, 1906-02-08
SENATORIAL SENIORITY.

Recently there has been considerable
in the leading papers and periodicals
of the United States relating to the
prestige given a senator by reason OF
long service. wyoming is constantly
pointed out as being particularly for
tunate in this respect. BY reason oil
service, Senator Warren was able to
take the important military committee
in spite OF the anxious longing of the
powerful Lodge of Massachusetts,. And
Senator Clark of wyoming stepped to
the head of the judiciary committee, a
position held for so many years by ag'
ed senators from the Atlantic coast
Wyoming is out OF the cellar district
A writer in the Saturday Evening
Post discusses the question In an inn
partial, m~atter-offact manner, Mr.. La
Toilette of Wisconsin being the partlc-
ular senator he has in mind. He says:
"LaFollette, as everybody knows,
stands for a big public movement, and
came here with the prestige Of a great
popular victory. There appears to be
u pretty ECutlhl dblNNhlNhh a. I "hNN
Aldrich stands for. 1t could hardly be
described as anything popular. Yet he
is, perhaps, the most powerful individ-
ual in the senate, and very likely viii
be so as long as his faithful Rhode ISL
and legislature returns him, whereas
LaFollette's senatorial power Is accu-
rately gagged by his assignment to the
craftsmanship of the committee to in
vestigate the condition of the Potomac
river at Washington-whlch might as
well be the committee to put a wig on
Washington's statue. Admitting con
stituents will find his committeeman
in the sub-cellar next to the coal-bins.
This is not because the senate wish
ed to be particularly disagreeabie to
Senator LaFollette, but because the
might and the self-suficiency of this
singular body are so great that to 1t a
new member is simply a new member
ana nothing more. He goes to the tall
of the committees M takes a seat in
the corner. No matter what reputa-
ton he may have won, or what power
ne may nave ueNclOpeu OutSluc, ne hao
40 prestige in the senate save as he
may win it within that body. He may
be a big man elsewhere, yet fail to de-
velop as a senator. Depew, for exam
pie, came mere with a great reputation
and a great backing, yet has never
counted particularly in the enate.
Money is by no means the secret. No
doubt Clark, of Montana, is the richest
member Certainly he is one of the
least consequential.
There is a fine policy behind all
this, as there is behind the rigid rule
of seniority which looks so absurd to
an outsider. At every committee meet.
ing the senator's are seated at the ia,
BILE in the exact order of their senior
ity. The mere matter of sitting for a
half-hour in one chair rather h an
other looks trivial, but in factit involves
the most vital of all senatorial princi-
pies.
Mr.. Cullom, the pleasant senior
member from Illinois, is chairman of
the highly important foreign affairs
committeeman because he is suspect
ed to be overburdened with knowledge
of foreign affairs, but because he inner.
tied the position under the rule of SEN
iority. Mr.. Lodge, who knows all about
foreign affairs this side of Saturn, is
merely a subordinate member of the
committee. Spooner is probably the
ablest lawyer in the senate, and under
the rule of merit might well aspire to
the craftsmanship of the judiciary com
mittee. Undo the seniority rule hi
cannot. LaFohette is a past master at
regulating railway rates, which is the
most important. question that the SEN
ate will deal with at this session. I'm
der the seniority rule he can devote
his talents only to the mud-puddle on
the river front.
IF a new member were given con-
sideration for what he had done outside
and assigned to committees according |
to his talents, legislatures would be
more inclined to send new members
here. Under the rigid seniority rule
every term that a senator serves gives
hin capital for himself and for his
state. Senator Cullom is a case in
point. Illinois, presumably, has more
brilliant sons. If her legislature sends
one Of them here he will go to the tail
of committees N sit in the corner,
and h will lose the preferment which
Mr.. Cullom has won by long service.
This is frequently the deciding consid.
GRAFTON in a senatorial election.
Not Mr.. LaFollette alone, therefore,
but all new members, will be carefully
delegated to the sub-cellar.''
|
h Colorado and Southern railroad
appears to be entering upon a period of
construction work unsurpassed in its