MR ROOSEVELT IN DIFFICULTIES

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22250, 15 November 1937, Page 9

MR ROOSEVELT IN DIFFICULTIES

Meeting Opposition Of Congress

DANGERS OF ECONOMIC

POSITION

(TOTTED TRESS ASSOCIATION —COPYRIGHT.)

(Received November 14, 8.30 p.m.)

WASHINGTON, November 13

A special session of Congress will be convened on Monday, not only in, an atmosphere reminiscent of March, 1933, the depth of depression, but with the added aspect that the personal fate of President Rcosevelt will be very much at stake. If the President desires re-election in 1940—-'and it has now become increasingly evident that he is likely to seek a third term—what Congress does will have very great effect. There is no longer any concealing the fact that the recovery of America is apparently as insecure as a house on stilts, and whereas, in the words of one observer, "tomanage a slow and orderly reduction in the height of our stilts ought not to bo difficult," the situation is infinitely more serious than Americans are apparently willing to admit themselves. President Roosevelt spent the week-end writing a long message to Congress, setting out the proposals that in his opinion are necessary to rectify the present condition, but so many conflicting forces seem to be at work that it may be questioned whether even a docile Congress, adopting without question his entire programme, would produce a solution. The measures which President Roosevelt will apparently ask from Congress include farm relief, arising from the large crops, a wages and hours bill, a national land conservation scheme, governmental bureau reform, strengthening the anti-trust laws, a huge housing campaign to stimulate business, and ship subsidies.

Long-range Planning

President Roosevelt is apparently still taken up with the necessity of long-range planning and undertakings, but he may face a runaway Congress. From the wide variety of demands being made, something must be done immediately to reassure business, re-establish confidence, and reduce taxes, notably on undistributed profits and on capital stocks.

The assurances of the Secretary of the Treasury (Mr H. Morgenthau) of a reduction of expenditures and balancing the Budget on November 10 were taken in some quarters as an indication that President Roosevelt is now seeing the wisdom of changing his tactics. Mr Walter Lippman, the noted publicist said: "There is good reason to believe that President Roosevelt is no longer acting on the assumption that his electoral majority gave him a mandate to execute his personal programme." "We may look forward now to something much better than a vindictive, destructive, and decisive quarrel between conservatives and reformers," Mr Lippman added.

Factors Leading to a Crisis

The National Republican Congressional Committee to-night has issued a statement demanding a special session to devote itself exclusively to the immediate business of amelioration. Democratic congressmen, with an eye to the congressional elections of 1938 also widely urge that the Government should abandon reform and relax the reins on private initiative and give business and industry an opportunity and an incentive to expand. It is, however, far from certain that Mr Roosevelt has abandoned his long-range programme. His addresses on his recent western trip indicate clearly that he is prepared to make a few basic concessions to the so-called economic Royalists and' hopes to end the vindictive, destructive, and indecisive quarrel between conservatives and reformers. He will probably be disappointed because a minor tax reform and other I amelioratives may be insufficient to cure the sudden serious economic illness.

The generally high prices of consumers' commodities, the grave shortages of meat and other staple products, the heavy recessions in the steel and other large industries, the seasonal output of merchandise factories which has suddenly shrunk to the lowest point in years, the laying-off on a large scale of workers in many basic industries, the extremely high taxation, which must remain high because of the necessity of meeting the continued relief of distress, the sharp distrust by foreign business of American conditions, which is seriously affecting foreign trade, and .the deep psychological lag which has overtaken the minds of businessmen, may all compel Mr Roosevelt, under pressure from the Western and Southern Liberal groups to intensify again the New Deal fight. The crisis of Mr Roosevelt's career may occur before the end of the year.