Evening star., 1948-11-07


he Truman record that Demo-
;ratic regulars on Capitol Hill must
:est their own hopes for political
when next they seek Office.
~ The President is not a vindictive
man and he isn't mad at any one, "
rs an associate puts it, so, conse-
luently, the people who took walk
IN him perhaps will find their
White House welcome as warm as
ever. But Mr.. Truman has made
certain promises to the little people
Of the country and it is a safe bet
that he will do everything possible
TO carry them out without regard
TO WHOSE toes might get tramped.
He has said that.
To Follow Up Promises
To start with, he has pledged to
seek repeal Of the Taft-Hartley Act,
and time after time has told au-
diences of working people that If
they wanted to get rid Of this piece
Of legislation they should elect a
Democratic President and a Con-
yress Of the same political faith.
They did, of course.
He told a Harlem audience that
he would use every means to put
through his controversial civil rights
program which gave birth to the
Oixiecrat movement, and Congress
,an expect to hear from that one
Early in the session.
He has promised to put price con-
trolls in effect if it could be done
md advocated housing legislation
hat he said would enable people
70 get a place to live in for $50 or
800 a month. That speech, Incl
ientally, was made in jersey City
and the Presidents pin-pointing Of
Just what he thought a housing bill
should do received one of the big
yest ovations of his campaign. He'll
be back again plugging for health
a boost in the minimum
wage from 40 cents to at least rs
cents an hour and broader social
coverage plus increased
benefits.
Going Down the Line -. ...-
I'm other words,5.the President Is
going right down the New Deal line,
and he'll be looking to the people
he helped get elected to go along
with him.
But before he does, it can be as
that Mr.. Truman will start
taking members of Senate and
House into his confidence more than
he has in the past. With Senator
Barkley as his Vice President. and
officer Of the Senate, Mr..
Truman's path there promises to
be easier.
The President didn't get any sup
port on the home front when he
had Democratic majorities In the
Seventy-eighth and Seventy ninth
Congresses, and in some quarters,
there was tendency to ascribe this
to poor liaison between White House
and Capitol. When Mr.. Truman
first came to the presidency he used
to go back to the Senate occasionally
and lunch with his former associ-
ates, but this camaraderie didn't
last too long, and that turn of af-
fairs probably didn't help much.
His House contacts were not good
either, according to gossip.
At the outset Of his administra-
ton, the daily calling list always
contained the names Of members
Of the Senate and House. In recent
q congressional visitor has
been almost q rarity.
Foes Fell by Wayside
No matter what he does, Of course
he will have an intransigeant ele.
ment from both parties on hi
hands, but Mr.. Truman demon.
strated pretty effectively in his Ions
campaign that he could cause a lot
of trouble for congressman who
served the interests" as he put it
Some of the Presidents targets got
by despite his smashing attack, no.
tably Representative Taber of New
York, chairman of the Appropria-
tions Committee; Representative
Halleck. Indiana, Republican whip
and Representative Martin of Mas
sachusetts, the Speaker.
But the way that other ma ajority
members of the "good-for- nothing
do-nothing Eightieth Congress" fell
by the wayside testified to the effec-
tiveness of Mr.. Truman,s drive that
started in June with that mon
political" coast trip-and has been
waged unremittingly since.
The President also had some peo-
pie outside Of Congress who didn't
see the light until after the July
and while they don't
rate any consideration, he'll prob
ably figure that politics is politics
and let bygones be bygones. There1l
be another election coming on in
four years, and Mr.. Truman will do
his best to hand on a united party
to his successor, whoever that
may be.
Young Blood for Party
: In passing it might be mentioned
that there has been some young
blood injected into the party as the
result of the election-people like
Hubert, Humphrey. the Minneanolis