State Rests

Congress, adjourning at the end of this week, probably not to meet again until next January, can pride itself on having been active enough in its seven-month session, but in too many things it has willingly failed. Broadly, the reason has been a confusion of statesmanship and politics, leading to such asinine Republican challenges as. "No tax relief, no European relief." Sinking back comfortably into their trust in man's supposed basic selfishness, these Congressional leaders based their political hopes on a fantastic combination of a brave, new isolationism and a hideous fear of Russia. But while a great deal of bumbling has been done about communism, labor unions, and government controls, none of which are especially dangerous to the country's welfare, time has been passing right along.

There are many things a statesmanlike Congress might have done in this period. A speedy application of European relief not only would serve one of the greatest humanitarian needs of all time, but would, by concrete evidence, give Europeans something to thing about in favor of American and her system of government. Tiredly shelving a bill to help solve the DP problem by letting some immigrants into the country, Congress has instead pushed to absured measures the attempt to "roundup" communists, whose influence of course is nil in a country as rich as the U.S. today.

Mr. Taft, from statesmanlike and other motives, has become the lion for the American way of life, leading him into the desired political conflict with President Truman. Ignoring the facts that you can't make even a labor union much weaker merely by a law, and that you can't decrease government funds and still bear a growing world responsibility, he has helped put on his majority party blinkers that hide almost everything but campaign politics. Meanwhile the world looks on, wondering what to expect from its most powerful component.

But Congress' record has not been all black. The bill to merge the armed forces, which is being pushed to passage this week, has been long needed, and will straighten out a host of pointless complexities, New, as Congressional investigating committees rush out to diverse points, hope must be suspended until next January. Perhaps then the legislators will form a consistent policy, a little more free from more sniping at the administration, as to what will eventually do the country most good. This will have to include a broad program of European relief and an understanding as to what part will necessarily be played by labor and by government regulations in the next few stormy years.