Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-09
C. 0. P. RANKS BADLY
SHATTERED IN HOUSE;
WHEElH0RSES BEATEN
Republican Majority in Lower Branch of Con-
gress Cut to Mere Handful in Battle of Ballots;
Two Parties Battle for Supremacy in Legisla-
ture; Volstead, Miss Alice and Mondell Beaten

Washington, Nov. s-tBy The AS
sociated Press).-The country We'd
nesday watched with intense interest
the nip -andtuck race for control of
the house of representatives, the clos
est since the war days of 1916. 1t
saw most of the republican leaders
stand up against the onslaught; it saw
scores of men brought in by the re-
publican wave two years ago go out
with the democratic undertow.
Volstead, author of the prohibition
enforcement law, was the only repub
lican committee chairman to go down,
but he fell before an independent min
lister candidate, proclaimed, dryer
than himself. This fact often was
overlooked by those who professed to
see in the defeat of Volstead a punish
nent for the dry law.
While they had been expected to
take a big hand in the election, the
women of the country were unable to
elect one of their number in the helter
skelter race for seats. There will be
no women in the next congress, Alice
Robertson, of Oklahoma. will go out
then. along with Winifred Mason
Huck, of Illinois, elected Tuesday to
fill the term of her father, the late
William Il. Mason, expiring next
March.
MondelI Is Defeated
Mondell, for the last four years the
republican leader in the house. aspir-
ing for the seat from Wyoming, went
down in q vain race for the senate, and
a new leader will arise in his place.
Speaker GilIett and Mann and Madden
all the big committee chairmeD, in
fact, save Volstead held their seats.
Most of them never were in danger.
Every republican leader of the
house has often declared during the
last two years that the majority
around ITO at the start-was too big,
but none expected to see it cut so low
and none seemed to fear that it would
be cut below forty. But, starting in
the east, the democratic wave began
picking up seats, gathered 23 in New
York and raced down the Atlantic
coast, cutting across into Virginia,
then turned to the southwest and
doubling back into Pennsylvania, swept
over the middle west country, and to-
ward the far west in the hope of find
ing enough upturns to keep ahead of
the republican column coming along
behind.
1t was nearly noon Wednesday be-
fore the republicans, racing for hours
behind early democratic victories. got
abreast of the enemy. Then for some
hours the two parties see-saWed and
the republicans finally pulled to the
front. Only the vast majority of two
years ago saved them. The drift away
from the administration was greater
than would have been believed possible
10 days ago.
Hours of Suspense
Hours went by without bringing ad-
vantage to republicans or democrats.
Among the last of the old-timers to
go was Macarthur of Oregon, en-
meshed in a local situation in which
the Ku klux Klan was said to have
played big hand against him. Stat
ford of Wisconsin, right-hand man to
Mann of Illinois, the free lace Of the
house, was bowled over by Victor Ber-
ger, the twice unseated socialist, who
came back to take his old seat. He
will be the lone representative of the
socialists, as Meyer London of New
York was overcome by democrat.
Some of the big committees counted
heavy losses among their members as
one after another republican member
cell.
Predictions were freely made a
week ago by republican and democratic
leaders alike that no woman would sit
,ip the Sixty eighth congress. Repub-