Veto Sustained

West Virginia's Bible-spouting Democratic Senator Matthew M. Neely was in rare form as he raged last week against President Eisenhower's veto of the 8.8% postal pay-raise bill (TIME, May 30). Cried he: "My text consists of the ninth and tenth verses of the seventh chapter of Matthew: 'What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?' For 1,900 years these questions remained unanswered. But now every postal employee in the U.S. can identify the man. He is the confused and floundering mythical one who, at the moment, occupies the presidential chair."

Neely was wasting his breath: the veto was sure to be upheld. Twenty Republican Senators had voted for the raise (to keep their fences mended at home), now planned to vote to sustain the veto (to keep their fences mended with the Administration). The 54 to 39 vote in favor of overriding was eight short of the necessary two-thirds majority. With the 8.8% raise out of the way, the Senate Post Office Committee immediately began work on an 8% postal pay-increase bill, which has a good chance of passing and being signed by the President.

Other congressional business last week:

P:The House approved and sent to the White House a $3.3 billion Treasury-Post Office Department appropriation, $37.9 million less than the Administration had requested, with $33 million of the cut applied to Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield's budget.

P:The House sent to the Senate a $1.1 billion Commerce Department appropriation, after passing an amendment adding $2,250,000 to the Weather Bureau's funds for improving the emergency hurricane-and storm-warning system. The President's request for a crash program to complete the Inter-American highway in three years, instead of six, was rejected.

P:The House passed and sent to the Senate a bill to provide bread for needy Americans in disaster or high-unemployment areas. The Agriculture Department would be authorized to process surplus wheat into flour and surplus corn into meal for distribution to the states through the Health, Education and Welfare Department.

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