OPPOSITION TO PRESIDENT

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21464, 4 May 1935, Page 15

OPPOSITION TO PRESIDENT

PROGRAMME ATTACKED BIG BUSINESS URGES ALTERATIONS OPEN FIGHTS IN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE TEr.r.CrttAi'n - corral'-, m- > (Received May 3. 7.5 p.m.) WASHINGTON, May 2. The growing feud between business men and Mr Roosevelt came plainly into the open to-day when the Chamber of Commerce of the United States at its annual convention here, after the President's refusal to send them the traditional message of greeting, adopted a series of resolutions sharply censuring much of the New Deal. The Chamber asked: — That the present National Recovery Act be allowed to lapse and a Congress vote be substituted on a strictly temporary and limited basis. That the Federal Government should cease its efforts to regulate public utilities That the 30-hour week should not be made law, nor should a permanent National Labour Board be established. That any fundamental change in the Federal Reserve Bank system would be detrimental to the country. That the Agricultural Adjustment Act must change its agricultural production and restriction policies. That the Administration should postpone its social security programme for at least another year. There were open fights on the floor of the convention as militants overrode every effort to soften the wording of the resolutions. The convention adjourned in a fighting mood, apparently determined to oppose any rapprochement with the President.

MR ROOSEVELT'S ANSWER BACKING OF PROMINENT MEN GAINED PLEDGE OF S'LTPOKT (Received May 3. 10.20 p.m.) WASHINGTON, May 2. Mr Roosevelt to-night deftly countered the criticism of the Chamber of Commerce when he invited to the White House some 30 leading industrialists who are members of the Business Advisory Council of the Federal Department of Commerce, and won from them a p]edge "to uphold his hand in the fight against the depression," disagreeing with the stand taken by the chamber. These business men, including Mr Henry Harriman, retiring president of the Chamber of Commerce, specifically endorsed a two-year extension of the National Recovery Act, in much the same form as was recommended by the President. They also approved the general principles of the President's security legislation.