The Wrangell sentinel., 1941-07-11
DEATH ROBS
PRESIDENT OF
LIAISON MAN

WASHINGTON. July Il - The
President has hung out a new sign.
It reads. Help Wanted-A Haison|
man in the Senate"
The death of kindly, soft-spokeni
and well-beloved Sen. Pat Harrison.
president pro tenn of the Senate has
So further thinned the ranks of 10y
Al senators that the administration
repeatedly is getting a little frantic
about what to do for leadership in
the upper chamber.
It isn't that there aren't some.
men remaining who can be counted
ON to line up on the right side Of
the aisle when the chips are being
counted The administration still has
substantial majority as long as
the fight is just a skirmish between
Democrats and Republicans. But.
when it develops into a knock-down-
and-drag-out, who's going to give
the signals, call the plays, and keep.
the boys from getting off-side?
Sen. James F. Byrnes-the great
est contact man the President ever.
has had on the Hill - has moved
up to the Supreme Court. Pat Harri-
son is gone to an even higher tri-I
bunal
George Already Busy
Sen. Walter F. George. of Georgia.
might be the next President pro
tenn. but Senator George. as chair
man of the foreign relations com
eittee. already has his hands full.
President . pro TEN" never was
meant to be anything more than an
honorary job anyway and it is only
when some senator not otherwise
in a key position can be given that
post that it means anything.
As for a real "liaison man" ire
ally an anonymous job, because
neither legally nor politically is
there any such official title), the
men most prominently mentioned
are Sen. Tom Connally. Of Texas;
Sen. Scott ". Lucas, of illinois, and
Sen. Lester Hill of Alabama.
Measured by the political stature
of Jimmy" Byrnes, all of these men
T.
counted on to take a tough assign
ment and hammer it through heart
and soul as Byrnes did. Senators Lu-
cas- and Hill haven't the adroitness.
the political skill, not the popular
ity needed TO hit in such pinches
Senator Connally isn't lacking in
political sleight-of-hand, but the
No Y
rough punches and gougings into his
opponents that it's hard to expect
any consideration II he should ap-
proach them now with padded
/ gloves. He hasn't been a consistent
Presidents man, and being a sena-
tor of strong convictions, he porb-
ably couldn't be counted on to carry
the torch for every White House
sponsored issue.
There are others who might be
mentioned-but, at this writing,
not seriously. Some enterprising
/ senator may come forward and make
his place in the sun, but he'll have
/ TO start from scratch and not hold
/ up his record as testimony that he
deserves the place.
The best guess now is that the
President will struggle along with
out any liaison in the upper house,
counting on Sen. Alben Barley, ma
/ jority leader, and perhaps Vice
president Henry A. Wallace to pass
along his off-the-record convictions.
What About Wallace?
Just the mention of vice President
/ Wallace brings up an important
point From the moment he took
/ the chair as president of the Senate,
| the Vice-President has shueked a lot
of corn in making himself the ace
of good fellows with the men who
look to him for recognition on the
| floor. Already, he is just about King
pin of the gymnasium gang. He's a
popular tennis partner with every
/ senator who knows a net from
| deuce. And his luncheons, both for
NAL and informal, daily include
! from one to a score of the men with
whom he works.
: Just how much this means isn't
clear yet, but some observers are
saying now that it's possible, with
Mr.. Wallace in the Senate chair, the
Presidentwon I need any other liai-
son man.