The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-04-08
sINATE Bows n We
Will PASS rate Bill
House Measure Probably Will Go
Thru Without Single
Amendment. S5%s
sv w, w. Jerfnane.

Il Z W 4
Washington, April while speak
ING cautiously, and having due regard
FOR the uncertainties which envelop the
situation. Z am Of the opinion, as the
result Of close observation, and CONVEX
nations with number of members of
| the senate, that the house rate bill,
without amendment Of any kind, has
!; more strength In the senate today than
it ever has had, and that, accordingly,
The chances for its passage in that body
have been considerably improved. The
! Long amendment, prepared at the .presi-
dents request, is the cause for this Inn
/ proved condition Of the house bill.
For long time there was genuine
/, doubt in the minds Of many senator's
as. to whether the house bill, in it's fail
! ure to provide for specific review,
would stand the test Of the courts.
/ When the Long amendment was, IN
| the so-called conservative members or
j the senate, who were not slow In an
/ nouncing that it did not confer on the
sourts any authority not already pos
sessed by them. This announcement
/ caused other groups Of senators to sit
4 up and take notice. They examined the
house bill again, and then they com
pared it with the Long amendment, dis
!. covering that what the conservative
-
Constitution Enough. ~.
| That amendment, while comforting on
courts Of equity the right to pass upon
l questions of ultra wires and constltu-
tionality, and expressly giving =. this
/: large jurisdiction, does not in the slight
est degree enlarge upon the powers Of
court review that are embedded in. the
| constitution, and Of which the railroads
/ would have full benefit, even were the
house bill, silent as to review, passed
| without amendment. r..-,. -. -.
Having made up their minds on this
score, the administration senators and
senators who heretofore had been in
some doubt as to whether the rate bill
ought not to carry some provision for
! court review, said to themselves: eff
{ the house bill already carries the large
4 specific powers of review of the Long
amendment, why cumber it with that
amendment? Why not pass the bill as
I it is?' and under the impulse Of this
/ thought, there are today, proba bly, more
l votes in the senate for the unamended
1 house bill than at any time since the
/ debate began, and the number seems
! likely to increase. -. .,,e 81. I'LL
The Long amendment has thus had
! the effect Of clearing the atmosphere to
Ia considerable degree, and so has served
! an important purpose-just the purpose
!. that the president had in mind when
J he asked Mr.. Long to introduce it.
) Whether it is adopted or not, the presi-
/ dent doesn' It care; but if there is to be
ANY specific review provided for in the
4 bill. he has made it plain by the amend
!. ment that he doesn t want it to exceed
that which he has outlined
! Amendments Can Wait.
!, ;sssIf. the house bill should be passed
!, by the senate, thus, making it a law,
i what would II become of the various
amendments to the bill which have been
proposed at the request of such men as
]. President Mellen of the New York,
New Haven & Hartford railway FL
fasked a prominent administration sem
5iator this evening. q,
4 ''These amen dments,' he piled,
4" can all be taken up at some subse-
len s ideas had been incorporated in the
/ bill originally I should have. been glad,
for | recognize that there; is some jus.
,,tice in the contentious made by him,
}Ibut at the same time If the parliamen.
'tary situation in the senate demands
1.-THE defeat of all amendments and the
,passage of the house bill, as it is likely
III will do, Mr.. Mellen and other gem
lttemen who have proper amendments
must wait. 7%
And wait such as I have referred
Ito would work no injustice. All that
I'VE can possibly hope to do at. this sesl
asion of congress is to. make a start in
1.-THE direction of rate regulation. First,
congress must assert it's rights as to
Regulation. Thissit will do in the house
!bil. The perfecting of the law must
ibe left to the future. It is foolish I'd
Imagine for a moment that congress at
l
would be satisfactory to everybody
concerned. = -
4 Will Remain ''Iive' Subject
u - predict that rate legislation will.
SSafter the. passage Of a bill at this SEES
!. .s be before congress at every sub
tsequent session for many years. The
llMellen amendment is ali right in IT,
a33self, and if it stood alone, or could
have been put into the house bill in the
ibe ginning, there would be no trouble
Sin adopting it, r3t:+ . ! : ''O0
a good deal of the present situation
las to rates in: the senate is the natural
result OF the memorable, passing Of the
1scepter OF political and financial power
teal middle west. New England. New
az rk, New Jersey and PENNSYLVANIA
seare diminishing quantity, politically
aand financially, while the grsat middle
twest is an increasing quantity. The
tdisharmony, friction and obstruction
conse quent upon such change Of base
as seen more clear in the senate than
anywhere else, because the senate is
acomposed of representatives of the
Isoyereign states.
The east is struggling to. retain. its
prestige. On the general rate question
Rlt IS conservative, partly because s. is
1.-The abiding place of great wealth
whose interests it fears may be i'm,
{perilled, but partly, also, because the
nlddle west is radical on the same cues,
tt1on That, was an event of Profound
political significance this week, when
Senator Allison of Iowa, t1tthe father
sof the senate brokel with Senator
IaAldrich .of Rhode Island and becama
che administration leader. in tho senato
Epn the rate question. 's
The senate has never been so d;.-
omitted, so entirely without any 80
pgnIzed leader as it is TO-DAY E1-an,-
man In that chamber is a law nnto 49,
felf, and the spirit Of indenandann ,,
which prevails is one, of the wondare
Pf the time: Eventually, in comnlianns
with a well known law of fmmon -.
Pure, the law of cooperation and 20 or-
Ea1n an! the senate will again crvs.
FaJllze into harmonious pronns ay,s
place certain men at the 'FRONT.' ;. ~ -.
headers, but these men will NOT ha ea,,
Rfofs from the east, but from the mid
RACE TO SAVE a rTrr.