Evening star., 1924-12-04
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE

Delivery of the Presidents message
by proxy Is not a very thrilling per-
| formance. Mr.. Coolidges recent en-
cyclical to Congress, droned to House
and Senate by official reading clerks,
| was attentatively received, but evok-
ed nothing savoring either of emotion
or enthusiasm. Representatives and
Senators, of course, knew its contents
beforehand. for advance copies OF
presidential messages are In the
hands of privileged persons several
days before release" In the Senate
both floor and galleries heard the
message amid that decorum and un-
broken silence which customariIy
give dignity to proceedings in the
upper chamber. In the House, which
considers itself more human, mild ap-
plause punctuated the message at
three or four points. On one occasion
the acclaim was ironical. 1t came
from the Democrats. They chortied
over President Coolidges statement
that a special commission Is investi-
eating the Navy's oil problem. with a
| view to safeguarding the reserve sup
plies.
Westward, the star OF senatorial
empire steadily takes it's way. Pow
erful committee chairmanships, with
| of men from the Mississippi Valley
and the plains. Borah of Idaho sup
plants Lodge of Massachusetts at the
head of foreign relations. Johnson
of California succeeds Colt of Rhode
| Island as chief of the immigration
committee. Cummins OF Iowa takes
the place of Brandegee of Connect
cut as leader of judiciary. With Nor
ris Of Nebraska as Chairman Of agri-
culture and forestry. Warren of Wyo-
| ming chairman of appropriations,
Stanfield of Oregon chairman of civil
service, Capper of Kansas chairman Of
claims, Jones Of Washington chair
| man of commerce, Phipps of Colo
| rado chairman of education ana labor,
| Smoot of Utah chairman of finance.
| and three or four minor committees
| also headed by Westerners, the great
open spaces have como into their
own in the United States Senate with
a bounding vengeance. To crown
| their domination, Dawes Of Illinois
| will preside after March 4, 1925,
while Curtis of Kansas already is
| majority leader.
X X = x
In the House the Western country
will be most, though not quite,
! as strongly entrenched as in the
| Senate. Middle Western men Gong-
/ worth, Madden and Burton) are the
! leading candidates for the Speaker
! ship and numerous influential COM
mittees will continue to be headed
| by Midwestern or Western Repre-
sentatives. Agriculture, appropria-
| tions. immigration, insular affairs,
military affairs, mines and mining,
! patents, pensions, public lands. rail-
ways and canals, roads, territories.
| war claims and ways and means are
| some of the major committees whose
chairmen hail from Western States.
| The predominance OF the West In
| Congress may influence President
Coolidge to give the East the lions
/ share of executive plums when the
cabinet is remade next year.
/ x X II y
John c. Crockett, reading clerk of
| the Senate, who presented the Presi-
dents message to that body. was
once clerk of the Supreme Court of
Iowa. He came to Washington many
years ago under the wing of Senator
| william B. Allison. Former Repre-
sentative Charles G. Bennett of
Brooklyn was then Secretary of the
Senate. There was such a competition
| for the reading clerkship that Ben
nett decided to put all candidates
| through their elocutionary PAGES. He
had. them read the Declaration OF
| Independence, the Constitution OF the
United States. the Farewell Address
of Washington and other gfatorical