Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-01-25
THE SHINING SENATORS
WE'RE HOUSE-TRAlNED
Experience in the Lower Branch of
Congress Enables Them to Legislate
at High or Low Speed, Thus Giving
Them a Decided Advantage.
Bv EDWARD ". TOWNSEND

ana Stll be on safe ground), there Is not n
member of the Senate distinguished by con-
spicuous ability who has not served In the
House.
Or to put the proposition in another way,
there are only half dozen or less members
of the Senate who have regulations more
than commonplace legislators who were not
trained by experience in the House of Repre-
sentatives by service averaging 10 years.
Down at the tail end of this piece I shall an
mex paragraph giving the names Of Sena-
tors who were former Representatives and
the length of their House service, because
had to wade through the Congressional Dl-
rectory to get this interesting information,
and while II does not make very good run
ming story in itself do not want to have
the result Of my arduous labor lost. AS one
will see by critically examining that para
graph the names of the members appearing
therein, that is Senators VINO had House
training make a rather complete list of
about all the Senators whose names are
familiar through their official activities
Senatorial Touchdowns
1t may be because Of this early and exten-
sive training in the game that those House
trained Senators have equal facility in going
slow or fast; they can delay the game, or
make touchdowns with amazing rapidity
This statement may surprise some who read
it. because there has been so much criticism
of the Senate for its deliberate movements
The fact is, however that in the absence of
any rules to speak Of the Senate, when 1t
wants to do so, transact more business
in an afternoon that 1t is possible for the
House to transact in a month. 1t Is some
times said that the Senate has no rules,
which is not true, strictly speaking; although
1t Is true that 1t runs along in an easy-going
fashion a whole session at time without
any reference to it's rules or any disturbance
resulting from the fact that it has any.
There is no doubt that the States repre-
sented by Senators with House training are
better represented than the others. New York
is an exception to this rule for reasons
will not go into for fear of making invidious
comparisons further than to say that sena-
tors Root and OGorman have both had
training, extending over many years. which
equips them to take care of themselves and
New York's interest quite handily.
However, measured by brains and leglsla-
tive adroitness. Massachusetts is probably
the best represented State in the Senate,
with Henry Cabot Lodge, who had eight
years. training in the House, and John Win
gate Weeks who went directly from the
House to the Senate after 10 years House
training.
AND 1t would not be very raw guess to
say that perhaps Michigan is, next to Mas
sachusetts, as we'll represented as any State;
and it can hardly be a coincidence, merely
that Michigan is one of the other few States
having two Senators who have had House
experience.
Norris Talking Habits
The first noticeable difference one observes
in Senators who have moved from one end
of the Capitol to the other is their manner of
speaking. George w. Norris, of Nebraska,
who moved over from the House at the be-
ginning of this Congress, when in the House
could talk with that liveliness and emphasis
sometimes noticed in batter who has had
a second strike called on him when he felt
certain the ball had passed a yard beyond
the corner of the plate
For 10 years in the House he had the COM
mon experience of members having three or
five minutes yielded to him to unbosom him
self of thoughts which could easily be spread
over the entire first page of a newspaper, and
under those conditions even n naturally slow
speaker gets a smart move on him. The
training had been too long and too severe
to let it's beneficiary abandon its results at
once and Senator Norris in his early speeches
on the floor of the Senate spoke with
pidity that astonished members and deeply
grieved the official reporters.
He has already corrected the habit and
now speaks with that deliberation warranted
by the fact that when he once gets the floor
a Senator cannot be taken off his feet" as
the saying is, by anything short of parlia-
mentary earthquake That seldom happens
in the Senate
Burton in the Author Glass
And then there is that very able citizen
aNaTIar
adapted for the purpose of knocking in the
head of pork barrels, Theodore p. Burton. Of
Ohio. He served in the House for 16 years,
during 10 of which he was chairman OF the
Committee on Rivers and Harbors, and
necessarily had a great deal OF talking to do.
And he could talk. The ablest OF the House
official reporters had TO be right on the edge
of his foot to keep abreast OF Burton's tor
rent of words.
But now a coy maiden shyly murmuring;
This is so sudden!" is a gatng gun COM
pared to the serene deliberatoH of Senator
Burton in addressing the Senate. On Monday,
after the Senate voted not to make the Dis
trict dry Senator Burton rose and resumed
a speech on the ship purchase bin, which he
had begun a week before, and the manner
of his resumption was as if he had yielded
the floor for a minute for some purpose, and
he continued as though he had another week
in which to conclude. as. indeed, he has If
he wants IT. BY the way, Burton is an author
right in the class with Senator Lodge, and
Theodore Roosevelt being with them con-
tributor TO the "American Statesman" series,
his subject having been John Sherman OF
his State.
Williams Caused Surprise
think that John Sharp Williams. of Mis-
sissippi, is the only Senator who was ever