Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-10

own CONVICTIONS ne does so regardless
of the company into which his vote
! carries him. He is an able and studious
Senator. During the present session he
has spoken his mind and voted his mind
whenever he felt moved to; at the same
time, during this session he has seemed
to depart from the regular Republican
position less often than formerly. Couz-
ems is hardly to be classed as insurgent.
His mind is not to be described as in
surgent. More accurately, his mind is
to be described as individual, but con-
Structive.
Two other regular Republican Sena-
tors who ccasionally--indeed, fire.
quently-vote with the insurgents on
tariff matters, and especially tariff
schedules, are Allen and Capper Of
Kansas.
This Progressive Republican group, in
the commotion they have recently given
rise to, are talked about as If they were
something new. But they are not For
fully 20 years, at least, the territory the
insurgents represent has always been
represented in pretty near the same de-
gree by the same kind Of insurgent Re-
publicans. In practically every Con-
gress since Roosevelt's time there has
been similar group coming chiefly
from the Northwest. From time to
time the number has varied little, &C.
casionally one or two more than Is,
sometimes as few as 10 or IL.
Also, the particular States repre-
scented have varied somewhat. though
not materially. In the present insur-
gent group, Oregon has no representa-
ton, but 20 years ago one OF Oregon's
representatives in the Senate was JON
athan Bourne. pretty thoroughgoing
Progressive, though not especially iden-
tined with any farm movement. The
State of Washington has no representa-
ton in the present Republican group,
but has had one in the past. Montana
has now two Democrats in the Senate,
but 20 years ago Senator Dixon of that
State was an outstanding Progressive
Republican. Similarly, while Idaho
! just now has two insurgent Republicans,
it has commonly had only one in the
past. Kansas used to have a repre-
sentative in the insurgent Republican
group-has Bristow been utterly for
gotten? He is now a landowner in Vir-
gtnia. And so on and so on.
No New Feeling.
The Progressive Republican political
feeling in the Northwest is no new
thing. It has existed for more than
20 years. Some of its leaders of two
decades ago made a good deal Of his
Of Iowa and Beveridge of Indiana, and
in the Lower House, Murdoch of Kansas
One is tempted to conclude that these
insurgent Republicans must represent
practically as definite and permanent
political sentiment in the Northwest as
the Democrats represent in the South.
True, the South has been represented
by Democrats for much longer period
AZ the same time there has been .
historical reason why the South should
continue to be represented by Demo-
Gratis REGARDLESS Of economic or other
normal political conditions. The Demo-
cratic solidity of the South, in other
words, is not exactly spontaneous. The
1nsurgent Republican representation of
the Northwest must be clearly spon-
taneous.
One is tempted to think the Progress
sive Republicans are as definitely a
party as. the Democrats are. The Pro-
gressive Republicans themselves do not
like to call themselves a party. They
cling to the Republican label.
Regular Leaders Baked.
The Republican leaders in the Senate
do not know what to do about these
insurgents-though 20 years of ex-
perience with them ought to have sug-
gested some kind of technique. AS q
rule, the regular Republican leaders
have got along with the insurgents as
best they could, treating them with q
good deal OF tact, accepting votes from
them when the insurgent Republicans
felt like voting that way, and practic-
ing Christian resignation when the in
surgentS wanted to vote with the Demo-
Gratis.
Some four years ago the regular Re-
publican leaders in the Senate at
tempted to discipline the insurgents
Just previous to that occasion, In the
1924 election, several of the insurgent
Republican Senators had taken them
selves utterly and completely off the
Republican reservation. La Toilette of
wisconsin had made himself a third
party candidate for the presidency, and
some of the insurgent Republican Sena-
tors followed him. That constituted
insurgency to degree that was formal
and constituted complete secession.
The regular Republican leaders con-
cluded to treat it as such.
Drastic Steps Are Brief.
When the Senate next assembled to
organize, the regular Republican lead
ers concluded to regard those particular
La Toilette insurgents as of1icially COM
posing third party. The insurgents
we're not invited to the Republican
caucus and were deprived of committee
seats to which, so long as they were
Republicans, they were entitled.
This drastic treatment lasted, how
ever, for little more than a year. The
resentment of the regular Republican
leaders seemed to die out, or else they
felt 1t was not prudent to keep the
insurgents in any greater exile than
the insurgents themselves cared to have
denomination is not often good
policy in politics
In the Lover House OF the present
Congress there is not, so far, any or
gained or important Progressive Re-
publican movement There is almost
no departure from the regular Repub-
licans.
Less Insurgent in House.
When this tariff bill was voted upon
in the House last June only IL Re-
| publicans out of 267 In that body
voted against 1t. And of these IL only
70 came from the insurgent territory.
There were five from Minnesota. It
might be said that the Minnesota
delegation in the Lower House is fairly
lnsurgent, as respects the tariff at least;
but Minnesota is the only State OF
which this can be said. other than
the five from Minnesota there was one
from Wisconsin, one from South Da-
Kota, one from Iowa and one from
Kansas The others came from Mis-
souri,, Pennsylvania and New York, re-
spectively.
This lack of an inSurgent Republican
representation of any size In the Lower
House during the present Congress so
far is a phenomenon that will bear
some watching. It must be difficult to
explain, for example, why both the
Senators from Nebraska violently OPP
pose tariff bill-which apparently all
the Republican members of the Lower
House from the same state voted for.
Practically the same situation exists In
all the insurgent territory--the two