Evening star., 1933-02-26
Purging the G. o. P.

Senator David A. Reed of Pennsyl-
vania has announced that he will move
to expel from the Republican organ
ization of the Senate the four Sen
ators who openly bolted the Republican
national ticket last Fall. Mr.. Reed,
like many other stanch Republicans,
looks upon the desertion Of the party
by Senator Norris of Nebraska, Senator
La Toilette of Wisconsin, Senator john
son of California and Senator Cutting
of New Mexico as a betrayal. He sees
no reason why these Senators should
be accorded favors by the Republican
organization, but every reason why they
should be denied them.
If these party boilers are to be dis
ciplined, however, it appears that the
disciplining must begin in their own
States rather than in Washington. After
the victory Of 1924, when the late
President Coolidge was elected, four
erstwhile Republicans, the late Senator
La Toilette Of Wisconsin, the late Sen
ator lAdd Of North Dakota, Senator
Frazisr Of North Dakota and Senator
Brcokhart of Iowa, were dropped by
the regulars" from the Republican
organization Of the Senate. Senator
La Toilette had run as an independent
candidate for President and the three
others. had backed him. Senator La
Toilette and Senator Ladd both died
within short time, and before they
could make the test at the polls again
to determine whether the people back
home continued to regard them as
Republicans. But Senator Frazier
and Senator Brookhart both staged
return engagements as Republicans and
eventually were taken back into the
party fold in the Senate.
The impossibility of debating from
Washington who, for example, shall be
a Republican in Nebraska and who
shall net is manifest. Senator Norris
has not supported the Republican ma
tional ticket in the last two elections,
but openly campaigned for Smith in
1928 and for Roosevelt in 1882. Why
he did not openly support La Toilette
in 1924 is q question. He did moth
ing, however, for Calvin Coolidge In
that year. In 1890 he won again the
nomination for Senator and
was reelected on the Republican ticket
It is possible that some day the voters
of Nebraska may grow tired of nominat-
ing and electing a man as Repub-
ican who continues to fight the party s
national ticket and to oppose a Repub-
lican administration. But until they
do. the barriers which Republican Sen
ators in Washington may seek to raise
against him are likely to be ineffective.
The Democratic party in 1928 suf-
fered from bolting party leaders in sew
eral of the States, leaders who would
not accept Smith as presidential can
didate. Two former Senators, both for
years strong Democratic leaders in their
own States, Simmons of North Caro-
lima and Heflin of Alabama, bolted the
party's national ticket. Later they were
disciplined. Not, however, by the DEM
ocratic Senators in Washington, but by
the Democratic voters in their own
States. They were refused party NOM
ination for reelection.
While the Reed motion to oust from
membership in the party organization
the four Senators who bolted the Hoo
ver-Curtis ticket last year may be sup
ported by some of the regular Repub-
licans. it is scarcely likely that it will
be adopted. The next Senate will con-
tain thirty-six Republicans. OF these
Republicans considerable percentage
will be "progressives," men who flock
with Norris and johnson and La Fol-
lette, and some of them were as strongly
opposed to the reelection of Mr.. Hoover
as were the four Senators who openly
bolted.