The Washington times., 1939-01-06
ERA
BELIEVED COAL
OF ROOSEVELT
Wants to. Finish Term
Without BiCkering
BY THEODORE HUNTLEY

ny xuEOOOnG HUN AA6&
There is an inner significance
to the Presidents messages on re-
lief and the state of the Union.
It has nothing to do with the
Chief Executives wisecracks at
Congress, in returning to the ap-
propriating branch Of the Gov
ernment the responsibility for
Government spending. That was
smart, everything considered. But
there was more to it than that.
There was more to it than his
invitation to Congress to seek its
own solutions for the problems he
presented-and they are hard
nuts to crack.
HE CAN TAKE IT"
If you read the two messages
over, and think back tc the other
Roosevelt messages Of the last five
years, and then back Of that to
the windup Of the Cleveland and
Theodore Roosevelt and Wilson
and Hoover administrations, this
stands out in type bigger than
anything carried in the text itself:
Franklin Roosevelt is not go
ing to spend the last two years
of his term pickering with Con-
gress. He is licked, knows it,
and can take it." He Is going
to be good humored about it.
And that's more than can be
said for some Of his predeces-
Sors in the White House.
If that fact has any meaning
for the country, there it Is. It
should have. If there's going to
be an era Of good feeling in Wash
ington for the next two years it
might mean more than almost
anything else. The end of expert
mentation, backed UP by a con-
ciliatory attitude by strong Presi-
dent toward strong Congress, as
they try to work together for the
good Of the nation, could smooth
out a lot of difficulties in the path
of recovery.
EAGER TO COOPERATE
No more deadlocks over wage
and-hour legislation, for example.
Congress wants to take relief
out of politics? OK. So does
President Roosevelt. Go as far as
you like.
Everybody wants to be sure the
country is made safe against at
tack by air or sea. No quarrel
there.
Congress doesn't like dictators
any better than the President.
AS to spending, if Congress
wants to take a crack at balanc-
ing the budget-and even Con-
gress knows it can't be done all
at once-the President will go
along.
Reorganiza ton? Congress
wouldn't take the Presidents plan.
o. K! Let Congress write its own
ticket!
CONFIRMATION LIKELY
Strengthen the social security
system? Certainly! The Presi-
dent will sign any bill Congress
sends down, presumably. And
maybe THAT doesn't put Congress
on the spot!
There will be argument about
Hopkins and Frankfurter, but in
the end the chances are 20 to
they both will be confirmed. No
real quarrel there-just some
politics.
Farm legislation? Let Congress
worry with it. The Wallace for
mulae having failed, (and doesn't
that sort of rule Henry out of
the 1910 presidential race?) let's
have another from someone else.
At the moment everyone seems
to like the idea of "a domestic
price for the domestic crop" If
you know what that means! If
you don't, it would take too long
to tell you here, and you'll hear
plenty about it anyway before
many weeks.
THIRD TERM DOUBTED
Congress wants business to get
better. So does President Roose-
welt. So does business. So-not to
overlook those to whom it means
most of aldo the SO per cent
of us who work, either depending
on pay roll for bread and butter
or on what that pay roll will buy
of our products.
Does it all mean that Franklin
Roosevelt isn't going to be a
candidate for a third term in
1910? YES. it does. Does it mean
he'd like to leave a good taste
in the country'S mouth when he
goes out? Same answer. Does it
mean he may have a sneaking idea
of running again, say in 1914?
Now, now, now
CTDVT~T