hcans no bread whatever.
1t was all as pretty a piece of
legislative legerdemain as the Con-
gress has seen in a long time.
The victory which the silver
people gain, while the terrific vic
tory" of the Republicans vanishes
into thin air, is considerably larger
than it appears on its face. For
not only do they get a 7-cent in
crease, but they achieve a price
fixed by law, instead of a price fixed
from time to time by presidential
proclamation.
Eventual Increase Predicted.
What this means to the silverites
may be gathered from the words of
Senator Pittman of Nevada, their
Leader, in urging adoption of the con-
ference report. He could see no hope
for silver" if discretionary power
under the presidential authority.
were left in the hands of the Secre-
tary OF the Treasury. for the Secre-
tary is not only prejudiced against
domestic silver, but he is vindictive,
and possibly some others are vim
dlctive." Senator Pittman rejoiced
that the price now fixed by Congress
stands as the coinage figure forever.
unless the law is repealed by Con-
gress." He predicted an eventual
statutory increase to S1.29 an ounce
and who will say that the pre-
diction. after what has happened, is
fantastic?
A soft-money man but a hard
realist, Senator Pittman told his fell
loW-sllverites to take what they had
won and not run the risk of losing
all by throwing the matter back into
conference. He said that if the do
mestic silver amendment should be
put to a separate vote in the House.
we would be murdered. And he
added, with reference to his quon-
dam allies: Il would not want to
give up the hope we have, with Is
or 20 Senators in this body voting
for the coinage of silver, although
they hated silver. l doubt whether
we will ever have their love and
affection again. 1 would not want to
take chance on it."
Considering where the "loye and
affection of the Republicans has
left them, the unwillingness of the
Senator to take another chance at
this time Is quite understandable.