Mr. SNELL. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I well appreciate the importance of what the gentleman from Tennessee has said. Of course it is entirely out of the ordinary to pass legislation in this House that, as far as I know, is not even in print at the time it is offered. I do not know that it is possible to distribute copies of the bill to the Members of the House, but that is not the question before us here at the present time. The house is burning down, and the President of the United States says this is the way to put out the fire. [Applause.] And to me at this time there is only one answer to this question, and that is to give the President what he demands and says is necessary to meet the situation.

I do not know that I am in favor of all the details carried in this bill, but whether I am or not, I am going to give the President of the United States today his way. He is the man responsible, and we must at this time follow his lead. I hope no one on this side of the aisle will object to the consideration of the request. [Applause.]

Mr. BANKHEAD. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield for a parliamentary inquiry?

Mr. BYRNS. I yield.

Mr. BANKHEAD. As far as I am advised, the House has not yet adopted rules of procedure for this Congress. As I understand it, unless objection is raised the ordinary proceedings governing the House during the Seventy-second Congress will prevail in the consideration of this unanimous-consent request?

The SPEAKER. The gentleman is correct.

Mr. O'CONNOR. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BYRNS. I yield.

Mr. O'CONNOR. Just to clear up the parliamentary situation, as I understand the request of the gentleman from Tennessee, it involves the consideration of this bill in the House as though the rules of the Seventy-second Congress had been adopted, and, as it were, under suspension of the rules; and the bill will not be subject to amendment. Is this correct?

Mr. BYRNS. The bill will not be subject to amendment.

Mr. STEAGALL. That is the inquiry I wanted to make. I wanted it clearly understood.

The SPEAKER. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Tennessee?

There was no objection.

Mr. STEAGALL. Mr. Speaker, in view of the supreme emergency confronting the Congress and the country, it was thought that the House should act upon the legislation before us without the delay incident to the organization of the Committee on Banking and Currency to which the legislation would be referred for consideration under the usual procedure of the House.

Members of the House, including the distinguished leader and the beloved Speaker of the House, and Members of the Senate were called into conference last evening by the Chief Executive of the Nation and this bill was discussed by him and the request made that the measure be expedited in every possible manner. In response to this request and in response to the demands of the hour, we have adopted this unusual method of consideration.

The first provision of the bill validates and maintains the authority exercised by the President of the United States in the proclamation relating to the banks of the Nation issued by the President on March 6,

1933.

Section 2 confers upon the President the powers bestowed under the act of October 6, 1917, regardless of whether or not the country is involved in war.

Mr. LUCE. It is, of course, out of the question, Mr. Speaker, that any man can grasp the full meaning of that bill by listening to its reading, having had no intimation whatever beforehand of what it contains. I, too, desire to help the administration meet this crisis. Whenever it may be necessary I will waive all opportunities of discussion.

Perhaps it was necessary in this instance to keep us on the minority side who have some acquaintance with this subject in the dark until the bill was produced. I will not intimate that there was intentional refraining from consultation with Members of this House who now for many years have lived with these questions and who ought to know something about them. The majority leaders have brought us a bill on which I myself am unable to advise my colleagues, except to say that this is a case where judgment must be waived, where argument must be silenced, where we should take matters without criticism lest we may do harm by delay. [Applause.]

Let me illustrate the embarrassments that come from lack of information. There is in this bill a provision for preferred stock of banks. Imagine my own situation, confronted by the fact that not 4 hours ago I put into the box there a bill with provision for that very purpose, not having the slightest idea that there had been discussion of this matter. I do not want to be impatient, I do no want to seem even in the slightest disturbed, but I do think, and I say to my friends of the majority, that if they desire us to go along in these things, if they desire our sympathetic cooperation-we want to give it-let the desired results be accomplished by ways that will not arouse in the breast of any man the thought that he has not had a fair show, the feeling that he has not had opportunity to present his views, the feeling that he has had no chance to pass criticism, possibly helpful.

Let us forget what has happened in this instance, let us not allow it to remain in our minds against anyone. Doubtless the pressure of the situation made quick action imperative. I am not going to protest against it. I am going to ask my Republican friends to accept my own position and not begrudge any help to the President of the United States in this emergency. [Applause.]

There are in this bill some things that if they could have been discussed by the Banking and Currency Committee might have been reshaped, perhaps to the public advantage, but better have it go along as it is, without any attempt at change, without any repining, without any complaint. Let it go now, remembering that this House is to continue in session, at least off and on, for some time; and if it proves that errors have been made in the hasty drafting of the bill, we shall have the opportunity, by law, to make corrections-provided the opportunity is given to us, provided this procedure is not repeated except when absolutely necessary, provided the Committee on Banking

and Currency is called together and given more opportunity than it had in the previous session to consider the great problems confronting the Nation, provided these problems are laid before the committee speedily, provided that we there may voice our matured views, express our friendly criticisms, and harmoniously work out together the results that shall be best for the country. [Applause.]

SEC. 13. All actions, regulations, rules, orders, and proclamations heretofore taken, promulgated, made or issued by the President of the United States or the Secretary of the Treasury, under the Act of March 9, 1933, or under section 43 or section 45 of title III of the Act of May 12, 1933, are hereby approved, ratified, and confirmed.

(251)

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2. House Debate (Excerpts)

78 Cong. Rec. 991-992, 1010-1011, January 20, 1934

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Mr. BEEDY. Mr. Chairman, although I have served here nearly 14 years, I have never become hardened to the point of being able to face without some pertubation of mind the fact that many times when serious matters are being discussed there are hurled across this aisle political epithets and a great deal of political sophistry. I was disturbed today when at the outset of this discussion the gentleman from New York rose and said, to the apparent delight of the galleries, that the Republican Party had an idea that the Federal Government was far removed, a thing apart, on the one hand, and that over here were the people who ought not to have anything to do with it, but that the Democratic Party believed that the Federal Government belonged to the American people. Of course, good Democratic partisans applauded that statement.

Now, let us be fair. There is not a man in this House who took the oath of office who does not have before him in these tragic hours of the life of this Republic the desire to do his sworn duty, regardless of political lines, in the way that will accrue to the benefit of the whole people of the Nation. I want the RECORD clear that there is on this side of the aisle a small group of men who in the hour of their defeat still accept their responsibility seriously and are anxious today to serve in a way which will be to the interest of the whole people to whom this Government belongs.

We have before us a measure which strikes at the vitals of the monetary system and which affects every dollar in every pocket and till in the Nation. The whole story was told a moment ago when the gentleman from Missouri rose in his place and said:

This is a legislative proposal of Franklin Roosevelt. Pass it! Who is there here who dares vote against it?

Let us get away from personalities. I am not concerned with the personality of the President or the personalities of those men, who, when the last administration was in power, did, perhaps, some things they ought not to have done. Let us get down to principles.

When the emergency was upon us in the days of the special session of Congress one piece of legislation after another came up from the White House, which were written the day before. With them came the order to pass them, and we passed them. We Republicans followed along like good soldiers all through that session. No one will make the accusation that during that time this minority did other than that which was for the good of the country as those in authority and places of responsibility saw it. We are now approaching that stage in the emergency where the light is beginning to dawn. It is beginning to dawn, not by reason of anything done in this country but as the result