Election Census

Many a Republican is convinced that if the Democrats cannot keep control of the Government while spending upwards of $5,000.000,000 per year on millions & millions of voters, then Franklin D. Roosevelt is not the political wizard his friends make him out. Yet Republicans in Congress continue meekly to vote for most of the appropriations the President requests for fear that, otherwise, their constituents will oust them from office. Last week, however, Republican Representatives to a man rose and screamed at the sting of a political hornet the like of which few of them had ever known before.

In the palmy summer of 1929 Herbert Hoover's special session of Congress passed an act ordering a census of agriculture every ten years. By that law an agricultural census would be held on Jan. 1, 1935. The Roosevelt Administration recently decided to spend, in addition to $2,700,000 already voted, $7,540,000 to take a simultaneous census of the unemployed. Secretaries Roper, Wallace, Ickes and Madam Secretary Perkins all urged the change. So did Census Director Austin, General Johnson, Relief Administrator Hopkins. They had excellent reasons:

The numbers, occupations and geographical distribution of the unemployed have never been accurately known. Without such knowledge relief funds cannot be spent intelligently, public works cannot be spread where they will do the most good, NRA cannot calculate how much reduction in the work week is necessary to sop up the puddles of joblessness. More important, the Administration cannot lay a sound plan tor unemployment insurance such as President Roosevelt recommended last week (see 11).

When the Democrats brought the census bill into the House, it was argued that Jan. 1 was a bad time for the count. Then on farms and in factories unemployment would be at its peak. Therefore the Democratic majority adroitly changed the starting date to Monday, Nov. 12--six days after the Congressional election. Under the terms of the bill the party in power could hire 105.000 men--250 to each Congressional district--and pay them $4 a day for two weeks to take the count. Nothing w?as to prevent the census-takers from being told by Democrats in advance that their appointments depended entirely upon their performance as votegetters on Election Day.

This obvious political possibility stung the Republicans into a frenzy. Angrily cried Minority Leader Bert Snell: "This is probably the boldest attempt ever made by a political party to pay 105,000 Democratic political election day workers out of the Federal Treasury." Under gag rule Democratic leadership sandwiched in the census bill after all members had been summoned to the floor to pass a processing tax on hogs. Shrilled Massachusetts' Republican Martin: "It is eminently fitting the leadership of the House should assign this pork bill to follow the roll call on the hog bill."

New Jersey's Republican Lehlbach: "The Democratic Party reported $5.000.000 to run the last election. Now they will take $7.500,000 out of the relief fund to run the election of 1934." New York's Republican Wadsworth: "This . . . deliberate attempt to sway and debauch the election . . . goes further than anything I have ever known in political legislation." Pennsylvania's Republican Ditter: "Ten million dollars of taxes Ten million dollars of greed Ten million dollars of census For only the Democrat's need." Republicans vainly moved to hold the census at once; to hold it Nov. 1; to reduce the appropriation from $7,540.000 to $1. Ruled out of order was an amendment by Illinois' Republican Britten; "Each census enumerator shall display a badge upon which shall appear the following inscription: 'I am a Democratic campaign worker being paid out of funds previously appropriated to feed hungry people.' " The thin blue line of Republicans under "General" Snell never reached the Democratic breastworks. The stalwart wave of grey rolled over them. 217 to 145. As the bill went to the Senate every Democrat member felt much easier about his re-election in November.

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