Evening star., 1939-05-14
Congress Held Drifting
on Seq Of Inertia
By OUen L. Scott.

unfortunate victim of very stubborn
fact.
Mr.. Garner early this year let himself
be pictured as the man who could lead
Congress into action to reform the New
Deal and to give businessmen what they
wanted. The leadership of the Vice
President was to replace the lost lead
ership of the President Mr.. Roosevelt
More than four months have passed
| since this reform wave was started ON
its way. That wave long ago was lost
on the sea Of legislative inertia
The stubborn fact of which the Vice
President happens to be the latest VIC
tim is simply that the 531 minds in Con-
gress-subject to the pulling and hauling
of sectional and group interests-cannot
be rallied around any internal leader
ship
AS consequence, Vice President Gar
ner will be unable to describe himself
as the man who rescued business from
New Deal spending, New Deal labor
policies New Deal taxation or New Deal
policies of any sort. The simple fact is
that, under attempted new leadership.
Congress has taken four months to bog
down.
Once again there are audible murmur-
ings that President Roosevelt should step
forward to assume a leadership that can
guide Congress that set forth bravely in
January to guide itself.
Thus far, however, Mr.. Roosevelt is
contenting himself with a few pointed
remarks about unfulfllled promises on
the part OF congressional leaders to in
crease taxes in order that money might
be found to pay larger farm subsidies.
The President, too, is letting orders
stand that responsibility for new tax
legislation and new farm legislation and
new railroad legislation and new labor
legislation and new legislation of other
sorts Is the responsibility of Congress
and not of the Executive.
Consequently, Mr.. Garner along with
other leaders-after long years of ex-
perience-is learning that nothing much
except obstruction apparently ever can
come out of Congress. except as a result
of pressure from the White House.
The President If he really wants
something done in Congress- may yet
have to exert that pressure
AS 1t Is, few simple facts illustrate
the problem.
Congress tried for about 10 years to
make up its mind on a location for an
airport for the Nations Capital. It's
membership never was able to perform
that collective task. with the result that
the President finally had to make the
decision himself in what some people
would say was dictatorial manner.
Then, too, there is the record of the
Senate. The well-advertised economy
bloc in the Senate, led by Mr.. Garner
and by Pat Harrison. chairman of the
powerful Senate Finance Committee,
has made great show of trimming a
few thousand dollars from one appropri-
alton and a thousand or two dollars
from some official salary. Then. on a
voice vote that enabled the members of
the bloc to duck the issue, the Senate
voted to add s374 900 600 to the total of
farm subsidies recommended by Presi-
dent Roosevelt. All economy talk from
a congressional economy bloc went out
the window with that voice vote.
Those are just samples of the prob
lem that always face Congress that
inevitably is pulled and hauled by the
pressures of sectional interest and group
demands.
President Roosevelt could not miss the
opportunity afforded by the Senate vote
to rub in the point on Mr.. Garner and
Mr. Harrison and other economizers.
The President recalled to newspapermen
that these leaders had assured him that
If appropriations were increased, taxes
would likewise be increased.
But the economy bloc and the leaders
OF the anti-NeW Deal group in Congress
have assured businessmen that they will
cut taxes if they do anything.
And so it goes all the way down the
line
There are loud promises from the anti
New Deal leadership that taxes will be
changed to ease the load of businessmen.
But then, when the time comes to get
down to cases, the leadership finds that
II taxes are eased on one group of busi-
nessmen they must be raised on another
group If total revenue is not to be re-
duced. Consequently, Treasury officials
report that "all is confusion on the
subject of taxation.
At the start of this year, leaders in
CongreSS-With the Vice President very
prominent-let it be known that they
were going to modify the Wagner Labor
Relations Act in way that would please
employers.
But pleasing employers, who sometimes
have relatively few votes, means very
probable offense to workers. who can
have great many votes and so word
now is passed that employers should not
expect any substantial" change in the
Labor Relations Act from this session of
Congress. Members of Congress, with
all of their desire to please businessmen,
are very skittish about voting in any
way that would offend labor even when
an organization as powerful as the
American Federation of Labor is lend
ing its support to some changes in the
law that the employers desire.
When Congress came to town in jan
uary, many of its leaders expressed
themselves as determined really to solve
the farm problem and to remake the pro-
gram that Henry Walle"e, with the