Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-10
PROCRESSIVES IN SENATE
PUT VITALITY in POLITICS
Actual Number" or Strength Varies on
Legislative Questions as They
Disagree Among Selves.
BY MARK SULLIVAN.


matters, vote with the Democrats; who
are called variously Progressive Re-
publicans" or Western Republicans" or
the farm bloc" or the Insurgents" or
the "Progressives." OF these names the
one that the Is themselves like best
is "Progressives" or else Progressive
Republicans" They are curious in
their attitude about this matter OF
nomenclature, and they do not agree
among themselves about it. Some like
to be called "ProgreSSives" others de-
cidedly prefer to have it Progressive
Republicans" Several of them cling
with pointed tenacity to having the
word Republican" in whatever phrase
is used to designate them. They don't
quite like to get out wholly from under
the Republican brand. Most of them
vince just little at being called In
Surgents," although one or two OF them
don't much care,
Sometimes Names Can't Be Printed.
These are the names that describe
them one or the other of which is COM
monty used by themselves and by the
newspapers.
The list here given does not include
the names they are sometimes called
bv regular. oldtime, high tariff Repub-
licans. What the venerable Grundy OF
PENNSYLVANIA would call them would
not bear printing.
I have said above that on the tariff
these Progressive Republicans prac-
tically always vote with the Democrats.
On reflection, l query whether that is
the correct way to express 1t. Would
it not be more accurate TO say tne
Democrats vote with the Progressive
MRepublicans? In the coalition which
ne two groups have formed, it is the
aggressive Republicans who rather do
me leading. Who thinks of any Demo-
crat as the leader of this fight against
the regular Republicans on the tarin?
Does not everybody think OF Borah as
leading it?
state the question without under
taking to answer it. The distinction IS
important. If it is a fact that the
Democrats are not providing the leader
ship; if it is a case of one party, the
Democrats, following a faction OF the
other party-if that Is the true picture,
there may be grief in 1t for the Demo-
Gratis. An ancient axiom OF politics
saws that no good can come to party
which fails to provide its own leader
ship and initiative and policies, a
party which takes its ideas and tactics
from outside.
That Is Another Question.
However. that is another subject, and
an interesting one, with which the
present article does not undertake to
deal.
In any event the IS Progressive Re-
publicans are the group who have
caused most of the recent connection.
incidentally. let us say for them that
at least they have given rise to some
vitality in national politics. Because OF
the excitement they have stirred up,
because of the notice they have at
tracted to themselves and the attention
they have caused to be focused on some
persons they don't lfke-because OF that
we have a condition in which quite q
few United States Senator's are really
almost as well known to the public as
"movie" actors or base bali players. For
that the Progressive Republicans should
be given credit To give vitality to ma
tioral politics is no small service.
They are commonly spoken OF as d..
and that number Is as accurate as any
other number that can be applied to
them. Not all of them at all times
''stand hitched," as the old-tirne politi-
cal saying Is On the contrary, to de-
cline to stand hitched," to be Grant
side the breastworkS-indeed, to be out
side the breastworks more often than in
that is the prevailing CHARACTERISTIC
of them They are temperamental
"aginners." That accounts for their
very existence. as a disSentient faction
of the Republican party. Their ten
dency to dissent is temperamental, in
horn. Occasionally 1t leads them to
dissent even from their own group;
permanent accuracy what the exact
number of them is: though, in fact, 1t
does not vary more than one or two on
either side of Is.
Debenture Vote Is Test
For the purpose of the following list,
the vote In the Senate on inserting the
on farm crops into the tariff bill is
taken as the test. In that roll call is
Republicans and one Farmer-Labor-
Shipstead of MinneSota-voted or were
paired with the Democrats and against
the regular Republicans position. The
whole is calling ShipStead, for the
moment. an Insurgent Republican, and
not giving him his oficial designation,
'Farmer-Labor"), are:
Wisconsin. 500. La Toilette and Blaine
Minnesota. ...... Schall and Shipstead
Iowa ................. Brookheart
North Dakota. ....... .Nye and Frazier
South Dakota. .Norbeck and McAiaster
Nebraska. ........ Howell and Norris
Idaho. .............B orah and Thomas
OKlanoma. .'.''..''.'.''. Fine
New mexico. ..........'''. cutting
CalIorIla. ..''''''' .JoihlSon
Here are Is. Certain slight qualif1-
cations need to be made both ways.
To take up the cases of the Senators
who are on the fringe between regular
and insurgent Republicanism, Shipstead
has already been mentioned. Ofhcially
he is designated as "Farmer-Labor,"
was elected as the candidate of third
party by that name. In his voting and
pairing-he has been i'll most of this
session-he votes almost invariably with
the insurgent Republicans.
Senator Johnson's Case.
The case of Senator Hiram johnson
of California calls for fine distinctions
Ordinarily johnson is the most insur-
gent of insurgents. It gives him obvious
pleasure to insurge. 1t gives him pleas
ure, one sometimes feels, to vote against
the position of the Republican Presi-
dent who comes from his State. Rather
frequently, In his speeches in the Sen
ate, he SHES hard words in the direction
Of the White House. When Johnson
comes to voting on the tariff, however,
he becomes the most regular of regular
Republicans. He believes in a tariff on
everything that California produces and,
wanting to get all that California wants,
N he commonly comedies 1t to be his re-
ciprocal duty to vote for a tariff on
8 what the other States want. But while
on tariff matters johnson Is regular
he makes again an exception. The de-
benture plan for putting an export
bounty on farm crops was a detail OF
the tariff bill which the regular Re-
piIblicans opposed and the insurgents
advocated. On the debenture roll call
Johnson went back to his insurgent po-
sition. Speaking generally, johnson is
Ia be claSSed as decidedly an insurRent
Ren,IhIfcan Senator not mentioned