The Press FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 1954. The Congressional Record

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27439, 27 August 1954, Page 10

The Press FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 1954. The Congressional Record

The Americans have a great liking for statistics, particularly in the form of graphs. Even the machinery that enacts the country’s laws is carefully measured to compare its current output with past performances. A few weeks ago the graph that shows the number of public laws passed by . the United States Congress—which the more important newspapers print from time to time—showed the present (the eighty-third) Congress in a very bad light compared with its predecessors of 1947-48, 1949-50, and 1951-52, especially, as its critics said, as this was politically a new Congress, which came into office with promises of sweeping reforms. President (Eisenhower and his Administration, and, even more,, the organisation of the Republican Party, must have felt that the people to whom these promises were made were feeling about this record very much what the graph indicated they should feel: that this was just another “ do-nothing ” congress. The legislative review from Washington, printed on Monday, shows how the last few weeks have been used to turn the tell-tale graph sharply upward. The Republican-controlled Congress, which spent the greater part of its 18-months term rebuffing and frustrating the Republican President, found itself compelled to recognise, as the mid-term elections drew near, the truth of Mr Eisenhower’s warning: “We shall stand “ or fall by our legislative record It is greatly to the'credit of President Eisenhower and his Administration that the legislative record thus spectacularly and belatedly achieved is not by any means a votecatching record. Measures of foreign military and economic aid, which are of doubtful political appeal (considering that the average voter feels the cost directly and only dimly perceives the benefit) received at least as much consideration from Congress as the internal legislation which, by and large, wins or loses votes. The mutual security programme was passed without crippling cuts—surely a triumph for President Eisenhower in face of the opposition of Congressmen of both 'parties, who had recorded a year before- their solemn promise to vote for no more “ give- “ aways ”. Domestically, the major achievement of the eighty-third Congress is a comprehensive revision of the tax laws, which President Eisenhower -called the corner-stone of his economic policy. The form of this legislation also reflects credit on the Administration, which aimed at the legal and administrative reform of a fiscal system burdened with the anomalies of 20 years of piecemeal amendment; opportunities to win votes with substantial individual tax reductions were used with great restraint. The Administration also won a notable victory over the politicians and the pressure groups which have bitterly resisted the replacement of high and rigid farm produce price by flexible or sliding-scale supports designed to encourage production where necessary and to discourage it where there are surpluses.

are surpluses. Not all the President’s legislative -ogramme won approval Among the more important measures that were killed or withdrawn were the

admission of Hawaii to statehood, the revision of the Taft-Hartley labour L.ws, and the three-years renewal of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act (which was renewed, instead, for another year). The Government’s failure to adopt liberal overseas trade policies, as recommended by the Randall Commission, is the greatest disappointment to the allies and associates of the United States; but President Eisenhower did use his personal influence with great

success to discourage Congressional moves to curtail American participation in organisations of international co-operation. That is

something to be thankful for; isolationism is still a very attractive political creed to many Americans.