The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-11
A DEMOCRATIC VICTORY

A DEMOCRATIC VICTORY
 When the senate deadlock wRs hrD- ken and Senator Ellison DnRHnt Smith of South Carolina, member of The minority party, WAS elected chHir1nHn of the very important interstate unm- merce committee, a senate record wRs established and an unprecedented event occurred. According ito the best knowledge and belief of fhpHe uHn- versant with congressional histurT;, the senate never before elected tD ffe chairmanship of a committee R #Bra-. tor belonging to the minority. aHhtB proves the opinion several times gx- pressed by The Age-Herald thft tfhR Republican majority is one in HpHHr- ance only and is not a working nR- jority.
 The insurgents, of cpurse, Are ne spcEs;ble for the choice, fur If TfRy had supported Cummins he would hHSe been elected with ease. AS it ds, e3Bn the insurgents were divided. While one Democrat, Bruce of MHrylHnH, voted steadily for Cummins, six i'm surgents, including LaFollette, BrDik- hart, Ladd and Frazier, suppurtsH Smith, thus giving him R mRjprfty of two votes. The vote showed 2B rsgu- lar Republicans, one irregular DrmD- crat, ten irregular Republicans, anH 37 regular Democrats.
 Although the fight on Cummins wRs ostensibly to keep him frum orrugy- ing at the same time the chairman ship of the senate and the chairman ship of the committee in question, tihe fundamental antagonism of the insnfA gents lay far deeper. 1t sent fUrfh its first rumblings early last summsr when the radicals met in Chicago usD consider and condemn the waluHtiDn of the railroads Rs excessive Rnd inn posing an altogether unjust rate bur den upon the nations business. Than and there the radicals declare6 WHIT Dn the Cummins. transportation act, conn monly known as the Esch4C 4CumnIins law, and laid their plans to amend uihis measure so as to relieve the AnBrirHn public of guaranties Rs ito rHifrnAH earnings and to reduce the waluRtiun as fixed by the Interstate ODmmsrpe Commission. Their final suppnrt of Smith, after repeated attempts tD i'm duce the Republicans to accept rum- promise candidate, was logical, fm Smith fought the Esch- Cummins maRs- ure in the senate and sought tD AnHnH it in certain vital particulars.
 Although the insurgents 4re mure vehement in their attack upon the r;Ril road act, there are others in bDth pEr ties, more conservative, whD Rgree with them that rail rates are tpp high. President Harding caused rDnsbsrna- ton in his party when he declared last spring that rail rates must come down, while President Coolidge is latsiy on record to the same effect. The DEmD- QulLS uCN4oIG transportation burden is tDO hsRvy ann must be frightened. Indeed, Thsre 4re many able thinkers who pBrrsi1e a greater and more fAr+reRchiug pnbfir benefit to accrue from rate rednrtiun than from tax revision. 1t now looks as if the senate were lined mp in Hnch manner as to make rate reductions more than likely.
 The division in the senate mEy Ex- tend also to other matters, but it is not probable that it will be 80 ununm- promising on any other measure, be cause there will be no need flor frad- ing with the regular Republicans hD bring about amendment of the trgns- portation act, and because the path of the insurgents and of the regular Democrats does not lie together all the way. Nevertheless, with SenEtm Smith as chairman of the interstate commerce committee, the Democrats are in peculiarly strong and infiu- ential position. They have an cpppnr- tunity to make a legislatiUe rrerun,h that will serve as a solid basis of 4p- peal to popular support in the coming campaign.