The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-14

way of reading the riot act to them,
 and are prepared to fight all the hard
 againsr Sn ths proposed grant of power
 sion or any other subsidiary tribunal
 of Congress.
 Leading Republican senators also
 President and of his spokesman here
 at the seat of government. They look
 upon these two speeches, one imme-
 diately following the other. as evidence
 his Secretary of War, who is "sitting
 on the lid," and they resent the whole
 performance as an effort to place them
 in leading strings "rd to tell them
 sEnna fFS% the do iM Mfe the lesslation they
 All the indications are that we are about to witness Q first-class row with in the Republican ranks over this rail-
 way question. At the very moment the President and his understudy came out with what may be called chal- lenge and defiance, most of the Re- publican Senators who had been con- sidering this question and listening to the statements of leading railway men before the Senate Committee on Inter- state Commerce had reached the con- clusion that the one thing they would not recommend was grant of power to the Interstate Commerce Commis-
 
 to say that unless the President can bring O tremendous force of public opinion to bear in support of his con tentions the Senate, even the Republi- ly contrary to his recommendations. A great majority of these Senators frank ly admit they have been convinced by the railway attorneys that there should claim the railroads have had all the best of tho argument and that what little there Is to be said on the other side weighs scarcely more than feather in comparison with the reasons adduced by the clever men the rail- road interests have put forward to pre- sent their side of the case.
 Thus the issue Is drawn, and sharply drawn The President contends that where a rate Is complained of the In- terstate Commerce Commission and the courts, authorized by the law which he proposes shall be enacted. may have the power, not only to declare that rate which shall take Its place and enforce it. The railroads are willing to have any rate reviewed by the courts, but at the point where it is proposed to rate they object most strenuously. They claim that this will open the door wide to a general rate-making through the of the federal gov ernment. which Is revolution. They denounce 1t as an attempt to take con- trol of property out of the hands of it's owners and place 1t within the hands of men who have no interest in its prosperity or solvency.
 At this writing 1t Is pretty certain the railroads have a majority of the Senate on their side. It is almost a certainty that the leaders of the Re- publican party in that body will go ,t,n~k laA Tlv@a nw.A Co., Nt1n. roads. and 1t is this that makes the battle so interesting. Can the Presi- dent rally public sentiment strongly enough to carry his point aganist the railroads and the Senators who are with them?
 As to putting an end to discrimina- tion, direct or indirect, whether through rates or devices, such as pri- vate terminals. private cars. or what not, there Is no difference of opinion. All agree to the square deal. Last night MT. Fish, speaking for the rall- roads, almost brutally declared that what was needed was not more law to put stop to discriminations, but en- forcement of existing laws. His voice was ringing with earnastness, almost with passion, as he issued this chal- lenge to President Roosevelt: What we need is effective administration, not more legislation" And the railroad men present cheered his words MT. Roosevelt's hobby Is enforcement of the laws which he already has on tho statute books. There is much curiosi- ty as to how the President will meet 1t. And 1t Is quite apparent that be- fore he gets the bullgine in hand and docile enough to run, according to his orders, Mir. Roosevelt is in for a lot of truble. He may even split a predica- ment like Mir. Cleveland was in when the Democracy went back on him on tariff reform and forced him to appeal to the people, the result being his reelection in 1892. The politicians are wondering If MT. Roose- him back into the White House.