The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1908-12-14
SPEAKER CANNON IS
OPPOSED TO Scheme
But a Majority of the Members of
the House Feels That the RspubIi-
can Platform Commits Them to the
Support of the Bill.
Hearst News Service.

Washington, December 14.-Tn the
Senate today the Postal Savings Bank
Bill was taken up as a special order,
with every indication that it will re-
ceive favoroble consideration from a
majority of the lawmakers of the up
per house. Senator Thomas H. Cart
er, of Montana, who is in charge of
the measure, gives 1t as his opinion
that the bill will pass the Senate with
out opposition of any serious kind
Both the President and the Postmaster
Gerenal favor the passage of the bill.
The fate of the measure in the House
is problematical as Speaker Cannon is
opposed to it, but it is believed that
the influence Of President-elect Taft
will be sufficient to overcome the OPP
position of the speaker.
In regard to the chances of the bill
passing the House, the Montana Sena-
tor said:
During the last session of Congress
there were a good many Republican
House members who were either OBJ
posed to the bill or lukewarm in it's
support. For the most part, these men
come from sections of the Middle
West where the bank guarantee idea
| had taken hold.
'The Republicans national conven-
ton at Chicago subsequently declared
in favor of the postal savings bank,
and the Republican party went to the
country with that as one of it's issues,
| defeating the Democrats, who stood
squarely for the guarantee Of deposits.
l have been reliably informed that
many of the Middle West Republicans
! to whom l have referred, are now
strongly in favor of the postal savings
banks. They tell men that they want
now to put themselves in harmony
with the party platform. | am sure
that a majority of House Republicans
are now in favor of the bill and that
it will pass that body, once it is per-
mited to come up.
Speaker Cannon has been opposed
to postal savings banks, and assume,
has not changed his position. But
have abiding faith in his desire to be
fair and to reflect the will of the ma
jority of the REPUBLICAN members of
the House. If it can be shown him
that a majority of those members
want to pass a postal savings bank
bill, l believe that he will yield. At
any rate, we will proceed to put the
bill through the senate on that
! theory"
Senator Carter calls attention to the
fact that there is a strong political
reason why the postal savings bank
bill should now be enacted into law.
The Republican party is now COM
mited to it, as is the president-elect,
William H. Taft, who spoke in defense
of it many times during the campaign.
If the principle of the postal savings
banks can be put into the federal sta
tutes, Senator Carter believes that it
will forever stop the Democratic de-
mand for the guaranty Of bank de-
posits, and thus take away from that
party the strongest issue 1t had in
the so-called doubtful and close states
in the Middle West. In those states
William J. Bryan made his campaign
chiefly on the bank guaranty issue,
and if this should be taken away from
them by act of Congress, the Demo
cratic party would have to turn to
some other issue four years hence. By
taking decisive action at this session
of Congress, Senator Carter believes
that the Republican party would be
playing good politics, for the new law
would be in operation for almost four
years before another presidential cam
paign. and the country would have
ample time to make careful study
and to adopt itself to it. Senator
Carter says there are already indica-
tions that this is the view which the
great majority of members of both
houses will take of the matter during
the present session.
|