VOTE FOR HOUSE

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27499, 5 November 1954, Page 13

VOTE FOR HOUSE

Democratic Majority (Rec. 11.30 p.m.) WASHINGTON, November 4. The composition of the new House of Representatives will make it easier for President Eisenhower to obtain Congressional approval for foreign aid, freer trade and other international policies. The Democrats are expected to have a majority of 29 in the new House of Representatives —232 seats against 203 Republican seats. The Democrats will now have the chairmanships of all the committees of the House, which frequently hold the power of life or death over the legislative proposals of the President. The House Speaker-designate, Mr Sam Raybum. of Texas, said the Democrats would try to “iron out” the farm programme and tax “iniquities” on taking control of the House next year. On foreign affairs, he said the Democrats favoured a “strong” policy and would work with President Eisenhower to try to make it a non-partisan policy. u We feel we should have a strong national defence, as we had when the Democrats were in, as long as the world is in danger and in the shape it is now,” he added.

Foreign Trade Policy The chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee, which will have to consider President Eisenhower’s proposals for a reduction of barriers to foreign trade, will now be wrested from Mr Daniel Reed (Republican, New York). It was largely the attitude of Mr Reed which frustrated the President’s efforts to liberalise the United States economic z policy earlier this year. The chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is likely to go to a strong advocate of European unity, Mr Jacob Richards (Democrat. South Carolina ). It was Mr Richards who obtained the passage of an amendment to last year’s foreign aid legislation cutting off aid to countries which did not ratify the European Defence Community Treaty or some similar scheme of European collective defence. Labour leaders declined to place any formal assessment on the balloting immediately, but they were disappointed that the returns were not more decisively Democratic. There was speculation that: — (1) Little, if anything, would be done about changing the Taft-Hartley Labour Relations Act in the next two years. Where unions had hoped that comfortable Democratic margins might augur well for Labour-endorsea amendments, they expected now to be put on the defensive to block changes urged by employers. (2) Some spending programmes the unions have demanded to create aid unemployment might find little support. ' . . (3) Some Democrats gaining seats m Congress might not be too sympathetic towards the unions.