which starts next July. Most members of Congress are

which starts next July. Most members of Congress are reserving opinions on a majority of the President’s recommendations until the Committees to which they have been referred have had time to study them and tQ hear witnesses, but the situation this year, with Committees going to work at once on important legislation, is in happy contrast with last year when we marked time for several months because the majority leadership was waiting for recommendations from the Executive Department.

As was to be expected, the President's proposals for amendment of the Taft-Hartly Act did not please either those labor leaders who have insisted it is a “sl^ve labor”- law which ought to be repealed or the business leaders who have argued that it needs strengthing to preserve a reasonable balance of power between labor and management. It is obvious that there must be lengthy hearings and much debate before any significant changes in this law can be made. Labor is particularly dubious about the proposal for the Government to conduct secret votes to determine whether strikers want to remain on strike and management is doubtful about the effect of proposals to relax restrictions on secondary boycotts. One feature of the message which, at first glance, appealed to me was the suggestion that neither party to a valid contract shall be reqtired to negotiate during the term of that contract unless the contract

so provides or the parties mutually consent.Labor and management both have a right to assume that when they have agreed to a contract they can relax and devote themselves to business until its term has run. I also agree, in principle at least, with the President’s suggestion that the la#' should make clear that it does not invade States’ rights by preventing States from dealing with emergencies endangering health or safety within their borders. •The Senate Agriculture Committee acted promptly on the President’s