Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-23


The impedment arises out of the over
tapping of two Congresses. This over
tapping is made inevitable by the Con.
stitution and is widely complained OF
Laying aside the merits of all that, thu
fact is that the new Congress elected
this month does not come into exist
ence for a considerable time. Mean
time the old Congress continues X
have life until March next.
To state the situation chronologically
the old Congress will meet in its flna
session on the first of next month; ane
it will sit for three months, until noon
OF March 4, when it will expire auto
matically and permanently. Thereafter
there will be no Congress in session fol
nine months, until December next
year, 1881. On that date the new Con-
gress elected this monthly comes to-
gether for its first regular sitting
what is here stated is the normal
order of things. A variation could arise
through the calling of a special session
of the new Congress some time next
Spring or early Summer. AS this is
written, such an extra session does not
seem probable)
The present article, ignoring the old
Congress, aims to deal solely with the
new Congress, with the consequences OF
the election this month, and some de-
tons are quite entertaining.
Result Yet Uncertain.
In the election the Democrats won
within one of majority of the Senate
and within one or two of q majority of
the House. Whether the Democrats
have in either branch a little more
than a majority or a little less cannot
be certain until December z next year,
1881, when this new Congress will hold
its frst regular sitting. In the mean
time the prospect of a majority for the
Democrats will shift backward and for
ward over the line time after time. A
Republican Senator may die and it may
happen that his successor will be ap-
pointed by Democratic Governor-for
Democratic Governors became pretty
numerous in this months election. The
reverse may happen; a Democratic
Senator may die and his successor may
be appointed by Republican Governor
though the cases in which this can
happen are rather few since the casual
ties among Republican Governors In
this election.
Similarly, in the House, there will be
several contested elections, the winner
OF which viii shift the majority from
Republican to Democratic or vice versa.
Likewise In NE House there will be
more deaths than in the Senate; the
number az House vacancies caused by
0eaeh III year averages upward of ten.
AS Enc consequence of deaths, as well
as contests, no one will know until the
new Congress sits whether the Demo-
Gratis have one or two more than a ma
jority, or one or two less. The writer of
this article, arriving at very loose and
inexact estimate, thinks that as fate
VIII work out, the Democrats will have
majority of one or two in the new
senate while in the new House the Re-
puoncanS will have majority of two or
three.
=, Substantially, that amounts to saying
the democrats viii have a majority In
the legislative branch of the Govern
ment For when the party out of pow
er-that Is. the party not in control of
the White House, has a majority of
either chamber in Congress it has. for
Practlcai purposes, control Of the legis-
Iative arm OF the Government.
Control Is Valuable.
The reader must now understand
that possession of majority In Con-
gress, possession Of control, expresses
itself in two separate ways. To begin
with, possession of a majority is i'm
portant for the purpose of organizing
the House" or organizing the Senate. y
It Is also important, in a separate
sense, for the purpose of passing or de-
feating legislation
organizing the House or the Senate.
the Democrats must have a true ma
1orfty. made up of Democrats
for that purpose they will receive no
help from Progressive Republicans. For
the purpose of passing or defeating
legislation, however, the Democrats do
not need true majority, they do not
need majority made up of Democrats
only-because, as respects legislation.
they will have help from some IA In.
surgent Republicans in the Senate, and
q large number in the House.
Key Positions at Stake.
Let us consider, first, control of Con-
gress for the purpose of organizing the
House and Senate; Organizing the
and naming the membership Of the
committees. In the Senate, there is
no equivalent of the Speaker-his
function In tie Senate is filled by the
Vice President. Ability to organize the
Senate is nevertheless, extremely i'm
portant, for it involves naming the
members of the committees, some of
which, in the Senate, are very power
full. For example. If the Democrats
organize the Senate, they would name
their Pat Harrison of Mississippi as
head of the tariff making Committee
on Finance, instead of the present
head, Republican Reed Smoot of Utah
Organizing the Senate" Cor the
House or BOTH is a process lasting only
an hour or so at the beginning of each
session. During that hour (and, one
might add, during that hour alone)
the Democrats will have no help from
the Progressive Republicans After the
hn d
gained, the Democrats will again get
their accustomed help from the Pro-
gressive Republicans; on matters of
legislation. the Progressive Republicans
will march side by side with the Demo-
Gratis.
If the reader asks why, just for one
hour in two years, the Progressive
Republicans withhold help from the
Democrats, the answer consists of one
OF the commonest explanations of
human conduct. The answer is, self
interest.
PrOgreSsives May Lose.
The Progressive Republicans won't
help the Democrats organize Congress,
because the Progressive Republicans
possess desirable committee seats
which they would and will lose If the
Democrats organize the body. The
Progressive Republicans rank nominal
ly as Republicans: and as such have
their share Of committee seats and
committee chairmanships. For just one
hour, at the beginning of each two
year session, the Insurgent Republicans
are not Insurgent Republicans-they
are Republicans without qualification
and as such they get their committee
assignments. (That is, when the Re-
publicans control, as they have for Il
years past) Once the hour is past
once the organization is completed
once the Insurgent Republicans are
secure in their committee seats, they
then go their way, and on Legislation