Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-04-18
NEXT SENATE'S M @ S T
IMPORTANT COMMITTEE

By far the most important committee or
the sXty-sixth congress- which will be called
in special session by President Wilson III
May, will be the senate committee on foreign
relations.
Not only will this committee be the first tc
struggle with the peace treaty, but 1t viii
have on it's shoulders the responsibility OF
deciding whether the American people want
to become members of League of Nations.
The committee is composed of seventeen
members In the last congress ten of these
were Democrats and seven Republicans, and
the chairman was q DemOcrat-Senator
Hitchcock, Of Nebraska. In the next congress
the political complexion Of the committee
will be just the reVerse-ten members Will
be Republicans and seven Democrats, and the
chairman, by reason of seniority, will be the
ranking experimentation Henry Cabot
Lodge, of Massachusetts.
In making up the new committee the
process will be simple. The three Democrats
who are lowest in rank in the committee as
now constituted will be dropped, and their
places will be filled ny Republicans.
In addition to these three places the Re-
publicans are to fill, however, there Is an
other; that OF Senator William Alden Smith.
of Michigan, whose torn OF office has expired.
Thus the Republicans will have four new
faces on the committee.
THREE DEMOCRATS DROPPED
The Democrats who will be dropped are
Salisbury of Delaware, whose term has ex-
pired; Thomas, of Colorado, and Robinson,
of Arkansas.
Filling the four Republican places won't
be such an easy job as dropping the three
Democrats
From the way things look now, there's 60
ing to be battle on the part of the progress
sive element among the Republicans for
stronger representation on the dominating
committee of the senate.
The Republican members who will hold
over are Lodge, McCumber, Borah, Brande-
rec, Fall and Knox OF these the only out
and-out progressive is Senator Borah. The
progressiyes, therefore, will fight for at least
three of the four new assignments to the COM
lnittee, which will give them four out of the
ten places.
The Norris resolution, passed late last see-
sion as result of progressive pressure will
enter prominently into the fight. This reso-
luton prevents any senator from having a
seat on more than two important committees
This, it is expected, will keep some of the
.tandpat Republicans like Penrose Smoot,
Nelson, .Wadsworth off the foreign relations
committee, to give them the opportunity to
control some of the other important COM
mittees like finance and appropriations.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
The chances are that one of the four seats
will go to the east, one to the far west and
Two to the middle west.
The eastern member, from present iadica-
shire. He is one Of the newest members of
The senate. He was minister to Greece and
Montenegro during President Taft's admins
tration, and his acquaintance with Balkan
problems will be valuable to the committee.
The middle western members probably will
be Senator Kenyon, of Iowa, staunch pro-
gressive, who was one of the Republican sem
ators reelected lat fall and Senator Hard
ing, of Ohio, one of the "Old Guard"
The far western choice lies between Sena-
tor Hiram Johnson, of California, and the
two Washington senators. Jor~s and SsiEdo-.
ter. All three ere consiGSD'40 Dr5gress1ves,
but the poifticS@.. GA CArlt0f FI2i1 are saying
that if Senator fchneon wsn;c, the place he
can have it. Tie chances are he will want
it, for he has a keen interest in foreign
affairs.
In which case the foreign relations commit
tee, first to deal with the peace treaty, will
be made up as follows:
epublicans--Lodge, McCumber, Borah
Brandegee, Fall, Knox, Moses, Kenyon, john
son and Harding.
Democrats-HitchcocA, Williams. Swanson,
Pomerene, Smith of Arizona, P!ttman and
Shields.