The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-01-25

The Administrator frankly hopes
that the current session of Congress
will be brief, quiet and harmonious
But the chance Of that hope being
realized seems dark indeed. For the
Republicans, along with that influen-
tial bloc of the Democratic party
which is cool to the New Deal and
growing cooler, are apparently deter
mined to make showing. They have
plenty of bones to pick, and it looks
Jas if they intend to pick them clean.
First and foremost issue is the
budget. Few believe that Congress
in an election year, will reduce ap-
preparations. If Congress finally ap-
proves another big spending budget it
will have to either levy new taxes to
raise the money or raise the present
legal debt limit of $45,000, 600, 900. At
the moment the odds seem to favor
the latter course-new taxes to pro-
|duce sufficient revenue are politically
Second on the list Of unsolved prob
lens is national defense. There is
general agreement that our defense
facilities must be strengthened. At
the same time opinion on the Admin
istration's billion-dollar military
program is far from unanimous. There
is strong group in Congress which
feels that the recommendations should
be thoroughly investigated, with a
possibility of making changes and cost
cuts. Some critics Of the program say
that it is primarily designed to enable
us to again participate in a foreign
war, and that it goes far beyond our
needs for territorial defense. Still
another school thinks we should plan
on hemisphere defense-that is, a.
military establishment that could re-
peal invaders of the entire continent
and northern South America, and
make it possible to put teeth in
the Monore Doctrine if, as and when
necessary. To build our fighting re-
sources to that extent would Of
course take a great length of time
and cost an incredible sum.
Third leading issue is the reciprocal
trade law, which must be again renew
ed if Secretary of State Hull is to
continue to make trade deals with
|other countries. 1t will be proposed
that all trade agreements must be ap-
proved individually by Congress be-
fore becoming effective. Mr.. Hull is
absolutely against this, on the grounds
that it would defeat the purpose of the
|act and make workable treaties next
to impossible to consumate. The farm
belt has always disapproved the pres
ent law, and its representatives will
be almost solidly against renewing it
in it's present form. This promises to
be quite a Nghts=Mr. Hull is a, man
who is almost. universally admired and
respected, even by those who disagree
most violently with his opinions, and
the whole weight of his prestige
and influence will be thrown into the
fray on behalf of continuance of his
trade program. Odds now seem to
narrowly favor Mr.. Hull coming out
on top.
There will be another hot time on
Capitol Hill when Secretary Edison's
proposal to give the President sweep
ling emergency powers, unprecedented
in our history, comes to the floor. The
conservative group will fight this to
the last ditch Both business and or
ganized labor have lined up together
in opposition. Business feels the meas
ure is unnecessary and would be
long step toward totalitarianism. And
labor feels it's independence of action
would be endangered if the bill passed.
This doesn't exhaust the list of big
issues by long shot-it just touches
the high spots. Most of the lawmakers
of both parties will be playing politics
to the limit-Congress is simply alive
with potential Presidential and Vice
Presidential candidates. And all of
them, as convention time nears, are
going to do everything possible to put
themselves in the limelight. SO the
chance of this being quiet session
seems about as poor as that of The
proverbial SNOWFALL in Hades.
X X X
The shake-up in the British war
cabinet was not unexpected--it has
been felt both here and in England
that some of the posts were held by
stuffed shirts who had to be given the
|gate in the interest of efficiency. But
the dropping of energetic, popular
War Minister Hore- -Belisha was a sur
prise.
Hore- -Belsha's downfall apparently
came largely as the result of run-in
with the general staff One belief of
his was that the army must be made
more democratic, and that the higher
officers should be younger. He put
that belief into action, and it didn't
please the generals. On top of that,
lit is reported that he fell out with
Winston Churchill. Churchill is by
far the most colorful and aggressive
figure now in Chamberlain's cabinet,
and he usually gets his way.