National Affairs: Wheat, Hurricane, Roaches

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Less than a month ago President Hoover warned Congress, meaning chiefly the Senate, to be economical (TIME. March 10). The Senate was resentful. The House sent the Senate a $48,000,000 deficiency appropriation bill. Last week, when the Senate had passed this bill, the outlay had risen to $171,000,000. But the Senate was not to blame for this apparent extravagance. Practically all increases had been made at the request of President Hoover: an extra $100,000,000 for the Federal Farm Board's wheat market operations, $3,000,000 for Porto Rican hurricane relief. $7,000,000 for seeds for flood-stricken farmers, $150,000 for U. S. expenses at the London Naval Conference. $50,000 for the Haitian Commission.

One item in the Senate bill which President Hoover did not recommend: $60,000 more for upkeep of the Senate Office Building. Prime pleader for that sum was New Hampshire's Senator George Higgins Moses who. as chairman of the Rules Committee, is the building's chief custodian. His explanation: "The building was infested with cockroaches until we found the source of it, down below, and closed it up. They became so lively that some of them were holding debates with the office force and making life unpleasant for Senators. I had to hire extra scrubwomen. . . . Remember, every Senator has a marble floor."

Washington's Senator Jones opposed the

Moses item. Said he: "I don't remember seeing any cockroaches." To the support of his colleague came New Hampshire's Senator Henry Wilder Keyes (pronounced Kize). Said he: "The cockroaches were eating all the bindings off my books."