Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-18
LEADERS CERTAIN HE
WILL BE DENIED SEAT
Move by Reed to Refer Without
Swearing Him In Expected
to Carry
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.

The credentials of the Senator-des-
ignate from Illinois, to fill the vacan-
| cy caused by the death of Senator
William E. Mckinley, will be present
| ed to the Senate tomorrow, unless
present plans are changed.
| Senator Deneen of Illinois will pre-
| sent the credentials and move that
| Col Smith be sworn in.
! Senator Reed of Missouri, chairman
of the slush fund committee which in
vestigated Col. Smiths primary cam
| paign for the senatorial nomination
! last Spring, and which found that
| more than $2S0,000 had been eXpend-
ed, of which S125.000 had been con-
| tributed by Samuel insult, public util-
| tiles magnate, will move to refer the
credentials to the committee on priv
ileges and elections, without swearing
| in Col. Smith.
Stage Set for Contest.
The stage has been set for the con
| test. The Senate is to convene at IL
| o'clock tomorrow morning, an hour
| earlier than usual, in order to take
| up the Smith case without delay. Sen
| ator Reed has engagements that call
| him out of the city, and the leaders
| wish him to be permitted to make
I
| Senator Reed in the light of the de-
| cision of the Supreme Court yester-
! day in the Nal Daugherty case, pro-
| poses to summon to Washington wit
| nesses who declined TO testify before
the slush fund committee in the Illi-
nois investigation. Among them are
Samuel insult and States Attorney
Grove He may report to the Senate
for his committee that these witnesses
declined to answer questions and ask
to have the Senate cite them for con-
tempt. The Missouri Senator is leav-
ing Washington tomorrow, but viii
return later in the week.
The motion to refer the Smith Gre
dentials to the committee without first
swearing him in will prevail, accord
! ing to both Republican and Demo
cratic leaders. Only big shift in sen
| timent before the vote is taken can
prevent this. 1t is estimated by OPP
| ponents of Col. Smith that as many
as % Republican Senators will vote
| to refer without permitting him to be
| sworn in, and that not more than
| four Democrats will oppose this mo-
| tion.
| The opposition to Col. Smith being
seated is based on the conduct of his
primary campaign for the Republican
| nomination for the term beginning
1
nomination over his opponent, the late
| Senator William B. Mckinley, by a
substantial vote.
Charges were made on the floor of
the Senate by Senator Caraway of
| Arkansas, Democrat, that excessive
expenditures had been made in the
primary campaign and election, run
ming into the millions.
Given Broad Powers.
The Reed committee, appointed by
the Senate particularly to look into
the Pennsylvania senatorial Repub-
| lican primaries, in which William S.
Ware was the victor, was given broad
powers to look into all senatorial pri-
maries and elections. The committee
took testimony in Chicago, where Col.
Smith and his supporters, as we'll as
his opponents, were heard.
1t was developed that Col. Smith.
while chairman of the public utilities
| commission of the State-the Com
merce Commission-had benefited in
his campaign by contributions from
several public utility men, including
| insult, who gave $125,000 to the Smith
campaign directly and put up $4,000
| to help finance an anti-World Court
committee and campaign Smith was
against the court and Mckinley voted
| for American adherence to that
| tribunal.
1t has been the practice of the Sen
ate for many years to seat Senator
| elect or designate when he presents
| his credentials and then to consider
any contest that may be made against
| him. 1t is to this practice that Sen
ator Deneen and other supporters Of
the seating of Smith will appeal.
They will argue, too, that the State
| of Illinois has a right to be repre-
/ sented by two Senators, that Smith
| was elected to the Senate in NoVem
Der after the people of the State had
| been fully informed regarding the ex
penditures made for him in the pri
| mary campaign, and that he was the
| choice of the voters and that the Sen
ate has no right to void this choice
by rejecting him.
Defense Plans Outlined.
The opponents of Col. Smith, on
| the other hand, will maintain that
Smiths case is different from those
which have come to the Senate in
the past, since his case has already
been investigated by the Senate and
that committee has reported the facts
found by it to the Senate.
If Col. Smith were permitted to
take his oath and his seat. it would
then be necessary, it is held by many
Senators, to expel him-if it was
found later that he was not quail
fed" to be Senator. Under the
Constitution, it requires a two-thirds
vote to expel. But to exclude him
from the Senate, requires only a
majority vote. His opponents are
determined not to permit his seating.
Senator Ashurst of Arizona Demo
crat has pending resolution to
deny Smith the right to be sworn
in. But it is understood that Sena-
tor Ashurst has agreed to withhold
his resolution so that Senator Reed
may have the right of way.
If the Senate votes to send Col
Smiths credentials to the committee
without swearing him in, a hearing
will then be had before the privileges
and elections committee. An effort
will be made to report as promptly as
possible to the Senate. Then the vote
Continued on Page 2, Column IL