The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1913-03-27
SENATOR SIMMONS SHOULD NOW
RESIGN

reasons why ne SnOulO De TS-cleCIcuJ
that he was 80 popular and powerful
in the Senate, that he would be elect
ed to the head Of the great Com /
mittee on Finance, in the next Con-
gress IL he were reelected. He Gre
ated the impression that he stood so
high with his colleagues that he
would be the lone man" OF all the
Senators who would be picked for
the head of this great committee, on
account OF his popularity and emil
nent fitness for the position. He
said that it would be a great honor
to the State for a Senator from North
Carolina to hold this great position,
and that he could secure it, while his
opponents could not.
In several speeches he dramatical-
ly declared that If the State would
re-elect him and he was not selected
as chairman of this committee that
he would resign. At that time Mr..
Simmons felt that he was gambling
on a certainty. Mr.. Simmons knew
that it had been the unbroken rule
of the Senate, from the foundation
of the government, for Senators to
receive chairmanships, not according
to their fitness or ability, but by SEN
% 4o:~
mittee
By death, resignation or failure of
other Senators to be reelected, Sen
ator Simmons, who was at the foot
of the Committee on Finance, ad-
vanced until there was only one man
ahead of him, on the Democratic
side. That man was Senator Bailey,
would not be a candidate for re-
election. Therefore Mr.. Simmons
knew that he had an absolute GER
tainty, under the rules, to become
the chairman, no matter how many
committee who had served on it a
less time than he had. In short,
Mr.. Simmons was playing, he
thought, with loaded dice.
Now, in the light of these facts,
let us see what has occurred in
Washington. We make the follow
ing extract from the Washington
Herald, which tells the story con-
cisely and compactly:
THE young element in the major
ity of the Senate have triumphed in
the reorganization of that body, and,
while most of the old wheel horses
took the places at the heads of COM
mittees to which they were entitled
under the rule of seniority. their
wings are clipped. If the chairman
of committee here and there hap
pens to belong to the conservative
wing of the party, he finds himself
shorn of power by the new policy
of appointing conferees, subcommit-
tees, filling vacancies and calling
cOmm1Ctee meetings..
''The Democratic caucus and the
steering committee that filled com
mittee places was undeniably domi-
mated by the newer element of the
party. Most of the important com
mittees are dominated by the new
membership. They are sufficiently
numerous to out-vote the conserva-
r-1- ~:
Committee for example. Senator
Simmons managed to retain his place
at the head of the committee after
bitter fight. But the new Demo
cratic membership of the committee
is Overwhelmingly radical, or, pro.
gressive, as you may choose to cal
it,
Thus we see that Senator Sim.
mons, while entitled to the position
of Chairman of the finance Commit
tee by every rule of the Senate, YET
was considered by the majority sc
disqualified for that important posi-
ton and SO out of harmony with the
POAASAC0 VI IAO VI COCAL oIAOA
that his colleagues came very neal
breaking the rule and denying hin
the Craftsmanship. If the Senate
had done so, it would have been the
first case of it's kind in the history Of
that body. The majority of the Sen
ators, however, clipped his wings, be
fore permitting him to have the
place. They took from this com
mittee over half of it's power anc
duties, that is, they took all of the
currency legislation from the com
mittee and created a new COMMITTEES
of Banking and Currency, to handle
that more important business of Con
gress. They also took pains to max.