The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-12-31
HAS A HUGE TASK
Senator Curtis of Kansas Draws
Big Assignment.
brigham" Tells of Work of
Republican Whip.
ONE OF MOST POWERFUL men
Never Was His Job Greater
Than at Present.
Praised for ResOurcefuIness in
Meeting Big Problems.

whip in the national senate. The
| Brigham story pays tribute to the
popular senior Kansas senator and en-
phasizes the Importance and RESPONSE
bility of his big assignment.
Never was the task of senate whip
greater than it is today, Brigham
wrote, and never was greater tact and
! diplomacy required by the man who
handled the job. The fact that Sena-
tor Curtis was slated for leadership in
the senate in event the disarmament
| conference required too much of the
| time of Senator Lodge, Indicates the
success which he won as party whip.
Brigham not only refers to Senator
| Curtis as one of the most powerful
men in the senate, but gives him words
of praise for his resourcefuIness in
meeting problems in national legisla-
ton.
The Brigham Story.
In his story Brigham said:
The most useful and at the same
time the most misunderstood man in
a legislative body is known, in the
parlance of the body, as 1.-The whip
There may be some truth in the con-
ception, as far as it relates to the du-
ties of this functionary; but to as
sumo that the whip" of any American
legislative body is an inferior person,
operating under brain power supplied
to him from outside. is to misunder-
stand not only the individual but the
office which he fills. For, be it known,
the whip of any branch be it house
or senate, is necessarily the ablest man
that can be drafted to fill an ex-
tremely important and difficult posi-
ton, whose incumbent must be not
only diplomat of the first order
and diplomatists are born, not made
but one whose knowledge of men and
things mates with that of the leaders
whom he is supposed to serve. In
deed, the success of the leaders is
more dependent, sometimes, upon the
ability of the whip than upon their
own initiative; for the whip is not
only the servant of the majority or
ganization, but its brains and it's driv-
ing power.
An Important Man.
All of which is preliminary to say
ing that Senator Charles Curtis, of
Kansas, Republican whip of the SEN
ate is one of the most important men
in that body; and by the same token,
whips are not appointed until they
have proved their ability in the legis-
lativeA field by years of performance.
One of the ablest men that ever served
as chairman of the great committee
on appropriations of the house, the
late James A. Tawney, of Minnesota,
was the whip of the house in the days
of the Cannon regime, when the bust
ness of that branch moved like clock
work, in contradistinction to the per-
Torrance of more degenerate days,
when the house functions fast enough.
as far as expedition is concerned, but
turns out a grist which must be
ground again elsewhere before It is
made acceptable to the American
people.
1t is the fashion now to label as ire |
dictionary" any one that says a good
word for the old regime; but it is no
more than fair to explain that in those /
days legislation moved along as if it |
were creased, and the novel scheme of !
the progressive" must first pass the |
acid test of popular analysis before it |
could be incorporated into law. The /
old regime was autocratic, it is true, |
but it had a very keen sense of its own /
responsibility, and that it managed af- |
fairs intelligently and well is demon |
strated by the record, which shows |
that except for the two Cleveland in |
termissions the Republican party re-
manned continuously in power in |
Washington from the close of the Civil /
war until 1910. James A. Watson. /
now a senator from Indiana, succeeded |
Tawney as whip of the house; and no /
one ever has questioned the ability of l
orator, he is unsurpassed.
A Hard Task.
Returning to Senator Curtis, 1t may /
be said that never was the task of the /
senate whip harder than it is today, |
and never was greater diplomacy re-
quired in the position. In fact, the job /
is an impossible one, with an element /
in the senate as uncompromising and /
domineering as the Sim Fem and as
careless of results to any except them |
selves and their own constituents. |
the Republicans have |
put forward their most skilled diplo-
matist in Senator Curtis; and the story /
of how he developed from a cub con-
gresham to a leader of the first rank |
is worth telling. Curtis entered the /
house in the Fifty-third congress,
which convened in 1893, and served
as speaker and Nelson Dingley, of
Maine, as chairman of the committee
on ways and means.
Diplomacy is the middle name of
Senator Curtis, and he had not been /
long in congress before he exercised
his talents. Today the leaders of the i
house are assigned definite places on
the floor, but in the old days. despite /
the rule OF the ring" seats were a
lottery and the most seasoned states
men trembled when, at the opening
of the session, the drawing took place
and seats were assigned accordingly.
In one of the early years Of the Curtis
service the drawing took place, and
Curtis found his name called among
the first.
To his amazement, he found he
had drawn the seat occupied by Ding
ley the year before. to which the vet
eran Maine statesman was much at
tached. Dingley, awaiting his turn at |
the drawing. was sweating blood in
the rear of the chamber when Curtis.
pleased as he was with his luck. sided !
around to him and told him that he
(Curtis), as a cub. had no particular
use for that seat, and that he would
be delighted IL Mr.. DingIey would ex-
change with him.
Dingley drew a back seat and Cur
tbs gladly snapped with him. on the
theory that it made no difference |
where he sat. and that it might make
a great deal of difference to Dingley,
even then one OF the leaders of the