New Britain herald., 1929-12-20
NORRIS IS LEADER
 AMONG INSURGENTS
Presence in Senate May Explain
 Difference BetWen Houses

controlling the Sendt" IL must UdN' | occurred to many persons to Wol- i der why no corresponding coallllon ! had been organized in the House.
 There are only 96 men in the i Senate and yet I5 or lG Repuhlic- l ans there have been found will 1 ing 10 join the insurgent group i'll i oting with the Democrats on th" ! tariff bIL But there are 4i5 | Hemhcrs O. the House and ai- | though there are two or three | who sometimes get up and holj+r about one thing or another ther" does not appear 10 be one single i irsurgent That is, not one who dares consistently to defy Gts party organization.
 same Voters. Different Results
 Although this situation would seem most satisfactory 10 the af- ministration and Joe Grundy. il hds irs strange features, When one con sides that the same voters who elect the radical or progressive senators also elect the congressman |. does seem as if states such as Wisconsin, Nebraska and the pa- kotas, each of which has two in- surgent RepuoIican senators would produce a few congressman who could whoop mp another little re- volt in the House.
 The answer may be that there Is only one George Norris of N"brdz- ka. This coalition in the Senate might have developed without the Norris leadership. but perhaps not At any rate. it seems as If WhereN'r Norris goes he organizes an lH- surgent group 10 cooperate WleH the Democrats and lick the tar out of the standpat Republicans. It Was he who was 0 blame for the only effective lnsurgent movement tn" House has had for many decades and now. in the same way, he IS i'll command in the Senate,
 Of course it's harder job in the House than in the Senate. In that huge and cumbersome body control has passed into the hands Of thr'e or four men who run the show, gen. erally taking orders from the al ministration. These men can ani do prevent members from offering amendments and obtaining votes on measures. D4pate is severely re- stricted.
 Any Republican with a passion for insurgency must cut loose from his party bandwagon. It's easy enough to fight the other party, but , it takes plenty Of courage to fight
 his own machine. The congress-
 man who consistently balks-anl there isn't any now-WOn't ever ne
 able to name any more postmaste The only pork for him will cone
 from the butcher shop.
 Norris went for 10 years in the i. House. in eight of which his party !, had control, without a single pie"e ! oc patronage. He began his in- : surgency by opposing salary in E crease bill for several officials. The
 regulars got back at him by closing { the pie counter to him. Norris q failed to capituate. In time he got . back at the House machine itself.
 He had to go it alone for a long r time but finally an insurgent nn- cleus and then an organization oI
 30 or 40 members developed around :, him. It was enough 10 combine 2 with the Democrats to unhorse th' :. autocratic Speaker Joe Cannon an" Q liberalize the House rules after : . historic fight IL was enough tc put petroleum on the free list n
 inc Payne-Aldrich tariff bill atttl |. the Ways and Means Committee G had tackled on stiff duty at th' , cole behest of Cannon.
 Most importantly, it hrouEH
 about the Ballinger investigation , ir the Taft administration-th' ' Teapot Dome affair of its tim" <. The regulars had the case ai % framed for WhtteWash 6 committee was to. he appointed b. .. the speaker and tn" president Q !, the Senate and olcrythmg Wa " guaranteed tc turn out all rlt - Norris, by clever mancuvcr, d" . feated the attempts 10 hogti" hl' . and slipped in q motion 10 hay the investigators elected by tn House. The coalition then elect ed men who meant business
 After an odorous scandal, Bal llnCer was driven from pubiI ljfo.