After 78 days of committee consideration and two days of debate on the floor, the House last week approved U.S. participation in the Bretton Woods monetary program. On the final vote, party lines dissolved: 138 Republicans joined with 205 Democrats (and two minor party members) to pass, the bill, 345-to-18. (The dissenters were all G.O.P. bitter-enders.) The overwhelming vote was due to: 1) educational spadework by the Treasury Department; 2) sure-footed maneuvering by Speaker Sam Rayburn; 3) sober second thoughts by Republican House leaders. The nonpartisan character of the vote prompted a happy comment from...
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