THE WEEK IN REVIEW
THE WEEK IN REVIEW PRESIDENT RO'OSEVELT struggled with a difficult decision this week—whether to sign or veto the compromise soldier vote bill. If the harsh judgment pronounced on the bill by...
...1. 3A specific prohibition against the use of Federal ? ballots in the United States, except possibly by service men and women from Kentucky and New Mexico, which have no absentee voting laws...
...Scott Lucas, Illinois...
...ceive Federal ballots must certify they applied for a state absentee ballot before Sept...
...In a formal report on this "G.I...
...Lovett yielded, he revealed, at the request of Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes who felt that ".personal hostility" of certain members of Congress might endanger the passage of appropriations needed by the Interior Department...
...tion of President, Vice President, and members of Congress, would be distributed to members of the armed forces overseas whose governors and state legislatures certify prior to July 15 "that they will accept such ballots for counting...
...The President had revealed previously that the yardstick by which he would determine his course will be whether the compromise measure would enable more members of the armed services to vote in the November election than could vote under the 1942 soldier vote law...
...Bill of Rights," the Senate Finance Committee described it as "admittedly more extensive and generous" in its benefits for veterans than any bill in this or any other war...
...An indication of likely Administration action was the assertion by Sen...
...Progressive...
...But, the committee added, "we view it as true economy— the best money that can be spent for the future welfare of the nation...
...Governors of these states would have to certify such ballots were acceptable...
...The product of many months of bitter wrangling and political strife, the compromise measure rolled through both houses of Congress by decisive margins last week, in the House by a vote of 273 to 111 and in the Senate by 47 to 31...
...In a "balance sheet" report on food, Jones estimated that while the nation has less food than would be needed with unrestricted demand, there is enough nutritious food on hand to supply average needs...
...Roosevelt's prospects for a fourth term...
...Food Warning War Food Administrator Jones warned this week that "the United States is not the food basket of the world" and cannot be expected to carry the load of postwar relief feeding...
...Arthur H. Vandenbergj Michiga...
...Appointed to con-duet the investigation were Sens...
...B. R. May-bank, South Carolina, and Francis Maloney, Con* necticut, all Democrats...
...Petroleum Probe Assured A sweeping investigation of the nation's petroleum situation, with • special emphasis on the Roosevelt Administration's proposal to build a 1,250-mile pipe line from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea, was assured last week when the Senate passed a resolution directing the inquiry...
...Jr.,' Wisconsin...
...In the form in which it awaited final action by the President, the bill contained these principal provisions : 1Federal war ballots, providing spaces for the elec...
...The "GI Bill of Rights," an omnibus war veterans' aid measure providing for hospitalization, education, and vocational training, loans for homes, farms, and businesses, employment service, and unemployment benefits, was approved unanimously by the Senate Finance Committee...
...Edwin C. Johnson, Colorado...
...See roll call below...
...Chan Gurney, South Dakota, all Republicans, and Robert M. La Follette...
...Only 28,000 soldiers voted under the present law in the 1942 elections when the total, vote cast fell 8,-000,000 below normal...
...Joseph O'Ma-honey, Wyoming...
...Total cost of the measure has been placed at more than three billion dollars...
...Lovett Resigns Robert Morss Lovett, storm center of a long controversy between Congress and the Roosevelt Administration, resigned last week as executive assistant to Virgin Islands Gov...
...E. H. Moore, Oklahoma...
...Bennett C. Clark, Missouri Democrat, is virtually certain of passage as it already bears the signatures of 81 members of the Senate—51 Democrats, 29 Republicans, and one Progressive...
...It was to facilitate the voting process for men and women in the armed services in the approaching Presidential election that the Administration introduced legislation last Fall-only to have it undergo virtual emasculation in the compromise just passed...
...Thus, Democrats, in general, favored a far more liberal Federal ballot and voted against* the compromise because they feel that most men and women in the armed services would vote for their Commander-in-Chief—President Roosevelt—while, conversely, the Republicans were fearful of strengthening Mr...
...Spokesmen for both sides presented a wide variety of arguments during the long and often bitter debate, but hard-boiled Washington observers reported that the basic division was largely along political lines...
...F. D. R.'s Yardstick Anxious to avoid a head-on collision with Congress while it was still smarting from the pains of the tax veto row, President Roosevelt delayed a final decision on whether to sign or veto the compromise measure until he had had an opportunity to poll the governors of the 48 states on whether provisions of the bill requiring state action could be put into effect by July 15 and whether use of the Federal ballot was authorized in their states...
...Alben Barkley, Majority Leader, that the pending measure would deprive more servicemen of the right to vote than the 1942 law did...
...If the harsh judgment pronounced on the bill by public officials close to the President could be accepted as criterion, Mr...
...There were many Senators and Representatives motivated by less political considerations, of course...
...But if he expected clear-cut guidance from the governors, the President must have been disappointed as he pondered the variety of replies this week...
...In more optimistic vein, the Department predicted that "small business will be able to recover, at least in part" because "small business appears to be a persistent and hardy American institution...
...The response was just about 50-50, half the governors reporting that use of the Federal ballot already was authorized or would be approved in special sessions of the legislature, while the other half indicated either that they felt present state laws adequate or that they were opposed to a Federal ballot...
...2Service men and women overseas who wish to re...
...GI Bill Of Rights Meanwhile, members of the nation's armed forces appeared slated for generous economic provisions from the same Congress which was haggling over their political rights...
...Ralph O. Brewster, Maine...
...Toll Of Small Business The Department of Commerce disclosed this week that wartime shifts have resulted in the closing of more than 500,000 business firms in the United States, about one-sixth of the nation's total...
...Charles Harwood...
...Tom Connally, Texas...
...1, but had not received it prior to Oct...
...Roosevelt seemed virtually certain to veto the measure on the ground that it would actually make soldier voting more difficult than is the case under the present inadequate legislation...
...The bill, introduced by Sen...
Vol. 8 • March 1944 • No. 13
