Evening star., 1948-11-11

Life ReoIIy Begins OF IS,
Study Of Democratic
Lawmakers Ages Shows
By David Laurence
Some people may be gloomy over
the results Of the recent election.
but there are other people who may
derive considerable comfort from it
in unexpected ways.
Thus, for instance, old age comes
into its own this time in the new
Congress. Life really begins at IS.
Those who have been saying that
a man loses his usefulness ut the
age Of 65 will have to revise their
opinions. Likewise, the so-called
youth movement" of the country
which rallied around Harold Stassen
and has been vocal on the subject
of putting new blood into both
parties will have to take a back
seat while the Eighty-first Congress
Is directed by the oldest group Of
committee chairmen that Congress
has seen in many years.
Starting with Vice President-elect
Barley, aged II, who will preside
over the Senate, the list shows that
IS is by no means the retirement
age in public life.
The new chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, Tom
Connally, Is II.
The new chairman Of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee is Sol
Bloom, who is 78.
The new chairman of the Senate
Finance Committee, which handles
taxes, is Senator Walter F. George
Of Georgia. who is 10.
Doughton Is "a. "
The new chairman of the House
Ways and Means Committee, which
handles taxes, is Robert L. Dough-
ton of North Carolina, who is "a.
The all-important Appropriations
Committee of the Senate will have
as its new chairman Senator Nc
Kellar of Tennessee, who Is 10.
The new chairman of the impor-
tant House Appropriation Commit
tee is Representative Clarence Cam
non of Missouri, who is SO.
The new chairman of the Senate
Banking and Currency Committee
is 71-year-old Robert Wagner of
New York, who has recently been
very i'll. $
The new chairman of the all
important House Banking and Cur
rency Committee is Representative
Spence of Kentucky, who is "a.
The new chairman of the Judi
ciary Committee of the Senate Is
Senator McCarran of Nevada, who
Is u.
The new chairman of the House
Rules Committee, which is perhaps
the most powerful of all committees
In the House OF Representatives. is
to be Representative SABBATH of Illi-
nois, 80.
The new chairman of the Senate
Labor Committee is Senator Ebert
Thomas of Utah, IS. Also compara-
lively young is the new chairman
Of the House Labor Committee,
Representative John Lesinski of
Michigan, who Is So.
The speaker of the new House of
Representatives is also young by
comparison with the others. He is
Sam Rayburn of Texas, who is
only 66.
When the people vote in a new
Congress, they do not realize that
they may also vote into control of
the important chairmanships men
holding views with which they may
not agree.
Thus, with all the hue and cry
about the radicalism that is to come
with the new Congress, some Of
these new committee chairmen who /
are advanced in years are among
the most conservative members of
the Congress. They are by no
means radicals.
Seniority Has Prevailed.
There Is. of course, no law or
constitutional rule which requires
the election of these men to the
I1ld11 ouI
seniority has prevailed for so many
years that all efforts in the past to
upset this custom have usually
failed. Revolt has to be started
inside of Congress and men who
have been serving there have for
the most part approved the senior
ity system because they themselves,
veterans, expect to become commit
tee chairmen. Also, below the
committee chairmen the ranking of
the other members is on the senior
ity system, depending on length of
service within a particular COM
mlttee. To upset the seniority
system means that some method
would have to be devised which not
only would enable the parties to
pick the chairmen of committees
but also to arrange a method of
rank below the chairmen that
would be satisfactory to everybody |
The argument that men cease to
be useful at the age of IS has arisen
largely from the fact that in private
industry that is the usual time for
retirement. 1t has often been
argued. however, that many useful
persons are automatically retired
who could remain at work for many
years to come. This is particularly
true of the so-called "old men" in
Congress, many of whom appear as
vigorous as they did q decade ago.
Mr. Truman himself is 64 years Of
age. He certainly does not look like
man who If he were in private
life would retire ut the age Of IS.
Perhaps 1t is the 7est of work in
Congress that makes 80 many mem
bers of Congress feel that "life
begins at 65"
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