Evening star., 1953-05-10
Senate Shows Signs
Of Liberal Attitude
On Budget 0ut|ays
By Robert K. Walsh


The Federal budget-balancing
puzzle became still more compli-
Gated yesterday when the So
.alled conservative Senate showed
signs of being more liberal than
the House in allowing funds
particularly for public power.
At q time when Democratic
Senator Byrd of Virginia and
Treasury Secretary Humphrey
were at odds over whether the
budget can be balanced for the
year beginning July 1. House
G. o. P. leaders said part Of the
answer depends on the Senate.
A part of that answer may
come this week. The Senate Ap-
preparations Committee expects
to report out tomorrow the
House approved appropriation
bill for % independent agencies.
The Senate version, on the basis
Of subcommittee suggestions.
would allot $467 million, or SIG
million above the amount re-
Gently approved by the House.
It also would restore the House.
disapproved funds for building
$4,000 new low cost housing
units.
Committee Under Pressure.
That Senate attitude was no
great surprise in view of reports
that Republican Leader Taft
thought the House went too far
in eliminating further public
housing.
The issue Of public or private
power, however. is understood to
have aroused even greater inter-
est in the Senate Appropriations
subcommittee studying the In
terror Department bill.
The subcommittee scheduled
an unusual night hearing for to-
morrow in an effort to hasten
Senate action on the $406 mil
lion bill approved April % by
the House. It was obvious at
hearings last week that the sub
committee, consisting largely Of
Senators from Far Western
States, was under strong pres
sure to restore items totaling
at least $40 million which House
Republicans struck out.
Those items were for such
projects as Bonneville admins
tration transmission lines and
substations and the funds for
the Southwestern Power Ad-
ministration. House Democrats,
led by former Speaker Rayburn
of Texas, charged that the
House majority not merely re-
fused to give Secretary Mckay
the amounts he asked but also
was bent on killing public power
programs.
House to Resume Action.
In the past years the Senate
often has added to departmental
appropriation bills sent over from
the House. This year House
leaders say they see a. more
emphatic trend along that line.
When asked about the possibility
of sufficient cuts to promise a
balanced budget, they reply that
the answer hinges not only on
the size of military and foreign
spending programs but also on
what the Senate does to all ap-
preparation bills.
The House, meanwhile, this
week resumes its fast clip in
handling appropriation bills. 1t
expects to pass a Treasury-PoSt
Office supply measure within a
day or two after it comes from
the appropriations committee on
Wednesday. Then it plans to
take up bills for the Labor and
Agriculture Departments next
week.
On the overall budget scene,
Republican leaders in and out
of Congress voiced added ap-
prehension yesterday that the
public may get an incomplete
picture of the problem. They did
not necessarily dispute Secretary
Humphreys statement that the
budget probably cannot be bal
anced for the coming year.
But there were suggestions in
some quarters that administra-
ton spokesmen should declare,
even more than President Eisen-
hover did at recent news con-
ference. that much of the budget
balancing difficulty stems from
spending obligations inherited
from the Truman administra-
ton.
Martin Is Disturbed.
Speaker Martin, for instance,
seemed especially disturbed at
any idea that the Republican,
controlled Congress might have
to increase the present statutory
debt limit of $275 billion.
Mr.. Rayburn, Representative
Mccormack of Massachusetts,,
Representative Cannon of Mis-
souri,. ranking minority member
of the appropriations commit
tee, and other Democratic leaders
indicated they are on the alert
to stage counter-attack.
From another Democratic an
gle, Senator Byrd said yesterday
he still stands by his analysis of
two weeks ago that budget bal
snce could be achieved by trim
ming $6.8 billion from the Tru-
man estimates for the coming
fiscal year. postponing scheduled
cuts of $2.1 billion in excise prof.
its and income taxes, and re-
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