The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1906-01-25

statehood bill. But in fact it is
neither surprising nor very signifi-
cant. The wise ones in Congress
know as a rule before a vote
IS taken as to how it will come out,
whether a measure will be defeated
or victorious. There may have
been a strenuous fight either for or
against it and the question of de-
feat may have been at one time a
matter of two or three votes. But
when the roll is called, the scant
majority will have to be turned
into big majority by a scramble
to board the band wagon. Even
insurgents do not like to break
party lines when they know the
break will be unavailing. They
like to have their record clear for
the next primaries. There is sell
dom a very close vote on any
measure of Importance no matter
how fercely it may have been
fought before thevote A striking
instance of this a few years ago
was the Impeachment proceedings
against the late Senator Quay. It
was a question of only a vote or
two between conviction and &C
qulttal up to the day before the
ballot was taken and d great deal
of speculation was wasted on the
subject. But when it came to the
actual vote, the leaders on both
sides knew how the case was des-
tined to go before the roll was
called. The call of the Senate in
that case showed a quarter of the
body over and above the necessary
majority for acquittal.
So the vote on the Philippine
tariff bill need not be taken alto
gether at its face value. 1t may
not have much bearing on the state
hood fight. This fight is still on
and the insurgents claim that they
have not forty. A vote is the only
real test of strength The anti
joint-state-hood people from Ari-
IONA today had long hearing be-
fore the Committee on States and
Territories and there was nearly
personal encounter tetwten Re
rescntative Powers of Maine and
delegate Smith OF Arizona. The
matter, as such affairs usually do,
ended in words and any real de-
cision as to the attitude of the
House is as far off as ever.
One more urgent demand for
federal rate control was registered
in Washington this week by the
National Board of Trade which
passed a resolution in favor citrate
legislation and even indicated the
lines it thought such control ought
to take. Possibly it might have
been wiser to have left out this
specific recommendation. But the
action showed the feeling of this
nationally important body that
effective legislation was impera-
tive. The National Board of Trade
recorded itself in favor of giving
the rate making power to a special
federal court which was to act on
the appeal of the Interstate Com
merce Commission. This might
look from one point of view like
simply doubling the machinery
necessary to fix a rate. On the
other hand it might be considered
as putting the actual rate making
power into the hands of a judicial
body more qualified to pass on
such serious question than is the
Interstate Commerce Commission
itself. That lost would seem a di-
rect slight on the capacity of the
Commission and the retort might
be that if the Commission is not a
heavyweight body enough to fix a
rate, Commission that is ought
to be appointed,
One other important meeting
that Washington witnessed this
week was the organization of the
Publicity Bill Association. There
were people from both political
parties represented in the meeting
which was the direct outcome of
the efforts of Perry Belmont, Ex-
Senator Chandler. Norman Mack,
Gen. Jas. H. Wilson, President
Schurman of Cornell, Samuel Com
pers of the American Federation
of Labor and quite a crowd of 9TH