SENATE AND HOUSE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23647, 3 November 1938, Page 11

SENATE AND HOUSE

ELECTIONS IN AMERICA POLLING NEXT TUESDAY LITTLE CHANGE EXPECTED (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) NEW YORK, Nov. 1. (Received Nov 2, at 9 p.m.) The American nation will go to the polls on Novembei 8 for the regular biennial national election to elect 37 senators and 435 members of the House of Representatives, and 32 State governors and administrations. Despite the probable appearance of six new senatorial figures and a score or so of new representatives, due to the nomination of new men in the primaries. President Roosevelt will probably have to deal with virtually the same Congessional body that has been in office since he began his second term, provided, of course, there is no upheaval at the polls, and an upheaval is far from likely. The Senate at present comprises 76 Democrats, 15 Republicans, and five others. Thirty-seven will be elected on Tuesday, including five to fill the vacancies of those who have not finished their terms. It will, therefore, be impossible to overthrow Democratic control in the Senate, since many of these come from southern States, and therefore will be Democratic.

The make-up of the nouse is 328 Democrats, and 88 Republicans and others. The Republicans' most optimistic hope is that they will capture 25 new seats. Any larger number would upset all the present diagnosis, but although this would only slightly diminish the Democratic strength t might nevertheless increase the President's difficulties with Congress, which during the two past years, has learned the art of revolt against him On the other hand some observers believe that any loss of numerical strength would cause the remainder of the Democrats to rally more strongly about him.

There are two politico-economic forces which the President finds more difficult to handle than his outright opponents, whether within the Democratic or Republican Parties, the chief of them being "the ham-and-eggs social security " scheme, a new variety of the Townsend plan. This is centred principally in California, where the Democratic senatorial nominee (Mr Sheridan Downey, who defeated the veteran Mr McAdoo. despite President Roosevelt's endorsement, is running under a programme promising 30 dollars every Thursday to persons over 50. Democratic candidates in at least eight other States have been endorsed by followers of similar schemes, and President Roosevelt, who has called the schemes " crackpot inventions," is trying to combat them by plans to have the Congress add perhaps 10,000.000 more persons to the 40,000,000 already eligible for pensions under the present Federal social security.

The second force is Senator La Follette's third party movement. It was t believed that this would rob President Roosevelt of the left wing support, but it is now believed that the movement is basically agrarian and Conservative, and actually the left-wing sentiment for the greater part throughout the country is generally pro-President. The so-called Roosevelt luck seems to be holding in various respects. The improvement in business conditions seems to be continuing, and it is almost traditional in American politics that a Government which is holding office during an upward economic movement is likely to be returned. Against this, however, must be counted unfavourable reaction in agricultural areas due to the low prices of commodities and red taoe. which seems to delay the ooeration of the agricultural adjustment administration, and the reaction to the corruption charges in the administration of relief funds.

Observers with long-view interests look to the elections not only to indicate the status of President Roosevelt's popularity, but what new forces have developed in both major parties and to what degree these reDresent a new national trend. However, this is rather academic. The people themselves chiefly want to know how popular the President still i' and what clues they can draw from it concerning his intentions to run in 1940 for a third term.