The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, June 3, 1929, Page 12

WASHINGTON , LETTER,.4 By RODNEY DUTCHER (NEA Service Writer) Washington, June 3—Two reasons are commonly given in Washington to explain the senate’s habit of going into executive sessions where the utmost secrecy is supposed to be preserved. First, so that everybody can have a smoke. Second, so that a small handful of Democrats, willing to vote for con- firmation of a presidential nominee along with the regular Republicans in return for reciprocal favors, may do 50 without letting their constituents know anything about it. The first idea is rather frivolous. Of course senators are not supposed to tell what happens in secret session, sO a member could theoretically do whatever he liked with impunity, but few senators are so lazy as to want to empty the galleries and lock the doors instead of stepping outside for the Pleasure of a cigaret. It Has Worked Often The second idea is held by most op- Ponents of senate secrecy. Goodness knows how many times the senate Progressives have united with faithful Democrats to oppose a more or less Offensive nomination, only to be licked by desertion of a few elderly Democrats to the other side. And, naturally, it isn’t always a Democrat who wants his vote kept secret But there is a third reason given for executive sessions and this one comes from the conservatives who want the secrecy of such sessions maintained and who are awfully sore when a newspaperman reveals, as Paul R. Mallon did, the roll call on a nomina- tion. The attacks on senate secrecy have been so universal and so loud that this may be the first time their viewpoint has been fully explained in Print, but here it is, as given to your correspondent by the extremely con- servative senator Hiram K. Bingham of Connecticut, the tallest man in congress. “The general practice in all bodies which try to get the best results is to consider personalities in private,” explained Senator Bingham. “Re- ligious, fraternal and business organ- izations all do that. The largest cor- Porations are run by directors and they always discuss personnel matters in private. “The truth is that reputation is a delicate plant, and the higher a man gets the easier it is to smear his repu- tation without the slightest justifica- tion. There are many reasons why someone might want to smear a man’s reputation when he is nominated for federal position by a hint of scandal such as can leave a permanent scar. Anyone can throw mud at a public character. “In the heat of a political cam- Paign some allowance is made for such attacks and they are not 50 harmful. Als@ any really harmful and untruthful attacks can be made the subjects of suits for libel. But the senate is a deliberative body and the words of senators not only are given great weight, but, when uttered on the senate floor, cannot be made a basis for libel action. “A great many matters come up in executive sessions which newspaper- {men know about, but refrain from 1 publishing, which might damage a man’s character. If J get an anony- | mous letter concernirg a nominee or hear an unconfirmed report concern- |ing his character or qualifications, I |can raise the issue in an executive j session and have it checked up. But if these sessions were public I would either have to let it go unmentioned or take the chance of wrecking a reputation by repeating something untrue. “We might have some story of scan- have been several such instances in the last few years. Or we might merely hear that a nominee had stockholdings rendering him ineli- gible. “I don't think there's any doubt that executive sessions provide the best means of getting the best men into office and keeping bad men out, with the most fairness both to public interest and to the individual Abides by Majority Vote “Any time a majority of the senate wants to make public a roll call taken in executive session it will be all right with me. But the decision ought to be made in each particular casc. “Sometimes a senator who has Promised a few persons that he would vote for a man's confirmation learns things in executive session which cause him to change his mind. Then he has to make explanations as to why he broke his promise, which may sometimes be impossible. “In Connecticut, where I had my first legislative experience as lieuten- ant-governor, the state senate al- ways votes in secret session on ju- dicial confirmation. Not only that, but they take a secret ballot. And in system has always worked out well.” Taking Crystal's curiosity for Sranted, and not at all sensitive to the ominous meaning behind her limp quietness, George rattled on eagerly, his voice rich and vibrant with joy: “We had a long talk—Dad and I— when I'd admitted that nothing would suit me better than to marry my model if she'd have me and if I could support her. Naturally I told him