Work, Opinions, Feuds

From the acts and opinions of their Congressmen the U.S. people last week could piece together an authoritative index of some problems they fare in 1943. No paramount issue of U.S. policy, foreign or domestic, had yet been placed for action before the new and determined 78th Congress, but the Senators and Representatives were making news all over the lot. Some was good, old-fashioned rowdy Congressional news which revolved around personalities; some reflected the serious tone of a Congress engaged in war:

Up, Up, Up. ... In the Senate, crusty, old Walter F. George, chairman of the Finance Committee, moved to increase the national debt limit to $210,000,000,000 (limit in 1939: $45,000,000,000). Said he: that is the Treasury's estimate of what the debt will be on July 1, 1944.

Vito Vetoed. The House, at last, got all its committee assignments straightened out, but not without some hurt feelings and one bitter scrap. All hell broke loose when North Carolina's conservative Robert ("Muley") Doughton submitted the name of New York's tough, pinko Vito Marcantonio as a member of the potent Judiciary Committee. Marcantonio, the only American Laborite in the House, had fought defense measures before the Nazi attack on Russia in 1941; afterwards he had screamed for an A.E.F. He had infuriated Southerners by plugging for bills against poll taxes and lynching. Croaked wrathful Judiciary Committee Chairman Hatton Sumners of Texas: "I will not have him on my committee." Administration supporters withdrew Marcantonio's name.

Army & Manpower. Chairman Robert Reynolds of the Senate Military Affairs Committee started hearings on the size of the Army (see p. 16), said he would not make up his mind until he had "all the evidence." His committee also considered lengthening the work week (but did not say how). Cracked South Dakota's Senator Chan Gurney: "If you have 18,000,000 men in industry working 40 hours a week to produce a given amount of goods, you could get the same amount from 12,000,000 working 60 hours a week, thereby freeing 6,000,000 for the armed forces."

Economy--With Teeth. In the House, Missouri's knob-nosed Clarence Cannon, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, moved to give his committee sweeping powers to slice nonwar expenditures. He proposed that the committee have authority to issue subpoenas, compel witnesses to testify under oath, and to hire technical experts to sleuth through the budget. In a Congress bent on economy, his proposal seemed certain of approval.

The Ghost Again. The ghost of Prohibition leered out from behind the pillars. Fumed Representative Edward H. Rees, dry-throated Kansan: "While we are asking people to cut down the use of fuel and lighting in their homes, schools and churches, drinking places in Washington and other cities are well heated and well lighted until early morning."

Taxes. Well aware that they must pass the biggest tax bill in U.S. history, Congressmen pored over plans and statistics. Mused "Muley" Doughton: Congressmen were doing nothing else but answering letters on the Ruml pay-as-you-go plan. Said Massachusetts' Allen Towner Treadway: "Pay-as-you-go collection of income taxes is absolutely imperative."

Feudin' Gene. Georgia's feuding, whip-tongued Representative Edward Eugene Cox got hopping mad at the Federal Communications Commission, which had accused him of receiving $2,500 of stock in a Georgia radio station whose license he had helped obtain. Cried wounded Gene Cox: "Gestapo . . . Reds. . . . This commission ... is the nastiest nest of rats to be found in the entire country." Then he banged through a resolution to investigate FCC, got himself appointed chairman of the investigating committee.

Unexpurgated Source. South Dakota's Chunky Representative Karl E. Mundt, who fortnight ago proposed a Congressional committee to plan the peace (TIME, Jan. 25), had a new idea: send the Congressional Record free to all Army camps and military establishments. Said he "Surely the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen of the country have a right to know what is going on in Congress from an unexpurgated source."

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