Evening star., 1922-04-09
PLAY SAFE, ADVICE GIVEN
TOCONCRESS CANDIDATES
Campaign Managers Not WILL
ing to Take Chance Of Having Another
Newberry Case on Hand.
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

BY WILL p. KENNEDY.
I" HE republican majority in the
national House of Representa-
tives. facing an unusually hard
I fight for reelection, are go
ing to play absolutely safe-at least
that is what they are advised to do
by the republican national congress
sional committee. Every republican
| candidate has received a letter ad-
vising him to file with the clerk of
the House a sworn statement of his
! campaign expenses in the primary
contest.
Determined not to have a repetition
Of the scandal in the case Of Senator
Truman H. Newberry, even though
the Supreme Court decision did not
hold that it was necessary to file
report on expenses in the primaries,
the republican campaign managers
are determined not to allow any op-
portunity for resourceful democratic
corrupt practices act.
VIEW OF THE SITUATION
BY CHAIRMAN FEss.
Representative Simeon D. Fess,
chairman OF the congressional COM
mittee, has assumed this attitude:
aside from our respect for the law
| and desire to live entirely within the
law, we face this situation: Here we
| are in the National Capital. where any
political enemy can bring charges
against US, where we can be promptly
| indicted for an offense against the
corrupt practices act, and we must be
| in the position where il there is an
expose and all the facts are aired,
| we will have nothing to be ashamed
of or to apologize for"
Old party stalwarts, who have en-
gagged in rough-and-tumble politics
| for many years. and some of whom
have at times taken desperate
| chances. look at the new regime
the "play-it-safe" advice-in much
| the same way that the American
youth revolted against tanning down
the old style Fourth of July celebra-
| ton into the modern safe and sane"
| observance.
| The seventeenth amendment SUPER
sedes section and provides that
THE Senate Of the United States
shall be composed OF two senators
| from each state. elected by the peo-
ple thereof - The electors in
| each state shall have the qualifica-
tions requisite for electors Of the
| most numerous branch of the state
legislature"
hot ha fiyrrA c
places and manner of holding cleo
tions for senators and representatives
shall be prescribed in each state by
the legislature thereof. but the Con-
eress may at any time by law make
or alter such regulations. except as
| to the places Of choosing senator's
and section says that Each House
shall be the judge of the elections,
returns and qualifications of its own
| members"
CONTROL OVER PRIMARIES
WAS NOT SUSTAINED.
The power of Congress to enact
| legislation regulating primary cleo
| tions was never decided by the Su-
! preme Court until in the case of Tru-
man H. Newberry, which was decided
May 2, 1921 In the Newberry case
the plaintiffs in error had been found
guilty of conspiracy to violate sec
| ton 8 of the act of June 25, 1910. as
! amended by the act Of August 1s,
1911, in the federal district court OF
Michigan.
The case was reversed by the Su-
1f tho T~yaif
the ground that the grant of power
| to Congress to regulate the manner
| of holding elections" under article
1, section 4, of the Constitution did
not bestow on Congress the authority
to control party primaries or con-
ventions for designating candidates.
That is, the majority of the court
seemed to hold that the power to reg
ulate the manner of holding cleo
| tions" is limited to general elections.
and that there is no power to regulate
the manner of holding primary cleo
tions or party conventions.
lDECIsION OF THE COURT
lBY A CLOSE MARGIN.
The law committee of the republican
national congressional committee In
its report says: '1f there was moth
ing to consider in this case except
the conclusion Of the majority of the
court, we would have no hesitance a..
answering in the negative the ques-
ton submitted to us-(Under existing
federal law is a candidate for repre-
sentative in Congress at a primary
tot
ments of his primary campaign ex-
penditures with the clerk of the
House of RepresentativesO This is
a fve-to-one decision" Mr.. Justice
McReynolds wrote the opinion of the
majority. In his opinion Mr.. Justice
McKenna concurred, with a reserva-
ton as follows: 'Mr. Justice McKenna
concurs in this opinion as applied to
the statute under consideration
which was enacted prior to the sew
enteenth amendment, but he reserves
the question of the power Of Congress
under that amendment"
lCAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS
JARE LESS GENEROUS.
! 1t has been strongly intimated in
some quarters that the bluntly abu-
lsiye letters the congressional commit
tee has Seceived in reply to a circular
letter sent out broadcast to large
business and financial concerns which
heretofore have been quite generous
to the republican campaign chest may
have something to do with the chas-
tened spirit of the campaign organi-
cation. II they are not getting as
large campaign funds as usual, 1t