CONGRESS OPENS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 86, 5 January 1935, Page 11

CONGRESS OPENS

Over Two Thousand New Bills RULES TIGHTENED President to Present Annual Message By telegraph.—Press Assn.— Copyright (Received January 4, 7.25 p.m.) Washington, January 3. - The seventy-fourth Congress, which is predominantly Democratic as a result of the November elections, was convened to-day and, after a brief organisation session, adjourned until to-morrow, when President Roosevelt will present his annual message to a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate. With over a two-thirds majority in the House, Democrats overrode the Republican opposition and elected Mr. Joseph Byrns as Speaker to succeed Mr. H. T. Rainc’y, who died in August,' and under his direction immediately tightened Parliamentary rules to allow Administration leaders to maintain first-hand legislation. A law permitting legislation to be forced out of committee by' the presentation of a petition of 145 signatures was repealed making at least half of the members of the House’necessary. The customary flood of legislation .has been advanced, but little without the President’s support is likely to become law. In all 2400 Bills were presented, number one being a highly controversial one ordering the Treasury to pay war veterans two billion dollars in adjusted compensation certificates not due until 1945,

The President’s message to-morrow is expected to deal at length with the so-called “social security” programme, the report on relief administration affairs and other important features of the New Deal.

Treasury figures published to-day showed that the half-yearly deficit at December 31 reached the unprecedented figure of 1699 million dollars, indicating that the year will end with a deficit of 3500 million dollars. The public debt is up approximately 4500 million dollars from December, 1933, to a total of 28,500 million dollars.