Evening star., 1949-07-29

&sssSss>f a1 the Justice De-
Senator Nicely. partment. Cap
itol Hill opinion generally is that
the Senator probably will accept
the post and resign from the Sem
ate. thus leaving vacancy in the
Craftsmanship of the District Com
mittee.
Under the precedent by which
the Senate follows seniority for
advancement of its members, the
Craftsmanship of the District Com
mittee' would fall tc the man next
in line on the majority side.
Johnston Ranking Member.
Senator Johnston, Democrat, of
South Carolina, is ranking Dem
ocrat on the committee. but he
already is chairman of the Senate
Civil Service Committee. 1t is be-
lieved he would not relinquish this
nationally important chairman
ship to head the District Commit
tee.
Senator Neely, by virtue of his
previous service in the Senate. is
next in line on the Democratic
roster of District committee men,
bers. Friend. of the West Vir-
ginian have indicated he undoubt-
edly will accept the post, if It is
offered to him.
Asked what he cared to say
about the prospects, the only re-
action of Senator Neely was to
declare: mo comment"
Kefanver Next.
Next in line below Senator
Neely is Senator Kefauver. Demo-
crat, OF Tennessee who came to
the 81st Congress from the House.
He expressed. regret at the possible
loss Of Senator McGrath to the
Senate aha praised his chairman
ship Hstrict pinittee. :.
Senator McGrathy departure
from the Senate would leave va
cant two other important and
desrablss oHD1pit ttees assignments.
He is d H40nber s6f both the
Judiciary Committee and the
Finance Committee.
, If Senator Neely should become
head of the District Committee, it
would noG be the first time he has
been mayor" of city, an hon.
orary title otter used to designate
the head of the Senate District
Committee. The West Virginian
is a former mayor of his home
town of Fairmont, w Va.
AS member of the Senate Dis
trict Committee. Senator Nicely
heads the judiciary subcommit-
tee, which has handled a number
of municipal bills, largely involv-
ing so far changes in the District
Code. He has been friendly to
legislation for Washington hcme
rule and has joined with Senator
Kefauver, and others in sponsoring
the original Kefauver bill in the
Senate. This measure, with
amendments, passed the Senate
and now is before a House District
judiciary subcommittee for action.
Opposed Sales Tax.
Senator Nicely strongly opposed
the sales tax during its tempestu-
GUS course through Congress. He
also was an opponent of John
Russell Young for reappointment
as District Commissioner.
The West Virginian, now "a, is
a veteran of Congress. having
served in both the House and
Senate. A staunch supporter of
labor. he defeated former Senator
Revercomb. Republican, for elec-
tion. to the S1st Congress.
Appearing first in the House in
1913. he was elected to the House
seven times and. is now serving
his fourth term in the Senate. His
previous terms in the Senate were
from 1923 to 1929, and from 1881
to 1941.
He resigned his seat in the
Senate in 1941 to become Cover
nor of West Virginia. Following
that he served another term in
the House in the 18th Congress.
A lawyer of many years practice
in Fairmont. he has been active
in civic and fraternal affairs. He
is a 32d Degree Mason and also
is affiliated with the Odd Fellows,
Elks. Knights of Pytnias and
Loyal Order of Moose. His fra
ternities include Phi Beta Kappa,
Delta Chi and Phi Sigma Kappa.
He is a veteran of the Spanish
American War. He rose to the
rank of major in the West Vir-
ginia National Guard.