the way the founders thought senators should had be elected. the state legislature chose and voted for reed smoot to go to the united states senate to represent the state of utah. in his 30-year career as a senator, reed smoot rose to the most powerful chairmanship in the senate, chairman of the senate finance committee with jurisdiction over the federal government s two ways of raising revenue, bringing money into the treasury, taxation and tariffs. with the stock ■çmarket crashin in 1929 and the country entering the great depression reed smoot had the worst idea any chairman of the senate finance committee ever had. it was an idea that would end his career in the senate. the house ways and means committee had the same jurisdiction in the house that the finance committee has in the senate, taxation and tariffs. the chairman of the house ways and means committee, willis hawley, loved reed smoot s very bad idea. that idea also ended chairman hawley s career in the house of