The Wilmington morning star., 1940-03-07
WASHINGTON
DAYBOOK
BY PRESTON GROVER

WASHINGTON, March s. - Two freshman
New England senators. Of dispositions as opr
posite as the poles, have garnered much more
congressional attention than usually comes to
initiates. Both are republicans.
Already. Senator Tobey Of New Hampshire,
the gentleman of the loud voice and mile-a-sec-
ond speech, has dug up something for repub.
licans to yell about with his attack on housing
questions in the census.
What right, he asked, has the government
to send census takers into the homes of their
neighbors to ask how large is the mortgage
plaster on the house, what is the interest rate,
and is there a bath or shower in the home?
Eagerly, republicans took it up on both ends
of the congress when the appropriation bill
came up for money for the census.
"A fundamental principle Of liberty is in.
volved here" cried red-faced Representative
Reed Of New York. There is no more sacred
place than the American home"
Promptly, democratic members pointed out
that sacred as the home is, a man must file
a record of his mortgage at the county court.
house where all may read.
The questions about how many families use
a single bath room, however. was distinctly
on the personal side, a goad to Tobey.
Gun Bearer
Tobey looks just like the lead gun-bearer in
that famous painting of an e~arly-day Pilgrim
group headed for church through the snow and
Indians. The lines of his face are long, up and
down.
He has had legislative experience about as
long as the next mans, extending back into
the house and senate of his home state legis.
lature. Incidentally, he was at different times
speaker of the New Hampshire house of repre-.
sentatives and president of the state senate.
He hasn't proved himself so ready on rough
and tumble debate as yet. He reads a speech
to the senate at breakneck speed and dashes
back to his office for more study.
Irish Yankee
Connecticut's Senator Danaher Is a Yankee
Of another color. His ancestry is longtime
American, but his blood is thick with Irish
peat juice. Dartmouth trained Tobey but Yale
sent Danaher into New England law and poll.
tics, out Of which he has gained a omewhat
surprising interest in foreign affairs.
He Is as isolationist as Senator johnson of
California but his particular skill is in cross
examining those members of the senate who
are whooping it up for giving the United States
u big voice and a measure of participation in
world politics.
He fought revision of the neutrality bill,
declaring it gave the President too many ways
to keep the nation out Of foreign wars. Japan
and China presented a case in point at the
time. The Finnish affair had not yet started.
But when the proposal for the Finnish loan
came along, he attacked that, and introduced
a resolution to have congress recognize the
Russian attack on Finland as a real war. That
would have squashed the Finnish loan, of
course, which was what he had set out to do.
Better by far, he said, to keep hands off than
to give Russia valid grounds for a nasty rela-
tionship with the United States down through
the years.
Moreover, he said, the neutrality act would
put at least some restrictions upon Russian
purchases Of war materials in the United
states. During 1889 Russia bought 5s,sss,oo
in goods here, 70 per cent OF wnich was made
up of Woodworking machines, lathes and
such, iron.alloys, copper, aircraft and petrol.
cum products. Danaher drew an admission
was already 8. prohibited area for U. s. ships
since the Baltic sea had been declared a com.
bat zone under the neutrality act.
Danaher is barely over the edge OF 40, with
a boyish face inescapably reminiscent of a
kewpie, but he is just about 100 per cent en-
bodiment Of the spirit OF iet'hurope-tlght-its-
1870