Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-04-17
He Sticks to His Guns


President spoke from the heart when he
said he was vetoing the farm bill with
intense disappointment and regret" For
no one knows better than Mr.. Eisenhower
that this decision to stand up for what
he believes to be right can have very
painful political consequences.
The Democrats think they have put
the President on the spot And maybe
they have. For three years Mr. Eisen-
hover has emerged unScratched which
things went wrong. The people have never
seemed to blame the President when some
administration project jumped the tracks.
Even in that politically most sensitive sit
uation of all-the slump in farm prices
the farmer has pointed the angry finger
at Secretary of Agriculture Benson, not
at the President. But now, or so runs
the reasoning of the Democrats, they
have Mr.. Eisenhower backed into a cor
ner This is his veto-his alone. And
they believe that 1t gives them an issue
on which they can carry the fight, at
least in the farm States, directly to the
President.
There is plenty of evidence to support
this thesis. One item is the pressure
applied by Speaker Rayburn and Majority
Leader Johnson. They put the farm issue
on basis of party loyalty When the key
votes came. Democrats in the Senate
and 20 in the House who had previously
voted against high price supports, and
who knew that this was a bad bill,
switched their positions and voted for it.
The evidence was just as impressive on
the Republican side. Despite all the
persuasion that could be brought to
bear, IS G. o. P. Senators and q House
members deserted the President and
sought to insure their personal political
futures by voting for the bill. 1t was
almost as though these legislators had
taken a long look at the administrations
position and had seen something in it
that reminded them of the old dtty
which runs like this:
Here lies the body Of Johnny Mckay
Who died maintaining his rioht-of -irdv
He iCaS right. quite right as he drOue along
But he's JuSt as dead as if he'd been wrono.
Perhaps these Congressman from the
Farm Belt were mistaken. Maybe they
could have stood with the President on
the high ground of doing that which
is right, as distinguished from that which
seems to be expedient, and still have
survived at the polls. But they didn't
think so, and these gentlemen, as a rule,
are in pretty close touch with sentiment
In their home communities.
Now that the issue has been drawn,
the maneuvering will begin. The PreSi-
dent will try to pin responsibility on the
Democratic Congress for passing a farm
bill which, in good conscience, he could
not sign. In the veto message, he said
he was "keenly mindful" that the failure
of Congress to enact good farm bill
can have "unfavorable effects on farm
income in 1856" AS an antidote, he
pledged prompt and decisive admins
tration action to improve farm income
now" And he also called on Congress
to pass straight soil bank bill as
promptly as possible" although it is most
unlikely that the Democratic majority
will do anything of the sort.
The Democrats will keep plugging
away on the this-WaS-a Eisenhower
veto theme. Not all of them will adopt
Harry Truman's uncompicated approach
namely, that Mr.. Eisenhower, being no
friend of the farmer, merely wants to
reduce farm income But most of the
Democrats will pounce on every opportu-
nifty to say that their bill would have put
more money In the farmers pockets this
year, and that the President has decreed
that they can't have it.
In this contest the Democrats appear
TO hold the higher cards. The veto, Of
itself, is not likely to be decisive in the
presidential election. But there is ample
reason to believe that it is going to hurt
the Republicans and help the Democrats
IN the scramble for control of the next
Congress.