The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1922-12-21
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL

the keynote of Administration papers
an immediate okeh to ship subsidy
Legislation. These newspapers seemed
perfectly willing to suspend any I'M
pleasant post mortems over election
casualties.
But the opposition newspapers re-
fused to be negative, and they croaked
mournfully, from first page headlines
to final editorial paragraphs, about
the gloom as the session opens
Senator Capper of Kansas, made the
interesting announcement that he
would move the publication office Of
his principal farm paper to Washing
ton, and this seemed only an incident
to the optimistic attitude Of the farm
Senator LaFollette reappeared upon
the scene clad in fresh laurel leaves
of victory, and with a ream or more
Of declarations about interpreting the
voice Of the people" He expressed
Impotence because the defeated mem
bers Of the two bodies of Congress
will remain ON the job till March, be
cause he wants to do many things
and to do it now" Senator Lodge
returns from the state of the sacred
cod" quite unruffled by the fact that
the voters saved him by a narrow mar
gin. In reply to Senator Mccormick
of Illinois he asserts that he remains
firm in supporting the traditional be
lief that seniority of service should
continue to prevail as the method Of
distributing the big committee assign
ments. Senator Newberry performed
his popular act when he resigned; and
as long as his name is known he will
doubtless be credited with having de-
feated more senators in a larger mum
Der of states and in a shorter space of
time than any Junior senator in his
tory.
The Ku KluX Khan has broken
into politics to such an extent that
it is believed the organization has a
number of members in the Senate and
the House of Representatives. Just
what the organization really is, seems
to be a good deal of mystery, but
Governor Parker and Attorney Gen
eral Coco. of Louisiana, have been in
Washington to see President Harding
and Attorney General Daugherty about
IL. The President has also interested
himself in the activities of h OrgaHi-
cation in Texas and other states. The
prominence. given to the movement
by the Washington Post, which is re-
garded as the administration news
paper in the Capital, might indicate
that Mr.. Harding is preparing to fol
low the example of his illustrOus pre-
decessor, President Grant, who exert
ed drastic Observation-Disclosures the ar
rest OF hundreds of KlanSmen, in put
ting the earlier organization out of
business. The soldiers bonus is re-
garded as a very live issue in Wash
ington. Some sort of revision OF the
transportation law will be attempted,
but it is doubtful whether there Will
be any progress along this line until
] lJle ICN NOitS CSc SON' INV I''N''
Wet and dry" is talked a good deal,
but it is very doubtful whether any
large and powerful political unit will
try to force the question in this or
the next Congress. There is political
gunpOwder in the issue, and-weli,
politicians get scared about sue, unes-
tons. and history shows that they al
most invariably side-step when the
time for real action. And 50
November's TempeStS lage. If Grover
Cleveland were still president he
might we'll repeat his famous question
Where am | att" President Hard
ing is plainly disturbed and all the
forces Of his administration arc work
ing overtime to get We Ship If State
back into calm Republican seas. New
ertheless, November'5 Tempests rage;
end political lines and alliances are in
the gale. The average Senator ana
Representative, as well as those who
have been elected to succeed them
are a good deal like the description
in Lord ByrOn'S Child HarOld'S Pill
am as a Weeu, fIullS
from the rock, on Oceans foam to sail
Where'er the surge may sweep, the
tempest's breath prevail
There has been a lot of talk since
election about a new party but all
the suspected fathers Of such an idea
disclaim parentage-even Of the
thought. These progressive states
men, as they term themselves, spec
ialize on "the democracy of govern
ment," and the burden Of their chorus
concerns the right of the masses. Sen
ator Norris Of Nebraska, announces
that he will push his proposed consti-
tutional amendment for the nomina-
ton and election Of President and
Vice President Of the United States
by direct vote of the people. He may
not have a terrible amount Of trouble
in getting the measure through. The
ice was broken for such a reform when
direct nomination and election of
United States Senators was carried.
The "old guard" in politics fought
this reform, as they fought other re-