Relief at Last

Still the Congress wrangled, all last week, over the relief bills to be enacted for drought-stricken farmers and the industrial unemployed. The House wanted to lend the farmers $30,000,000 for feed and seed; the Senate wanted to lend them $60,000,000.* The Senate insisted that the farmers be permitted to buy food for themselves as well as their livestock under the loan; the House thought this would be a dole. On the $116.000,000 unemployment-relief bill there was disagreement over: 1) Senator Robinson's amendment taking allotment of sums out of the President's hands, 2) other Senate amendments to specify roadwork projected in Georgia and Alabama, and to authorize payment of the highest prevailing wage in any locality for the work to be given the unemployed. Then up rose Idaho's Senator William Edgar Borah crying: "For God's sake, get something done to feed the people who are hungry!" Public and Press were making themselves heard in a like vein. Besides, Administration leaders in Congress threatened not to allow the customary two-weeks adjournment for Christmas and New Year's if the relief bills were not passed. Congress finally listened. Result: Joint conferees compromised on a $45,000,000 drought-relief bill in which the word "food"' was dropped and the phrase "other such purposes incident to crop production . . ." substituted. Both chambers passed the measure. Sentiment in the Senate over its unemployment-relief amendments also changed and the $116,000,000 bill was passed, omitting the Georgia and Alabama work and not stipulating what wages should be paid by the contractors. Provisional division of unemployment relief funds were as follows: Federal State-highway aid $80,000,000

Rivers and harbors 22,500,000

Mississippi flood-control 3,000,000

National forest highways 3,000,000

National forest roads and trails 3,000,000 Roads in unreserved public land 3,000,000 National park roads and trails 1,500,000 But the President's Cabinet Committee could take money from, any item to the benefit of the other, as local needs presented themselves.

One other important piece of legislation (outside of the standard 1932 appropriation bills) was brought before the Senate last week: the House bill to "give $150,000,000 more to the Federal Farm Board, thus tacitly approving its wheat-market operations. Such operations had been approved and called a success by a meeting of farm-organization heads and agricultural legislators before Congress convened. Despite broad objections by Senator Borah, who wants the export debenture form of farm aid, and specific objections by Senators Black and Tydings, who tried to stop the Board's trading in commodity futures and on margin, the bill was rammed through before the holiday adjournment, went to the President.

* The President had asked for $25,000,000, "the maximum which can be financed without increases in taxes."

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