Evening star., 1943-01-10
President Ready for Battle
With Lusty 18th Congress
Vandenberg Aims First Slap at New Dealers;
Farm and Economy Blocs Eager to Open Fire;
'Old.Line' Guns Trained on Hopkins
By Gould Lincoln.

recent Price Control Act were both
twisted and strained to back up this
order. 1t may be the President will accept
this challenge and make answer in his
budget message. Anyway the New
Dealers are expected to seek legislation
which will limit all incomes to $25, 900,
net, whether they come from salaries
or from other sources of revenue. The
New Dealers, If they figure that the
$25,000 limit will make a hit with the
great mass of voters and so compel Con-
gress to their way, may have an awaken
ing coming to them.
In this connection, the expected ap-
pointment Of former Senator Prentiss
Brown of Michigan, Democrat, to take
the place of Leon Henderson as price
administrator may stir up excitement.
Mr.. Brown had charge of the price-con-
troll bill when 1t was before the Senate.
He may be put on the spot when he
comes up for confirmation by questions
on the $25, 900 limitation of salaries. He
denied in the past that the limitation
of salaries was contemplated by the BILL
Split in Party Factions.
The split between the Democratic fac
tions in the Senate was amply DEM
onstrated by the party caucus row.
Senator Barkley of Kentucky, admins
tration supporter, was reelected leader.
He had tough time, however, prevent
ing the adoption of a resolution offered
by Senator Mcclellan of Tennessee
which would have filled vacancies on
the Democratic Steering Committee by
caucus election rather than the tradi-
tional method of appointment by the
party leader. Only after Senator Bark
ley had threatened to resign the leader
ship If the McKellar proposal was
adopted did the caucus defeat the reso-
luton by vote of "a to 90
The war, as an issue between the ad-
mlnistratlon and the Congress, is out.
Congress will give everything needed for
the prosecution of the war. Representa-
tive Joe" Martin, Republican leader
OF the House, on the first day of the
session dubbed the new Congress the
Victory Congress and pledged the Re-
publicans to back the war effort and
not to play partisan politics with it.
Nevertheless, signs are plenty that
anti-New Dealers, Republicans and DEM
ocrats, will make issues over methods
adopted by the administration, if not
the war purposes. The lease-lend law
must be renewed by next June, or it will
die. Harry Hopkins, the Presidents con-
f1dant, is handling lease-lend operations.
His administration of these funds will
be investigated If the anti-New Dealers
have their way. Administrations foes
have complained that the President has
made poor appointments to head up the
war agencies-and particularly have they
trained their guns on Leon Henderson,
VINO is now going out of the office of
price administrator. They will seek
other scalps, among them that of Mr.
Hopkins.
Reciprocal Trade Pacts,
The Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act is
another that must be re-enacted by Con-
gress by June, unless the country is to
go back to the Smoot Hawley Tariff Act,
put through in the Hoover administra-
ton, the last general tariff law on the
books. Republicans are doing lot of
talking about defeating re-enactment of
the reciprocal trade agreement law.
More likely they will, in the end, center
on an amendment to compel ratification
OF all trade agreements made by the
President with foreign countries by con-
greSslonal action. 1t would create a
chaotic condition if the duties of the
Smoot-HaWley Act were revived in full.
In contrast with the riffs in the Demo-
cratic congressional ranks, the Republic
cans in both House and Senate have SO
far lined up we'll together Joe" Mar
tin was reelected leader of the House
Republicans without any contest what
ever, and Senator McNary of Oregon as
minority leader of the upper house Nor
have the Republicans allowed the iso-
latlonism issue to get them down Sem
ator Austin of Vermont, strongly opposed
TO 1solatlonism, was redesgnated assist
ant Republican leader in the Senate.
In the House, Representative Hamilton
Fish, an isolationist before the war of
the most violent type, has stepped off
the Committee on Foreign Affairs-he
was the ranking Republican member.
Representative WadSworth of New York,
who is anything but an isolationist, was
placed on the Republican Committee on
Committees to represent New York by
vote of IA to 4 in caucus of the Re-
publican State delegation. He defeated
Representative Reed, another isolation
lst proposed by Representative Fish.
While the Republicans in Congress
have ducked successfully the isolationist
issue so far, there is no doubt that the
old spirit is still strong under the surface.
The Congress may tackle the problem
of preparing for peace. The advisability
OF such program has been urged. How
the Executive will look upon any move
by the legislators along these lines is
another matter Under the usual pro-
gram, the Executive handles all peace
negotiations, which would include plan
ming for peace. The President, in his
message to Congress, gave his approval
to international cooperation after the
war How far he wishes Congress to mix
in the preliminaries, however, is another
matter.
Germans Auuin PiIIuoe