Business, Pleasure & Politics

Five pounds lighter from his jaunt afield to Arkansas, Texas, Indiana (TIME, June 22), Franklin Roosevelt settled down last week to the not-so-arduous business of getting rid of Congress. Canceling his trip to the Yale-Harvard boat races, also his week-end yacht cruise, he swept his signature across scores of bills, none of which seemed to cause him great concern. Nor did he bother to put positive pressure on Congress to block or save any important measure. Thus he had time to attend to several other matters:

P: To write a note to Attorney General Cummings asking him "to take appropriate action" (i. e. prosecute under the anti-trust laws) against steel companies as the result of findings by the Federal Trade Commission that Secretary Ickes had been getting collusive bids on steel piling--an action which was shortly followed by Mr. Ickes taking a separate fling at the steel industry for failure to comply with the orders of the Labor Board.

P: To act under the flexible tariff law to boost the duty on zippers, thereby pleasing two loyal Democratic Senators, Guffey of Pennsylvania and Lonergan of Connecticut, who have in their constituencies the two big U. S. zipper makers.

P: To deny executive clemency to Arthur Gooch, Oklahoma convict who, in escaping from prison, kidnapped a policeman. Convict Gooch thereby became the first man to hang for kidnapping under the Lindbergh law. Said the President:

"Use of the executive power to modify the sentence imposed would be to render nugatory a law carefully considered by the Congress and designed to meet a national need."

P: To declare that war between Italy and Ethiopia has ended and U. S. citizens are once more free to sell arms to and ride on the ships of Italy and Ethiopia.

P: One morning came a loud buzz on the doorbell of the White House Offices. Secret Service men rushed out--for not in months had that bell been rung--glared at a man who meekly said, ''I am Judge Mack of Poughkeepsie. I have an appointment to lunch with the President." So he had, for he was to suggest to the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia this week, as he did in 1932, that it ought to nominate Franklin Roosevelt for President.

P: Still another guest was High Commissioner Frank Murphy coming to say "Hail" in token of his return from the Philippines, "Farewell" before departing for Philadelphia, in the interval to taste some White House food and while away a couple of hours planning a U. S.-Philippine conference to try to save the Philippines from the economic pains of independence.

P: On Sunday, Senator Alben Barkley with his keynote speech and Senator Joseph T. Robinson with his speech as permanent chairman of the Democratic convention, came to lay their themes on the lap of their chief for editing and correction.

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