National Affairs: Battle to Stand Still

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Committed to the "trade not aid" idea, the Eisenhower Administration proposed last spring to 1) continue the reciprocal trade program for one year, and 2) meanwhile, set up a commission to study the problem and work out a sound policy. Even that far from bold program ran into trouble on Capitol Hill. Pennsylvania's Republican Representative Richard Simpson introduced a bill to extend the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act and gut it with protectionist amendments. The Administration put up a battle, finally got most of what it had asked.

In June, Simpson & Co. brought forward a new bill to amend the Reciprocal Trade Act. This "second Simpson bill" was as frankly protectionist as the first. Among other things, it would have set higher duties on lead, zinc and watch movements, imposed quotas on oil imports, made it easier for domestic producers to seek relief from the Tariff Commission. Simpson avowed that under his bill manufacturers could get "50% more protection than under the Smoot-Hawley Act [of 1930]."

Last week, with Democrats leading the debate against the bill, the House voted it down. At one point, Minority Leader Sam Rayburn said tauntingly that "not one Republican has risen to support the President." On the final roll call. Republicans did a little better than the debate indicated: 108 to 106 against sending the Simpson bill back to committee. Democrats lined up 133 to 55 in favor, and thanks to the Democratic vote, the second Simpson bill slipped, for this legislative session at least, into the House's legislative limbo.