The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-20
SENATE ON ITS DIGNITY
CALM BUT FIRM OPPOSITION TO
 THE ADMINISTRATION. ...
The President is Impatient-Mr. Roose- welt Trying to Build Up strong
 Republican Party in the Southern States.

AL present tnere appears no pFosPecS
 of an improvement in the relations be- tween the Administration and the Sem ate. The Senate has assumed that calm
 exterior of dignity which those famil-
 far with the traditions of that body re-
 cognize as evidence of an inflexible de-
 termination to be amiably and courte-
 ously reserved and independent.
 Personified, the Senate at its best is
 a gentleman who resents encroach- ments and airs of presumption. Among
 themselves Senators practice a certain
 form of discipline which is often very
 difficult of comprehension to a man newly elected to that body who has not
 been we'll trained in the observance of
 certain ethics or who Is not endowed
 with a quickness of perception to en-
 able him to discern delicate distinc-
 tions of manner and bearing. Many
 have been known to enter the Senate
 and pass out of 1t again without ever
 learning what 1t really is to be Sem
 ator.
 There Is a certain espirit de corps
 which is distinctively Senatorial. When
 on the defensive the Senate knows no
 party and Is surrounded by an atmos-
 phere which cannot be breathed freely
 by one against whom its pressure
 bears. Even a man having credentials
 as a Senator may, through some quail lty or CndEdCteT UT ldCh OI tHe unueT- standing of things. find this atmosphere
 so oppressive that he may not break
 through 1t and, though serving in the Senate, may never be anything but an outsider.
 It is seldom that the Senate flies in- to a passion, and when it seems to do so it Is not generally in earnest. When the dignity or integrity of the Senate Is attacked elements politically hos Al feet understanding and sympathy
 brings the body into compact order on the defensive. A demeanor of perfect calmness and self-restraining dignity marks its attitude toward the unini
 tiated and the outer world.
 This attitude has nwo been assumed toward the Administration. Flippant remarks about the personal peculiari- ties of the President are no longer in- dulged in publicly by Senators as they have been in the past with the spirit of friendly banter. In the place of this the President and his Administra- tion are treated with a respectful re- serve. such as an old-school gentleman is apt to assume toward a stranger whom he would hold politely at arms length. There appears to be a deter imitation on the part of the Senate to give respectful consideration to the
 
 ing for points of antagonism but, new ertheless, to act entirely in its own capacity and to be controlled by its own judgment. No more subtle opposi-
 tion than this could be encountered by the Administration.
 When individual Senators are giving expression to their personal resent ment and partisans are following the
 policy of partisanship, the appearance nf ct hn GVNtn hut under such circumstances it is not apt to be deep seated. When the Senate assumes an attitude of mere politeness it's courtesy, like its dignity, has about | it the air of ostracism. Even the closest friends of the Administration, | when having to choose between sup porting the dignity of their corps and their personal regard for the President, cannot resist the influence of their Sen atorial association and partisan opposi- | tion steps aside and becomes silent in | deference to the superior right of the party associates of the Administration | to take up the fight of defense.
 Denouncing The Senate.
 The attitude of the Senate is irritat- ing in the extreme to the Administra- | tion. It Is exasperating almost beyond endurance. especially to the President and to Mir Hay to observe with what l calmne5s and quiet inflexibility the | Senate contemplates their impatience. | The President sometimes addresses in
 dividual Senators in tones of chronical bitterness, and some of the members of | the Administration cannot find lam l guage too violent in which to denounce l the Senate, severally and collectively,
 in private conversation. The other day | prominent member of the Administra- | tion. losing all control of himself In his feeling of resentment, indulged in a
 burst of profanity, denouncing the Sem | ate as degenerating into body of | corruptionists and grafters."
 | The Senate Is sensitive on the point
 of some personal dereliction of its mem- | bers, and the consciousness of this in-
 tensifies the determination of those
 who constitute what may be termed | the Senatorial coterie to maintain the | dignity of the Senate at any cost The | wall of ice which this coterie Is con-
 structing Is as chilling to the approach
 of some Senators as it is to what Is l termed the presumptions of the Ad-
 ministration. Members of this coterie, composed of both parties, have sudden l ly awakened to the consciousness that there has been a falling off in the dig
 nifty of the Senate, very largely through
 its own fault, and feel that the time
 has come for them to regard the pres
 ervation of the character of the Sen ate as paramount consideration. An
 understanding on this subject had more | than anything else to do with the fall
 ure of new States to get admission to
 the Union during the past Congress, the | apprehension being that the introduce
 ton of six or eight new Senators with
 out experience or appreciation of con-
 ditions would render it more difficult
 for the Senatorial character to be
 maintained.
 Sees Hope In Virginia.
 | The reason given for the overthrow
 of Park-Agnew in Virginia and the re-
 cognition of Slemp as referee and head
 of the Republican organization in the
 State is that Mir. Slemp has convinced President Roosevelt that there Is pos
 sibility of the Republicans electing the
 next Governor of Virginia. Whether
 MT Roosevelt has or has not become | convinced that such a thing is possible
 he undoubtedly entertains the hope
 that during his term of office he may
 be able to build up a strong Roosevelt
 Republican organization in two or three of the Southern States, so that l when the next Presidential election comes around these States may be re- garded as doubtful.
 It is believed that this idea has its 1 inspiration in a conviction on the part
 of the President that his policies will
 meet with such resistance among poli-