Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-18

were worse. During part of woodrow
Wilson administration, after the House
had gone Republican and after the
Senate was so nearly Republican that
It was not loyal to Wilson, there was
more turbulence than now. During
Theodore Roosevelt's administration the
thunderboltS that few back and forth
between Congress and the White House
were much more violent than any OBJ
served recently. When Grover Cleve-
land had Congress on his hands" twas
not Cleveland the coiner of that
phrase?) he found several occasions TO
use harsher words about the legislative
branch of the Government than any
that have been used since.
It is little comfort to the country to
be told there have been times when
things were worse. The unhappy pres
nnt fact is that conditions are pretty
bad. And the unhappier future fact Is
that they seem destined to be worse.
Government Divided House.
The reader will wish to be told the
Eeasen. There are many causes. A
SUFFICIENT one may be expressed by say
ing that the Government of the United
States Just now is a divided house.
The President is a Republican. One
half of Congress, the House Of Repre-
Rentatives, is Republican by a COM
Portable and safe majority. But the
Senate Is something else.
Nominally the Senate is Republican.
AL that means is that the Senate has
Republican majority for the purpose
Of organizing the body on the first day
1t meets and dividing the Offices, the
committee chairmanships and the other
perquisites among themselves. Except
ing for that purpose and in that sense,
there is no Republican majority in the
Senate. It is essentially a three-party
body. There are, roughly, AZ regular
Republicans, who in a loose way fol-
low the official Republican leaders
There are, roughly, IA Progressive Re-
publicans, who follow no leadership at
all, who go their several individual
ways, and whose chief bond of unity
b q kind of negative dissent from the
regular Republican leadership and the
Republican President. Then there are
80 Democrats. Finally there is a lone
one-man party, consisting of ShipStead
Of Minnesota, Farmer-Labor.
No one of the three main groups has
b majority. No one of them is able to
lay out a program Of legislation and
follow it. No one of them is able to
commit the Senate to a policy, or hold
1t to a sustained course.
Power In Combination.
The nearest there is to a working
majority is a combination of the Demo-
Gratis with the Progressive Republicans.
Commonly they vote together, and
when they vote together obviously they
have their way. Since, however,
both the Democrats and the Pro-
presSive Republicans in the nature Of
the situation compose the opposition,
since 1t is the Republicans who have
the nominal ma jority and therefore the
NauyA0T1cfhflifly ~ fnIlntyc that tho Of1lu
working majority in the Senate is a
negative one. The combination of DEM
ocratS and Progressive Republicans has
no responsibility. 1t Is not called upon
TO have program and its success con-
sists not in getting things done, but
in preventing the regular Republicans
from doing what the regular Republi-
cans would do if'they had the power.
If the combination of Democrats and
Progressive Republicans had an affirm
ative program, it would be one which
presumably would be, as to most Of it,
repugnant to a Republican President,
and, therefore, likely TO be vetoed. The
combination that has a majority of
the present Senate cannot be an af-
nmative majority. 1t must be an op-
position majority. For that matter, 1t
enjoys the role. Its function is to pre-
vent the regular Republicans from do
Ing what they otherwise would, and
generally, to embarraSs the Republican
administration.
Business of Opposition.
In this attitude Of the opposition
there Is no essential wickedneSs As
politics go the business of the opposi-
ton is to bedevil and discredit the
party in power When the situation
was reversed. when in wilson's adj
T1lnlSfrafiOT tho 70 ~,
power the Republicans, with the aid
Of some Democratic insurgents, were
just as cheerful and ingenious in max
ing trouble for the Democratic admin
Stration as the present opposition
combination is in making trouble fol-
q Republican administration.
The theory of party government i;
that there should be unity-that al
any one time the Presidency, the Senate
and the House should all three be in
the hands of the same party. Wher
either House or Senate or both is il
the hands Ct a party or combination
differing from the Presidents party
there Is not party government. There
Is rather chaos of cross purposes
The condition so far described /!
what now exists in the present Con.
gress. 1t is going to be worse. Because
IT Is going 10 be worse is the reason
many persons want no special session
Of the new Congress, want the sitting;
of the new Congress to be as brief a.
the law allows.
Conditions are going to be worse be-
cause after March 4, at whatever TIM
the new Congress holds its first sit
ting, the National Government is go
ing to be even more a divided hous,
than at present.
Nobody quite knows whether the new
Congress will be Republican or Demo
cratic What everybody knows is tina
in both the House and the Senate tn
margin for either party will be eX
tremely narrow AS to the House, whel
the returns Of the recent election wer
all in. the superficial figures were:
Republicans, 2l8.
Democrats, 2l6.
Farmer-Labor, !.
Those figures make for chaos. TIL
chaos is increased by the fact tina
the figures won't stay the same 70
more than a few weeks at a time
Since the election that resulted /
these figures, two members Of tn
House have died. Both happened I
be Democrats. 1t happens also that tn
successors to them will probably b
Democrats, because the vacancies oc
CURED in districts rather consistent
Democratic. From time to time, how
ever, Democrat will die and be sue
ceeoed by Republican, and vice versa
That narrow Republican majority c
one will be "off agin, on agin" ever
few weeks for the next two years.
Chaos will be accelerated by occa
sionS when one or two, or five or ter
or more Republicans may choose
vote with the Democrats. or when tn
same number of Democrats may choos
to vote with the Republicans. Mario
majorities are an incentive to part
insurgency. During the Wilson admin
istration, there was a time when tn
Democrats in the House lacked six {
g Majority. Nevertheless the Democrat
were able to assemble a working ms
iority and organize the House and er