Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-09-25
CONGRESS GOES
HOME To FACE
HOWL ON BONUS
Failure of Bill Causes
Uneasiness Among
Legislators.
By ROBERT r. SMALL

Special Correspondent u Great Falls Irihuns
Copyright. 1929. by Tho Great Falls tribune.
Washington, Sept. 24.-Congress has
gone home to "face the music'-it has
gone home to face the first test OF that
bugaboo. the soldier vote. For while
congress bravely passed the bonus Dill,
while the house even went so Tor as
10 override the presidents veto, the
4, measure was killed in the senate, the
hopes of the veterans FOR an ADJUSTED
compensation were dashed. and now
if the soldier vote can encompass 1t,
somebody must suffer.
It is admitted that the soldiers can
not strike directly at the president for
his veto. They can reach him only
through the members Of his party IN
congress. Some of the representatives
have gone home distinctly worried over
tbe situation. while others are inclined
TO discount the effect of the soldier
vote in the various districts.
OF the 81 senator's who voted to
sustain the presidents veto or were
paired to sustain it, only seven are up
for reelection in November and of this
number three nave no cause for worry.
They are Senators Pepper and Reed
of Pennsylvania. republicans. who are
assured Of tremendous natural major
HlpE, ana SPIHIOE SNduSOH VI NhSihio.
democrat. who will win by the usual
natural majority in the old dominion.
Must "Face the Music"
The senators who are li-ely to face
whatever amount of wrath the soldiers
are able TO muster in the campaign are
Calder of New York, France of Mary
land. and Frelinghuysen of New Jer-
sew, republicans and King, Utah, dem
ocrat. Senator Fr~elinghuysen is in the
position of having TO win as yet. his
nomination. A very serious fight is
being made against him. The soldier
vote. naturally. is heavy in New York
and New Jersey and the fate of the
senators in those states will be watched
with a great deal of interest.
One thing that heartens the sena-
tors and representatives who are in
clined to be a bit nervous over the
soldier vote is the fact that the only
world war veteran in the senate, young
Major Reed of Pennsylvania, not only
voted against the bonus, not only voted
TO sustain the presidents veto, but
spoke against the measure in very
strong terms. Senator Reeds speeches
already are in great demand for or
ganization purposes and will be widely
read. The democrats are going to
make the bonus as much an issue as
possible, with the idea of confounding
the republicans at every possible turn.
A number of democratic senators in
Guiding Senator Underwood. voted to
sustain Mr.. Harding in his veto, but
some of the moro active democratic
senator's have made speeches in the
senate with the sole idea of using them
later on the stump TO '~'pillory" the re-
publicans who deserted the soldier boys
in their hour of need.
Twas a Solemn Occasion
The closing of congress was a decid-
cdly solemn occasion. Already the
printing presses arc busy grinding out
praise of the new tariff bill for the
consumption of the sovereign voters.
but the congressman don't appear to be
as ~sanguine as they sound.
The adjournment of the house was
solemn. for it is fully realized that
many of the members now in it are
facing almost certain defeat at the
polls. The republicans are fully pre-
pared for a serious cut in their major
ity, but claim they will retain control
by safe figures. The landslide, or
earthquake, or whatever you choose to
call what happened in 1920. swept
many a republican into the house of
representatives from districts normally
regarded as democratic. 1t is admit
ted that most of these districts will go
back to "normalcy" in November. and
therefore many republican faces will
be missing when the next congress as
sembles.
While the present congress is ex-
pected to be judged almost wholly by
the tariff law signed on Thursday by
the president and while that tariff is
being proclaimed as the greatest
achievement of the session which began
in April. 1921. and is just now ended.
there really was no plan in the repub-
lican platform of 1920 which promised
such drastic tariff legislation. 1t was
Harding in his campaign speeches who
really pledged the party to tariff re
vision. and it is quite natural that he
should lead the chorus of republican
praise which is being broadcasted from
Washington in every direct, o as the
congressional campaign gets unCcr way.
Harding Was Leader
The republican platform expressed
some misgivings IS TO whether a re-
vision of the tariff should be made i'm
mediately because of the involved con
dition Of world affairs. President
Harding felt no such misgivings and
when he called congress into special
session he urged The fsriff upon them
as one of the real needs of the nation.
The tariff fight in the present con
gress must be largely an academic one.
for the bill will not have cen n law
long enough to prove the merits of its
p~rotagonists or the dement's of its an
tagonists. The latter are waging a
hard fight and the republicans are
faced with a defensive issue.
A defensive issue is not the most
happy one TO have in a campaign at a
time when the public mood generally is
to vote against something or some
body.
SIGNS OF OPEN WINTER.
Special TO The Trihune