Evening star., 1923-10-07


duty to see that their. party member:
are ,on hand whenever. an importan,
vote is to be taken. They. must coun'
noses. must know how the .votes.
stand before they are taken, and IL
general are Responsible to the part!
leaders for the presence Of The ranl
and hle when all the forces are need
ed. In the last Congress. with hug,
republican majorities In both houses
there was comparatively little 70.
the whips" to do. They were prac-
tfcally sure that majority would be.
on hand at all times. The same wa.
true OF the situation In which tn.
democratic whips found themselves.
They had little responsibility for the
simple reason that there was nc
chance at any time of catching the
republicans: on their guard and car
ryfpg vote. s
;Absenteeism in the Senate. partic-
ularfy, and In the. House to a very
great degree, has been in evidence
IN recent years. This is always true
when a. debate is under way, and the
speakers talk for, the most part TO
empty benches--largely for home con-
sumption through newspapers and
the Congressional Record. or for the
purpose of delaying a. vote.
Leave for Weeks at a Time.
Senators como and go as they
please leaving Washington for weeks
at: time. There. is a rule in both.
houses by which members are re-
CURED to be present when sessions
are held or,forfeit their pay for the
time they are absent. But IL I'm a
rule that~fs never enforced in the
Senate'' and the one time It was en-
forced in the House In recent wears
the House relented later and allowed
the 'absentees to draw the pas.
But in the next Congress, absentee
ism will be a dlstinc. disadyantapA
to the party control for the ~repubIt-
cans. 1t will be frowned upon rieor-
ously. and senator's and representa-
tives might as we'll make up their
minds to be on the Job practically
the entire time. It Is true that
pairs, general and special, are ar
ranged between Senators on opposing
sides Of the isle. SO that an absentee
may be protected. But even this
system Is not likely to meet all the
requirements at the coming session.
Right at the outset. a contest over
the organization Of the Senate and of
the House Is expected. The progress
sives on the republican side Of the
two chambers are intent upon recoe-
milton. They hold the balances OF
power, and by nominating a third
ticket for officers might prevent a
maJority's being obtained and thus
prevent an election. They might,
though II IS hardly deemed likely.
throw their support to democratic
nominees and bring about their
election. =
Revolt Would BE Easy.
Revolt has been threatened. But It
is easy to see how the so-caIIed pro-
gressive group or block in the Senate
might upset the plans of the republi-
can leaders and the administration
IL they desired Senator La Toilette
OF Wisconsin. If he raises the flag of
revolt against party leadership. would
undoubtedly have back OF him Norris
of Nebraska. Frazier OF North Dakota.
Brookhartr Of Iowa. Norbeck of South
Dakota, Ladd of North Dakota
Howell of Nebraska and perhaps
Borah OF Idaho and johnson OF Calls
fornia 1t times.
In view OF the tangled situation,
there 10 little wonder that the regu-
lar republican leaders have been
opposed to calling Congress into spe-
cial session Trouble enough when
December rolls around. The adninis-
tration, it appears. is going to have
all it's work cut out for it when
it comes to getting through legisla-
ton that 1t stands for. In fact, tho
chances are there will be little real
accomplishment by the new Congress
for the simple reason that 1t will be
almost. impossible to get a majority
In favor of any given proposition.
To- those VINO believe that there Id
already too much legislation on, the
statute books, and what is needed In
enforcement OF the laws already
enacted. this will be no cause for
dismay. On the other hand. the ads
ministration naturally wants to 60
to the polls In November, 1924, with
a record OF accomplishment. and
part Of this record must be the rec
ord OF a republican Congress.