Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-29

WASHINGTON, May 15,-"Thoy've
fooled Roosevelt" Is the present ver-
dict of Washington on the hastily
reached and abruptly agreed upon end
Of the rate bill controversy. How this
ardently desired end was brought about
by Senator Aldrich and his followers
is not yet wholly known, but the true
story OF the strange circumstances un-
der which the agreement was reported
is beginning to leak out from many
sources. Apparently nobody is satisfied
except the president and the group of
Aldrichs followers who have contcnded
that the rate bill should not pass the
senate until there had been put into
1t measure of the broadest court re-
view.
1t is definitely known that Senator
Fulton of oregon drew the amendment
which has been put forward as Senator
Alison's and which has been accepted
by the president as a happy issue out
Of the trouble Mr.. Allison is confined
to his apartments with a slight Illness
and denied himself to callers today, but
Senator Dolliver his colleague, has told
a number Of correspondents that the
senior Iowa senator knew nothing
whatever about 1t until he GDolliverJ
took a copy of the amendment, as
printed in yesterday mornings papers.
to the sick senator's bedroom and
began to question him about it. Mr..
Allison, according to Mr.. Dolliver, was
amazed and said he knew nothing about
1t. In the first flush of his anger he
declared that he would have nothing to
do with it-that he would not introduce
the amendment that had been thrust
upon him without his consent or knowl-
edge.
President Roosevelt believes that the
amendment was drawn by Senator Alli-
son and is grateful to him for bringing
about what he contends to be a thor
oughlY satisfactory end to the lonS
wrangle. 1t is represented by the ad-
ministration element that the so-called
Allison amendment does nothing except
set forth in explicit terms the provision
for court review already contained in
the pending Hepburn bill; in other
words, that the Hepburn bill, with or
without this amendment is precisely
the same instrument, and that the
amendment has been accepted by the
Aldrich faction TO save their faces"
The administration senators admit
that they would prefer to have the Hep
burn bill with the Long restricted re-
view amendment in it. yet declare in
the same breath that the so-caled A1li-
son amendment is perfectly satisfactory.
1t seems curious and almost inexplca-
BILE to a good many people that the adj
ministration should not have insisted
on changing the pending bill to suit
it. if il had the situation so well in hand
and the Aldrich followers so discon-
certed that they were seeking for any
form of compromise that would make
less evident their defeat. If, as is de-
cared, this amendment. drawn by Mr..
Fulton. does not in the slightest degree
change the Hepburn bill and the whole
proposal is accepted, the senate puts
itself in rather a ludicrous position after
all the weeks of grave constitutional
argument it has indulEed in When the
Hepburn bill came over from the house
after being jammed through with only
seven dissenting votes, the senator's
widely advertised their intention to
thoroughly discuss and perfect the pro-
posal. Days and weeks have been given
UP to abstract constitutional arguments
on the differences between 'jurisdic-
tom and judicial power" by Senator's
Bailey. Knox, Spooner, Foraker, Rayner
and others All these great constitu-
tionaI lawyers talked world without
end, yet no two Of them agreed on any
proposition except that the others were
wrong. Now at the end of all the tu-
multi and the shouting, one is asked to
believe that they have all agreed to
accept the Hepburn bill, which they
have severally and Jointly declared to
be unconstitutional. In this light the
whole affair becomes a comic spectacle,
and bears out Senator Tillman's asser-
tion that the rate bill debate in the
senate has been the most stupendouS
farce ever enacted before the country"
There is an element of significance in
the source from which news of the
acceptance of Mr.. Fulton's amendment
was given publicity. Apparently the
news of the administration victory
came from the vanquished.
Correspondents for morning papers
were given copies of the amendment
said to have been prepared by Mr.. Alli