Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-31
WATSON HALTS SPECULATION
ON RETIREMENT AS LEADER
Asks Harmony on Tariff Bill
After Talk With PreSi-
dent.
Senate Applauds Johnson's
Statement Indicating
Indianan'S Aim.
BY FREDERICK WILLIAM VILE.

BY FREDERICK WILLIAM VILE.
Senator Watson of Indiana revealed
himself as Fighting Jim" in the Sen
ate today and d~iSsipated all speculation
as to his intentions regarding the
Republican leadership Of that body.
Here and there, since the HooSier
veterans necessity to leave Washington
for a period of recuperation in Florida
became known, it has been suggested
that his days OF Senate captaincy were
numbered. 1t was mooted that Wat
sons trip to the South would be under
taken more for political than physical
reasons.
The Sage of Rushville made 1t I'M
mistakabJ plain, in the opening hours
of this forenoon's session, that he has
no thought of reliquishing the G. o. P.
leadership. He did not specifically say
so. But his whole manner, which was
Strikingly ~pugnacious In light Of his
need for rest, was far remote from any
indication that the seasoned Indianian
is ready to quit.
Watson shook his head a%pprovingly,
as well as gratefully, when Senator
Johnson, Republican progressive, of
California expressed the hope that the
majority leader would soon be back
here, the same Jim Watson as Of yore."
The chambeg rang with applause which
showed that johnson spoke for the
whole of it, an almost unprecedented
demonstration.
Appeals For Harmony.
Senator Watson, In what was to be
his valedictory before deserving the
| Senate for an indefinite period, made
a fervid plea for harmony on the tariff
bill. He did not refer to it again as a
hopeless mesS"-the terms he used in
a statement earlier this week-but he
did not conceal that matters are in
virtual deadlock. He appealed for "a
meeting of minds" between the agri-
cultural Northwest and the industrial
East, which would enable the passage
Of some kind of a tariff measure at this
session. But there was exclusively
plea, and nothing Of confidence, In his
speech. The one positive note, and
Watson struck it with emphasis, was
that as long as he has 1t In his power
to prevent 1t, there Will be no adjourn
ment of Congress until a tariff law Is
enacted and sent to III President 1or
his approval or disapproval. .
The G. O. P. leader acknowledge that
he was in conference with Mr.. Hoover
last night, but informed the Senate n a
he came away without asking whether
the President would or would not veto
any bill that comes to him from Capitol
Hill. Watson's visit to the White House
revives interest in the contention, IN
termittently heard in Washington, that
Hoover and responsible Republican
leadership in the Senate have never es-
tablished as cordial an entente as is de-
sirable. Watson himself is not on record
20 this effect, but some Of the Old Guard
are. They instance the Presidents
ignoring Of Watson's advice not to in
terfere in the Hawley-Smoot imbrogho.
Within a few hours after n 1ndianan
had assured the Senate that he did not
believe Hoover would wade into the
fray came the White House suggestion
on the flexible tariff. It has been sug-
zested that the majority leader smarteo
under This "rebuff' and the Leadership
resignation gossip Of this week was dl-
rectly connected with 1t. Whether wat
son advised today's presidential thrust
on the tariff situation, when ne con
ferred with Hoover last night, mas no
been disclosed.
Coalition Has Whip Hand.
No majority leader in the Senat
since "Fighting Bob" La Follette'S bio
has Weathered the storm ana stres
which Jim" Watson has had to race
He commands" foIceS in nominal con
: troll OF the Senate by a dozen votes an
: more, but which flout administering
I policies with a aDanuOn. AAldI IAi
western Republican insurgents, actin
in alliance with the Democratic minor
ity, have definitely obtained the VIM
hand and are in mood to use 1t ruth
lessly is now freely acknowledged. Sen
ator Watson's speech this forenoon
amounted to a p~laintive appeal to tn
coalition to "have a heart" and remoV
from the Senate the stigma Of being al
incompetent and impotent legislativ
body" Watson knows that the trouble
of G. o. p. leadership in the uppe
house are likely to become worse, rathe
than better. No insurgent up Tor re
election in 1890 is in danger Of defea'
t while some increase in Democratic Sen
= ate strength is a strong probability.
r That Jim" Watson's health Is under
e mined and that his condition has bee
aggravated by current events in til
y Senate is known to all his intimate
Worries and anxieties over the "tari
mess" have actually caused him SLEEP
: less nights during the past few week
He has yielded to the entreaties OF n
% family and of his physician to lay o
: and rest up. But Watson went far tx
= day toward exploding the theory that i
b is about to throw up the sponge, eitht
20 on the tariff or with regard to continue
leadership of the faithless G.. 0. p. "ms
lg iority." He is determined to be Sum
d ! JIM and Fighting jim" ONT whi
NJ may.
Copyright, 1929