Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-08
PLAN TO TAKE LEAD
Pr0qresSiveS to Abolish Sen
iority Rule in Senate.
CLAIM TO HAVE MAJORITY
Veterans of the Body to Be I'm
horsed by New Element.
PROPOSITIONS AGREED UPON
Caucus to Name Committee on Com
mittees-Apportionment of Places.
Insurgents to Control.
PROPOSITIONS AGREED UPON

| Claims are being made today by pro-
| gressive democratic senators that the rule
or seniority in awarding important COM
mittee places and in making up the pow
er1ul committees in the Senate will be
knocked into a cooked hat when the DEM
| ocrats take control of the upper branch
| of Congress after March next. To the
plan of campaign which has been pretty
well defined. it is claimed twenty-eight
| democratic senators will give their sup
| port. This is more than a majority of
| the forty mine democrats who are expect
ed to have seats in the next Senate. and
| will. therefore. enable the progressives
| to r6le the democratic caucus.
If the progressives put through their
| plans in the democratic caucus those OPP
| posed must either accept or in effect bolt
the caucus. AT the beginning of demo-
cratic control of Congress for the first
| time in almost a score of years it is not
believed that any number of democratic
senators Will go so far as to refuse to
| vote in the Senate to uphold a program
adopted by the party caucus.
Ihe program of the progressive demo-
Gratis to take away from the veteran
senator's the power to which they
would be entitled under the long-es-
ia blished rule of seniority has been
well defined during recent conferences.
y
of majority of the democrats in the
next Senate has been obtained for it,
Propositions Accepted.
Upon three propositions 1t is under
stood that the progressives are in ac-
cord. These are:
First-The democratic caucus is to
choose the committee on committees.
which selects the membership of all
committees instead of having it APP
pointed by the chairman of the caucus.
| Second-Each democratic senator is
to have place on one of the five big
committees = appropriations. finance.
| foreign relations, interstate commerce
and judiciary-or shall have a chair
manship of one of the other important
committees.
Third-The chairman of the caucus is
not to be eligible for reelection.
1t has also been proposed that the pro-
gram recognizes the right of the older
democrats to the charmanships of the
big committees to which they are entitled
by seniority. providing that a majority
of the democrats on the committee shall
be prOgreSSiVeS. pom this proposition the
prOgreSSiVeS are by means united. 1t
has been advanced by its advocates as Of
fering scheme for putting the progress
ives i'm absolute control of the Senate's
business without giving OffenSe to the
older democrats and to their long service
in the upper branch of Congress.
Hope to Increase Majority.
The democrats are also laying plans
for increasing the margin of their con-
troll in the next Senate. Counting Ten
nessee as certain to send democrat, the
party leaders are counting upon forty
nine democrats. or only one more than a
majority i'm the next Senate. The demo-
Gratis are hoping to capture additional
seats through the elections in Maine and
| New Hampshire. In the legislatures of
both of those states the situation has
been complicated by the holding of the
balance of power by progressives. In both
states democrats profess to see chance
| for some sort of coalition by which the
senatorial togas can be placed on the
shoulders of the democratic candidates.
| 1t Is understood that the influence of
| President to-be Wilson will be brought to
bear in both these states in order to
bring about a larger democratic majority
| in the next Senate.