Evening star., 1949-09-04
Predicts Failure for
Fair Deal Program
Congress Seen Likely to Approve
But One Major Project
Bv Frank r. Kent

By Frank r. Kent
AS this session of Congress enters its
eighth month, the failure of the Truman
administration (but for one thing) ap-
proaches the colossal. # any President in
the year Immediately following his election.
and with his party in full control Of Con-
gress, ever had SO unsuccessful leadership.
his name cannot now be recalled.
No President ever made so many prom
ises or fulfilled so few. The Taft-Hartley
Act has not been repealed and his civil
rights program has not been put through.
His tax proposals, both those he made at
the beginning and those he made later
when he reversed his position, have been
disregarded. His extremely radical farm
program has Topped and his socialization
of medicine plan begged down long ago.
1t was Senator Taft's housing bill and not
Mr.. Trumans that went through.
kk
Congress has appropriated great sums
for example, $130,000,0 900 extra for the vet
erans-which he opposed. and it has re-
fused to make even greater appropriations
which he has demanded. His talk about
retrenchment has become a joke when
weighed against the enormous plans for
spending which he advocates and the great
subsidies which he is dangling before so
many special groups Probably a consider
able extension of social security which the
President is urging will be enacted, but both
parties are for that. THIS record OF failure
is really unique ue-particularly when to 1t is
added his inability to gain confirmation
from the Democratic Senate of his close
personal friend ex-Gov. Mon Wallgren Of
Washington, who is still here, apparently
waiting for a recess appointment of some
kind
One would think that in such situation
as this Mr. Truman would be discouraged.
Certainly, most men would be; but, II he Is.
there are no visible signs. On the contrary.
though the legislative jam is the worst ever
seen in Congress. he appears convinced that
public sentiment is strongly in favor OF the
direction in which his program would take
the country and that if he keeps Congress
in session long enough, most of this program
will go through. If not, he will put the
blame on Congress in 1850 as he did in l948
and the people will elect men who will fol-
low him.
Perhaps he is right about this, but not
many. in or out Of Congress- will agree. How
ever, one thing is certain-Whatever he gets
through will carry us further toward the left
than before. The White House Inner circle
no longer makes any pretense of adherence
to conservative or orthodox finance. The
to the rear The Truman economic advisers
are inclining more to the extreme liberal
view that the size of the national debt does
not matter as I'VE owe it to ourselves" There
are no plans for reducing the debt In the
budgeting preparations for 1872. The
views of Prof. Seymour Harris of Harvard,
who thinks it is anti-socal to save, are again
being quoted and the benign effects OF
vast debt as set forth by Robert K. Pepper.
81 TIo.& hJou,c Dyac ir,,Io ri
entitled, What Is Good About the Debit"
are being cited. Recently this document
was put in the Congressional Record by .
strong administration Senator.
Probably the most revealing evidence that
the Truman Fair Deal goes way beyond the
Roosevelt New Deal in its efforts toward
the welfare state" is in the bill creating
the Columbia Valley Administration-and
this may be the one notable administration
achievement of the session. Though little
publicized. in some ways it is the most i'm
portant pending measure. 1t creates
monopolistic Government corporation not
only much more autocratic than the Ten
nessee Valley Authority but several times
as large. There is no space here adequately
to describe this bill, but the eva would cer-
tainly be the most potent agency In the
country. It would easily dominate the States
of Washington. Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
It would have control of vast funds and Of
a gigantic jobholding machine Of great
political potentialities.
In time 1t not only would be Independent
of the government of these four States but
practically Of Congress as well. 1t Is being
pushed not only by the Truman admins
tration but by powerful group Of Western
Senators who seem to ignore the fact that
behind this bill is the greatest drive against
private enterprise yet made. Those who
oppose it, of course. are being smeared as
tools of the power interests" If it goes
through, the power and size of the Federal
bureaucracy will be vastly enhanced, the
Importance of State government greatly
diminished and great stride made toward
the naturalization of industry. If it goes
through Notwithstanding the failure Of
everything else, this would be something the
administration might think 1t could boast
about.
Hugo Kuerscher, Gustave Bender and Simon
Wolf Among the guests would be: Carl
apd Edward II Cr0On Emile Berliner.