RUFFLING THE POLITICAL SURFACE

A placid ending of the Congressional session has become wholly unlikely since Messers Frazier and Lemke planted their inflation bomb in the House. The implications of this bill are many and various, but for the moment they seem to be largely of a political nature.

That the measure should pass the House would not be surprising, for this particular pressure group is well-organized and draws its strength from two sources--the farmers and the inflationists. It should, at least, be blocked in the Senate, although the possible machinations of a wearisome filibuster by a farmer-inflation bloc presents a likely obstacle. The President, this election year, will not be able to escape with a shrewd sleight-of-hand measure such as he dealt the silverites and inflationists in the past few years. Any playing or temporizing with inflation at the present time would be disastrous for him personally.

It is the possible political repercussions, rather than the unethical and probably illegal aspects of the measure, which attract attention. Somewhat dormant recently, popular feeling and fears about recovery would be sufficiently whipped into a froth to reenforce Republican sentiment. The two proponents are, indeed, Republicans, but of the insurgent variety and they draw most of their support from the Democratic ranks. The real suggestibility of the measure, if it develops momentum, lies in what position Senator Borah might be forced to take, with his long record of favoring farmers and inflationists.

The old phrase "for the farmers" has been resurrected with great ceremony. Tied as it is to associations about the down-trodden and suffering, it almost automatically carries the seal of acceptance for the unthinking. The cleavage of party ranks emphasizes this thought. The bill may well create political whirlpools within both parties.