The Washington times., 1938-09-13
The News
News Behind
Rv PAIL MALLON

puIkC ChkuRAASu ASouAVSA AA viz
dethronement of his good friend
Dear Alben" Barkley as Senate
Leader-but it may happen.
The Senate is a continuing
body but Mr.. Barkley's prede-
cessor the late Senator Joe
Robinson, established the prece-
dent of submitting his leader
ship to a caucus of the party
at the beginning Of each new
Congress. If Mr.. Barkley follows
this precedent, he will go before
a conference of Democratic Sen
ators next January, and ask if
it Is their will that he continue
as leader.
It is far more than q remote
possibility that some purgee.
like Senator Smith of South
Carolina, for instance, may arise
and nominate q man like Sena-
tor Jimmie ByrneS, or even Pat
Harrison.
THESE things are being dis
l. cussed by the members Of
the most exclusive club in the
world, the Senate, who are drop
ping in here for a day or two
at a time to catch up political
odds md ends.
They note that five Of the
Senators who voted for Barkley
as leader have already fallen by
the primary wayside - Berry,
Tennessee; McAdoo, California;
Pope, Idaho; Dieterich, Illinois:
Hitchcock, Nebraska.
AS Barkley was elected by
only a one-Vote majority, this
makes his position precarious to
say the least (only one Senator
who voted against him. Cope
land of New York, now de-
ceased, will fail to answer the
roll call at the next session
under the situation as it stands
today.
NOR Is that all. Barkley
IN must present his credentials
of election, if he is elected, and
q single objection from a single
Senator could prevent him from
being seated Immediately. If
such an objection were made,
Barkley'S credentials would be
referred to the Privileges and
Elections Committee, the chair
man of which (if he is renomi-
mated in the primary this week,
and elected) would be none
other than Senator Walter F.
George Of Georgia.
Now Mr.. George is of a very
judicious nature, but it is quite
possible that if he ever got his
hand on the Barkley crederl-
tialS he might be reluctant to
release them promptly. You
know how those things are.
Here serious charges have been
made by a reputable newspaper
man, Thomas L. Stokes, that
WPA facilities were misuSed for
Mr.. Barkley's primary purposes
in Kentucky. and while PWA
Administrator Hopkins has
thoroughly Investigated himself
on that charge and found him.
self not guilty, Mr.. George
might reach a different con-
cluSion.
At any rate, you may be sure
the last of the purge campaign
will not be heard when the pri-
mary votes are counted, and
that the Senate has many in
tereSting things in store for Mr..
Roosevelt.
The odds should be no less
than even that Harrison will be
the next leader of the Senate.
NOTE-Harrison's friends say
IN he is not interested in the
movement in his behalf. The
current talk Is, therefore, cen
tering wholly around the name
of Byrnes. Those who are han
ding the situation, however, ex-
pect that Byrnes may retire in
favor of Harrison in the end.
DOPULAR PUZZLE game in
l. Washington now is to find
out what the antimonopoly COM
mittee is going to do next. Most
eager players are members of
the investigating committee who
are trying to find out what each
other are doing.
It seems each committeeman
has his own idea of what is
wrong with the world and his
own antidote.
For example, some committee
men were surprised to learn the
first subpoena of the inveStiga-
tion was issued very very Sc
cretly last week by Thomas j.
Flynn, general counsel Of the
committee, formerly an attorney
with SEC. He served it on j.
p. Morgan and Company, de-
manding evidence in connection
with certain Van SWeringen
bond issues.
Inside word is that Flynn is
hunting on the trail of steel
price data, but it is significant
that despite all the announce
ments that this was not to be
witch hunt, Flynn first picked
the biggest and best witch.
GENERAL FARLEY has been
u congratulating everyone
who wins, but none Of the re-
cipientS of his good will was
more surprised to get it than
Representative D. Worth Clark,
winner of the Idaho Democratic
primary.
New Dealers here were
swearing vengeance on Clark
when Farley's telegram halted
them. Incidentally, Clark came