The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-02-22
What Roosevelt Will Do If Rate Bill is Passed That Does Not Meet His
 Approval.
WILL NOT INTERFERE NOW
NO ATTEMPT TO PREVENT AMENDMENT OF HEPBURN
 MEASURE.

1t is Understood, However, That the
 President is Satisfied With It as It is
 --The Great Fight is Over the
 Amendment Providing for Judicial
 Review After q Finding by the Inter-
 state Commerce COmmissiOn-ThOse
 OppOaed to This Are Determined to
 Support the Measure as Mr. Hepburn
 Framed It-Took Firm stand in Con-
 ference With President.
 Washington, Feb. 21.-When the sem ate committee on interstate commerce meets on Friday to vote on railroad rate bill, the announcement will be made authoritatively that President Roosevelt will not attempt to prevent amendment of the Hepburn bill; that he will leave the committee free to ex- ercise it's best judgment, and, if possl- ble, compromise it's differences; that If a bill is reported which does not meet his approval, and in that form Is pass ed by congress he will content himself to exercise his veto power. This an- nouncement will be made as the result of conference to-day between the president and the most active persons supporting the house bill without amendment, but will be delivered to the committee by senator who has sup ported an amendment providing for ju- dicial review of an order of the inter state commerce committee.
 The conference at the White House is one of many that have been held there in the last week for discussion of the railroad rate question. It was attended by Senators Deliver and Clapp, Speaker Cannon. Representative Hepburn and Attorney General Moody. They had under consideration an amendment said to have been drafted by Senator Knox and revised by the attorney general The draft in it's re- vised form, however, is said not to be satisfactory to it's author. It was offer ed in a spirit of compromise, and the president and attorney general desir- ed to know whether 1t would be accept ableto members of congress who are making a fight to prevent the adoption of any amendment which they believe would interfere with the operation or ! the measure they propose to enact into law,
 Briefly stated, the amendment aims to give to any complainant authority to file petition in a circuit court as serting that rate fixed by the com mission was in fact illegal, or that an order of the commission was in reality unlawful, and authorizes the court to hear the suit to decide whether the commission acted within it's authority, and whether the constitutional rights of the plaintiff had been violated.
 AS they had previously announced they wold do, all those called Into the conference made a firm stand for the Hepburn bill in it's present form, and said that none of the amendments sug- gested seemed to be an improvement. They said that if the bill undertook to specify the condition under which eom- plaints could be taken into court, the court might refuse to take. cognizance of matters not specified in the bill. They said they preferred to leave open every feature on which an aggrieved person might desire to go into court. Attorney General Moody, 1t Is said, contended that the Hepburn bill is con stitutional, and that there is no danger of it's being overturned by the United States supreme court. He would not pass upon the wisdom of amending the bill. taking the position that that is a function outside of his official prov ince.
 After Senators Deliver and Clapp re. turned to the capitol they told certain colleagues they would go into the com mittee on Friday and make firm stand to have the bill reported with. out amendment When asked concern ing the attitude of the president, they said that they believed he is satisfied with the bill as it stands, but that it is too much to say that he is opposed tc any amendments that might be added.