Show constructive GOP congress depends on party hai harmony molly by news analyst and commentator service 1618 1616 eye street NW washington D C washington now that the senate has haa settled its first problem nam naming n 0 ot f the committee chairmen the next big question Is whether the rey publicans public ans are go ing to be able to develop a leadership 4 b able to ride herd and establish ta the he party discipline necessary for ironhanded iron handed c control cont 0 fol the republican majority I 1 is is very slim and there are a number of restive members who ho will be as hard to get into baukhage the corral come ro roll I call time as the sons of the wild wild jackasses jac kasses used to be it the lack ot of a leader so much as a surplus of them hem that worries republican politicos that and the danger that the lie leaders may start leading in different directions another factor not calculated to further unity Is the flock of presidential bets bers crawling all over the inside of the capitol dome in his december poll gallup listed four senators as possibilities in the following order 9 per cent bricker 8 per cent taft 2 per cent and I 1 per cent these are small figures compared to the polls 52 per cent granted governor dewey of new york or minnesotan Min ex governor 17 per cent the two leading gallups list but that mean the candidates think that way about it nobody Is placing bets yet As the veteran republican national committeeman clarence buddington kelland said 1 I dont think you are going to see the mutter matter jell at all until ohio decides whether it Is backing taft or bricker Brick cr when that decision 1 ll 11 made the lineup will III come fast gallup predicted that ers star would rise higher and thus whip the hopeful senators to added zeal lapel buttons labeled draft ike are already out under whose banner eisenhower Elsen hower would be drafted it is not stated but it Is generally conceded his personal leanings would be more republican than democratic neither nor salton stalls friends fiends have begun to tight and at this writing neither one has even indicated publicly he Is in the running more distressing to the men who have to make the upper house members hew to the republican line Is the old problem of the so called progressive element some people are predicting that there may be more harmony in the next session among the minority so widely split lost last time than among the majority with its swollen ranks some republicans are worrying lest they be divided to the extent that their power will be considerably reduced senator works for his state many people tall fail to realize the many factors which contribute to individualism in the seriate senate in the first place each senator is and so considers himself an ambassador from a state it is his business to serve that state to the best of his ability and his ability can be greatly supplemented by the prestige he acquires indeed prestige 11 if acquired by nothing but seniority can go a long way toward making makin g up for or lack of ability rut but it Is not mere inere personal am ambition billon which drives a senator to work for individual aromi nence it is a part of his job to strengthen the sovereignty of lie sovereign state he represents another thing which often forces a senator to walk alone or as part of a small groppas group is sectionalism not a hidebound attitude either but cje ie demand that he truly represent the interests of his community even if hose interests conflict with those of other parts of the country the ancient ani lent antagonism of west versus east has never quite died it was only a little over three decades ago that the amendment was passed which authorized the popular election of senators this was accomplished largely through the influence of western and sou southern thern states wh which ch had bad alre already dy b by Y in means cans of 0 state primaries or other subterfuge managed to take the choice of senators out of the hands hand a of the state legislatures the republicans benefited by the failure of the democrats to maintain a wes west t south alliance but they now suffer in turn from other sectional and ideological cleavages I 1 heard one man remark the other day that two recent speeches one by senator morse moise republican oi of oregon and the other by se senator byrd democrat of virginia each expressed views much more in line w with ith the opposite bartys than with their own organizations there are in many any other similar anomalies in the congress as there were in the last session the belief that the extreme conservatives serva tives will be in the saddle ready to ride roughshod rough shod over any liberal move Is not generally supported true history has sh shown own that the american people can stand just so much reform at a time but on the other hand they have seldom been willing to sacrifice past social gains consequently when the republicans public ans have been swept into office after periods like the wilson new freedom they have been very chary of repealing laws which were passed in answer to a demand tor for new privileges for the many N nation a tion clings to old reforms harold laski the british left wing labor leader would have us believe that there is a return to reaction in america he says in a recent article under that title that in abandoning the roosevelt heritage mr truman made the shaping of the postwar economic policy of america the concern of business and not of congress mr truman would be the first to deny that he deserted the new deal heritage whether he was personally inclined senators bricker left taft hold presidential key to support all of its tenets or not and I 1 can see the hackles of congress rise even on the side at the suggestion that the initiative was returning to the hands of mr truman was removed by the election from a number of restraints and pressures from groups which favored courses lie he personally disliked but he has not been party parly to any move t to 0 sacrifice past social gains and I 1 cannot see congress allowing the few reactionaries in either party or in the house or senate to set back the clock As the beards point out in their basic history of the united states the republicans despite their landslide victory over wilson in 1920 did not or could not stamp out the spirit of progressive or radical insurgency old in american tradition and yet ever new in its application to changing conditions hardings normalcy and cool adges conservatism temporarily did end our internationalism but their next choice was herbert hoover who had ad been speaking king with continual concern over conditions affecting the less privileged in 1923 for example he had called on the insurance companies to study unemployment insurance he had endorsed an amendment abolishing child labor he had frightened the reactionaries to death when he proposed the inheritance tax to redistribute over swollen fortunes going further back into history we note that after three successive victories the republicans even when they had majorities in both houses did not repeal so called reform measures passed up to IND 1800 when they returned to power in 1921 although attempts were made to do so such measures as the income and inheritance taxes were not abolished or redu reduced ced to an empty gesture yesterdays 1 is tomorrows conservative |