without quibbling that I couldn't get married on what he had said he was willing to allow me if he considered the picture good, and I got about halfway through explaining that I was willing to give up painting in order to get married. You ought to have heard him then, darling. You'd have loved him—” Crystal smiled as she remembered her last interview with George's father. Never had a stenographer been more thoroughly and brutally “He said,” George continued hap- pily, “that I'd long since convinced him that the wholesale hardware bus- iness could wag along without my services, but that, this picture of mine was any criterion to go by, the world of art might be the poorer if I left it flat.” “I'm awfully glad for you, George,” Crystal said gently. “For us!” he corrected her joyous- ly. “This is his offer, honey; he'll Create a trust fund of a quarter of a ia * Crystal gasped. “A quarter of a million! Why, George—” He hugged her close as he laughed. “Sounds like a whale of a lot, but it isn't, really, honey. The yearly in- come on that amount invested con- servatively by the trust company, will | not be more than thirteen or fourteen thousand, but it will be enough, won't it, sweet?” To save her life Crystal could not answer in words. She could only nod. “Oh, how can I tell him?” she moaned —_—_—_______-« IN NEW YORK New York, June 3.—While quite ‘aware of many of the features which make Manhattan “bigger and better” than any other four-round circus, still it is s bit staggering to know that. you live in a town where for in- A child is born each four minutes. wires to herself. “He is so happy, so sure. He's almost beside himself with joy. How can I—” But George was too happy to feel any lack in her response. His words continued to tumble out in a joyous flood: “We can do anything we Please, go anywhere, have anything in the world we really want. Isn't Dad a prince, darling? I never real- ized— Of course he tied a string to his generosity. Dad would,” he chuckled, “just to make me work hard. As if 1 wouldn't anyway, with you to in- spire me!” Because she knew that he was about to kiss her again, Crystal asked quickly: “What is the string, George?” “Merely that the quarter of a mil- jion is all I—or rather, you and I— will ever get out of his estate if I fail to achieve a reasonable success as @ painter,” George answered read- ily, “He has some sort of elaborate scheme, I gather, for having my work judged by experts at his death. If T've wasted my time or overestimated my talent, we'll have to struggle along on the income from the quarter of @ million, instead of coming in for our share of his six or eight million attaches to giving me a slice of it now, knowing how dangerous a com- fortable income may be for an artist. No incentive to work hard, you know. So he's creating the incentive of a million or two more after his death, if I'm a good, hard-working boy. If he only knew how little I care for money! Of course, for you—” His arms tightened about her again. But Crystal hardly felt them. She was in the grip of something stronger than a man’s arms. Its name was Temptation. NEXT: Crystal conquers tempta- (Copyright, 1929, NEA Service, Inc.) which is not exactly across the street. Some nine million people scramble daily for subway seats and about a million taxi fares are paid between nan and Legit t. Breat buildings which dot the island hold @ vast population of more than six million and there are 681,818 such buildings. see Such statistics, gathered from a Pamphlet just sent me by the New York Merchants’ association, a if. ficient to make even a d; ] i " i i beg i Lt: Hin He i fy g as ile i dollar estate. That's the penalty he} THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE MONDAY, JUNE 3, 1929 | THE GUMPS~— BIRDS OF A FEATHER ! ] dal involving a man’s wife—and there |: WWAT YOU NEED, MIN = 18 A GOOD REST=— ‘You OUGHT TO HAVE ‘A VACATION = 1 WAS SHINKING = JUST LAST NIGHT. WHY NOT TAKER THE FAMILY To THE COUNTRY — RENT A COTTAGE UP AT LAKE GENEVA FOR THE SUMMER — YL BE A TREAT For Ut ALL —_ GREAT FOR TWE CHILDREN = THINK OF ALL ‘THAT FRES AIR GOING TO WASTE — WEY CAN BOTTLE THE FREGH MILK~/ CRATE THE FRESH EGGS — AND SEND SWEM IN TO US= BUT THAT REAL COUNTRY FRESH AIR — TWAT'S SOMETHING ‘YOu WAVE Yo GO OUT To GET YOURSELF — THEY DON'T SELL THAT— THAT'S Free ! YA Know waar MEDICINE WE DISH OUT T DOES LIKE You, DONT Ya 2? WELL-P PARE YORSELF !/ Nov SENT LIM our ‘OUT OF TE Canyon | | ALONE, DID YA? DONT ~LGANE HIM Some | | YA KNOW THaT Paci OF WOES LIVES IN These PARTS AN' HE Micut GET TORN Pieces 7? ITO Ta“e You To Do A ORTy TRick Live TUS = SEAT THAT PORE KID our ALONE !! Ua: ON LS WAY To Bag 0, WON? NUHICH way DID WE GO? CMON, WE \S CRAMMED WITH ae WANTING TO ELL, AL, WENE HAD \ (Some SAPP WILL NOW TELLA), Sore GE IT EVER SO HUMBLE, Oey—Cers - |”. 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