The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-10-05
La Toilette Three Mistakes.

r. senator La Toilette is making a.
great virtue of the fact that he is 60
ing. about the country. at so much per
/, lecture ''revealing the secrets of the
senate He has come into Minnesota
and "revealed' the fact that Senator
Nelson , voted, against his amendment
providing for. a valuation of railroad
property and that Senator Clapp voted
against his amendment providing that
a. Judge owning railroad bonds or who
rode upon a pass should not sit in rail
road cases. Then with a dramatic
flourish Senator La Toilette declares,
ssHere you have the line of cleavage
Between those who serve the people and
those who serve the corporations
u With all due respect for Mr.. La Fol
lette, WHO'S many regards an excellent
man and a useful public servant, the
line Of cleavage shown is something
j very different. It is between radical
ism and common sense.
L h ourn a is not going to make
the mistake that was made in Kansas
of complaining that La Toilette VIC
1ates courtesy by coming into Minneso-
ia and telling how our home senators
voted. Neither will it let Mr.. La Fol
i lette get away with the falsehood that
in reading the rollcall he is stating a
senate secret. The rollcan is public
property and it is therefore contempti-
BILE for; Mr.. La Toilette to come into
Minnesota and read that rollcall as if
{ he had unearthed guilty secret which
I the senators from Minnesota were
guarding with care. There is no secret
and no possibility Of a secret about
the Congressional Record.
AS far as Mr.. La Follette's amend
I ments are concerned it is equally false
I to say that the votes on them estab-
4 ished any line of cleavage between the
\ servants Of the people and the corpora
( tions. Both the senator's from Mime
1 sofa were earnestly and sincerely &C
tive in passing a railroad rate bill. Mr.
Nelson it appears voted against Mr..
La Follette's amendment for a valua-
ton Of railroads. A valuation of the
railroads Of the country is a desirable
thing. But it is not apparent that it
was a desirable feature Of the rate bill
The proper way to get a valuation of
the railroads would be to appoint a
valuing commission and provide it with
facilities to do the immense labor in.
s5svolved in a valuation Mr.. La Fol
lette IS proposition to load this Job on
ID the Interstate commerce commission
when it was about to be burdened with
the duty Of making rates was one from
which any senator might have dissentec
without suspicion Of his motives.
As to the other amendment, it was
preposteRous to- attempt to cast this
,1nrs upon the Judiciary. In the frs
place a judge owning railroad stocks
MOULD be disqualified by that fact from
Sitting ina case in which he had al
terest-a It#Would be an insult to tn.
bench to sayFthat congress had to put i
- y in "a law that judge disqualified
should recognize his own disqualified
sstion. As to the pass amendment, hat
mot the bill already provided for al
abolition of the pass9 Should congress
aafter abolishing passes confess its i'm
potency by admitting that Judges still
shad passes and were therefore disquali
fed from sitting on railroad casesa
Mr.. La Toilette is perfectly welcom
IN n11blish the record ne Iimse1f or on,