Greenwood daily commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1919-1926, 1920-04-02
: WASHINGTON
NEWS LETTER,
By The Washington Star
Copyright 1920.

ches now the season when the upper
most thought in the mind of 435
members of the national House of Re-
presentatives and one-third of the
membership of the Senate is the ques-
tion of denomination and reelection.
Some of them need concern themsel-
YES only with securing the nomination,
as in the "Solid South and in Ger
tain republican and democratic strong
holds in other states, where the vote
is overwhelmingly one way. In such
instances, however, the contest for
the nomination, carrying with it as it
does the equivalent of sure election,
is usually so spirited as to give the
aspirant for office all the fight he
wants and in reality as much as the
other fellow experiences who has to
struggle for both the nomination and
election.
Experience has shown that it is the
propensity of men serving one term
in the Senate and House to seek re-
election. This is a readily understood
and natural desire. They want to
be endorsed, to be vindicated. To
lose denomination carries with it a
sense of having been turned down"
by ones constituency and no man likes
that. So, even in instances of men
being disillusioned with congress,
finding it after practical experience
unsuitable to their tastes, and unre-
munerative to many of them, they
seek another term for their own per-
sonal satisfaction.
Then, experience has shown, after
awhile many of them get the "Con-
gressional habit" They stay on be-
cause their constituents want them
to stay and because they become habit
uated to the work and like it. Others
stick to it because they find they have
stayed so long they can not easily fall
into other lines of endeavor or use
fulness. There have been many path
etic instances of the latter kind, where
men remained in Congress doing the
work of their country well and slav-
ing for their constituents, only to
some day awaken to the fact that
they have advanced in years; that
they have lost touch with their law
practice, or their business; that a new
generation Of voters have come along
with whom they are not acquainted
and then up bobs some ambitious
young fellow who thinks he would
''like try at the Congress job" and
so, out goes the veteran.
But many states have learned to
profit by the practice of keeping their
able men in Congress. This was the
case more especially before the prim-
aries came into vogue. 1t was found,
and it is still true, that by keeping
their tried and competent men in
Congress, they attained position by
seniority of service where they were
of great benefit to their states and
their districts.
1t is recalled that at one time,
through following this custom, the
State of Maine actually dominated
both the House and the Senate of the
United States. Thomas B. Reed was
Speaker of the House, and that was
the time when preeminently the
Speakership controlled the House.
Maine had Dingley as chairman of
Ways and Means committee, to write
the tariff bill; Boutelle was chairman
of Naval Affairs, to build up the navy;
Milliken was chairman of Public
Buildings and Grounds, to appropriate
for public buildings.
In the Senate, Senator Frye was
president pro tenn; Hale was chair
man of Naval Affairs and one of the
masterful leaders and both senators
had places on every commanding COM
mittee.
Iowa was another state which foil
owed the seniority rule to advantage.
Iowa had representation on every i'm
portant committee in both branches
of Congress and Senator Allison,
chairman of Appropriations, was the
most influential man in the Senate.
They had been kept in Office by their
constituents until they had worked
up to their positions of power.
The solid South furnished the north
a striking example of the value of
keeping competent men in Congress
when the democratic party came back
into power with Pres. Wilson. They
had been out of power in the House
and Senate as a party long time,
except that during the interval the
southern states had continued sending
the same men, practically, back to
Congress. To be sure, they were in
the minority on committees but, which
turned out to be highly important,
while the northern states had been
displacing ther democratic represen-
tatives and senator's, the southern sta
ties had held theirs on, SO that when
the wheel revolved and the minority
became the majority 10 and behold,
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