Evening star., 1952-11-02
Renegade Senators Cancel Out
BY Richard FrykIund

The decisions of Republican
Senator Morse to jump the Eli
senhower camp and Democratic
Senator Byrd to turn his back
on Stevenson may strike some
voters as being significant
switches. But the fact is both
men have been marching reso-
lutely in the opposite direction
from their parties for years.
Morse, Oregon's Senator since
1945, regularly has voted with
the Democrats; and Senator
Byrd of Virginia, who has held
his seat since 1888. has voted
much more often than not with
the Republicans.
They are the most consistent
runaways in their respective
parties-So consistent that their
Senate stands usually cancel
each other out. If both were to
reverse their official party desig-
nationS-as Morse all but did
recently-both would feel COM
fortably at home in the opposi-
ton camp.
Morse and Byrd, of course.
aren't the only Senators who
vote with the opposition on roll
call votes. Almost all of them
do so occasionally. During the
82d Congress, for instance. the
average Democratic Senator
voted with the Republicans 18
per cent of the time on votes
decided substantially on party
lines. The average G. o. P. Sen
ator Strayed on 21.5 per cent of
the roll-call votes.
Record Breokine Defectors
But Byrd and Morse are the
record breakers. In the past
four Congresses Byrd's detection
percentage has been 76, IS, "a
and So. In the same period
Morse scored Ct. IS, ST and 70.
A great economy" man,
Senator Byrd annually sub
mits his own national budget
and urges that it be used in
stead of the higher budget
officially sent to Congress by the
President. He has never won his
fight, but he has been per-
sistent. On not one single ap-
preparation vote in the past
Congress did he vote with the
Democrats.
He stood with the Democratic
majority only twice in the 16
foreign-policy party-line votes.
Morse acted somewhat like a
Republican on appropriations.
voting with his party 16 out of
% times. On foreign policy.
however, he was hand-in-hand
with the Democrats on all but
three votes.
Nor was it only on trivial
votes that Byrd and Morse
voted against their party ma
jorities. They opposed each
other-and their own parties
on such key issues in the last
Congress as reduction of for
eign aid, use of the Taft-Hart-
ley injunction in the steel
strike. reduction of public hous-
ing and consideration of the st.
Lawrence seaway bill.
Byrd's Explonotion
Byrd denies that he votes
with the Republicans. His IA
vorite explanation of his record
is that his name starts with
"B" and is therefore one of the
first called on a roll-call vote.
"The Republicans hear how I
vote and then they vote with
me-" Byrd maintains.
Morse claims to be a Lin
colnian Republican. He says
he holds to the political philos-
ophy of that great Republican
President even if the rest of the
party doesn't. The Republicans
were wandering so far from the
path of Lincoln in the current
campaign-in Morse's eyes
that the Oregon maverick for
mally resigned from the party
and then went stumping for
Stevenson, He said he would
call himself an independent
Republican" in the new Senate.
Exactly where that will leave
him during the four years his
term has to run is a moot ques-
ton. If the new Senate is
evenly divided. as it may well
be, Morse could be the swing
man who would determine
which party would Organize"
the Senate. AS it is much to a
party's advantage to name the
officers of the Senate and chair