Show THE washington SCENE senate committee chairmen foe are experienced legislators legislates editors note nofe this is the third in a series of articles on new ro committees and their chairmen i by WALTER A SHEAD washington correspondent washington experienced legislators are at the helm of senate committees of the congress a survey disclosing that the committee chairmen have served an average of 11 years in the upper house their length of service ranges from four years for sen chapman of west virginia to 0 28 years for sen arthur capper of kansas in age the new republican chair men average 61 years five years older th than an senators as a whole youngest of the group is sen styles bridges of new hampshire who is 48 while the oldest Is 81 year old capper the list of committees and their chairmen continues i agriculture ARTHUR CAPPER kas chairman of the senate agriculture and forestry committee Is at 81 the oldest man in the senate and ranks second only to kenneth mckellar dem tenn in length of service 11 he e was elected to the senate in 1919 after serving two terms as governor of 0 kansas now dean of the farm bloc capper has been an important figure in agricultural legislation tor for the last 20 years ile he voted for t the h e mcnary haugen bill in 1927 the agricultural adjustment ju estment biu bill in 1933 sol soil i conservation in 1936 crop insurance in 1938 he voted in 1942 to include the cost of tarm farm labor in com capper puling parity prices and tor for the russell amendment to the same effect in 1946 capper was tor for the smoot hawley tariff in 1930 in 1934 he voted for reciprocal trade agreements but by 1940 he was against extending them he supported creation of TVA in 1933 but Is against the proposal for a missouri valley authority in a recent speech he announced that the parity price support program needs revision to prevent accumulation of surpluses capper has a wide influence in the grain belt through a number of newspapers and magazines which he be supervises from washington he entered the publishing field by becoming a typesetter for the topeka daily capital which he now owns ills his other publications are cappers weekly kansas farmer and mail and breeze household magazine cappers farmer missouri ohio farmer pennsylvania farmer michigan farmer and kansas city kansan he also owns radio station in topeka public works CHAPMAN W W va still serving his first term becomes chairman of the public works committee which will take over the old committees on commerce and public buildings and grounds and non personnel functions function s of post offices and post roads is 51 years old he was born in covington va served in the army in world war 1 I returned to covington to practice law and moved to charleston IV va in 1922 he was a member of the republican state executive committee from 1932 to 1936 and was president of the young republican league of west virginia from n 1934 to 1936 he was elected to the senate in 1942 lie he is a former president of charleston bar association on public works matters voted against an appropriation to tonti continue nue the national resources planning board in 1943 against an appropriation of 75 million dollars tor for a postwar planning fund in 1945 for the full employment bill in 1945 and against an amendment the same ye year to reduce federal aid for aira airports from million dollars to million dollars on most issues has followed republican party policy ile he voted with the majority of his party on 82 per cent of controversial roll calls in the congress judiciary ALEXANDER WILEY wis chairman of the judiciary committee is a regular republican who voted with his party 85 per cent of the time in the congress in the second session he was absent tor for only 10 per cent of roll call votes one of the first problems before the judiciary committee under wiley will be advisability of repealing emergency war powers not affected by the presidents eriCs proclamation lar la of the end of hostilities in a report to the republican conference wiley wilcy stated that in view of the continued national emergency the wiley varied and complex nature of the wartime controls and the chaotic effects of immediate termination of controls the problem should be stud led by the senate committees concerned with the various types of controls before the judiciary committee draws up overall recommendations ions wiley born in 1884 in the town of chippewa falls where he still av lives es is a lawyer he also owns and operates a farm and has been a director of a local bank his only public office before his election to the senate in 1938 was that of district attorney tor for chippewa county which he held from 1909 to 1915 the judiciary committee deals with courts and judges antitrust anti trust problems bankruptcy laws patents immigration civil liberties and coni con amendments interstate and foreign commerce WALLACE H WHITE JR me ale new chairman of the interstate and foreign commerce committee is one of the few republicans who have had previous experience as a congressional committee chairman white was chairman of the house committee on merchant marine and fisheries from 1927 to 1931 in addition to transportation and general bills affecting commerce whit whites es committee handles radio and communications civil aeronautics and merchant marine bills white was also minority leader of senate republicans in the congress and now becomes c 0 in a a majority leader in addition to commerce committee Z chairman 5 he was strenuously opposed for the committee job by clyde 11 reed rep kas who was represented as having the support of the railroads white while white was backed by the radio industry white is 69 years old and has been in congress continuously since 1916 when he be was elected to the house he went to the senate in 1930 and is the third ranking republican senator in seniority before entering congress white practiced law in washington and maine alaine and was a senatorial secretary labor and public welfare ROBERT A TAFT ohio new chairman of the labor and public welfare committee has endorsed changes in labor laws to enable employer and employee to meet on a fairly equal basis specifically he will seek enactment of legislation to hold unions responsible tor for contract violations to require union financial reports to establish mediation machinery 0 outside the labor department to outlaw secondary boycotts and to exempt foremen from the wagner labor relations act most tatt taft of these ese provisions were in the vetoed case bill last spring tatt taft a 57 year old lawyer is the son of former pres william howard tatt taft he served in the ohio house of representatives from 1921 to 1926 and in the state senate in 1931 and 1932 he was elected to the united states senate in 1936 the labor and public welfare committee will handle bills on education health veterans hospitals and medical care in addition to the subjects covered by its name |