Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-09-24
LINE UP ON TAFT PLAN SEEMS
MATTER FOR sPEcuLA-
TloN.
PRoeREssivEs MAY HAVE
A SMALL MAJORITY
Provided Proposed Railroad LesisIa.
ton i. Not Too Prosressive-cum-
minis and LaFollette Provisions Con-
sidered by Some mpossibIe-Lons
Debates to Mark Long Session.
Especial Correspondence

Washington, Sept. 24.-The long
session of congress which will begin In
December will be, in a large way,
counterpart Of the session which be-
gan just three years earlier, in Decem-
Der, 1906. President Taft's Des Moines
speech makes apparent that the same
general issue will be uppermost in the
legislative mind: the amendment of the
interstate commerce law. AS in the
session three years earlier, the real
business will be done in the senate.
The bill at that time nominally orig
mated in the house. This time it is not
even certain that the house will have
so much to do with it. In any event,
the real formulation of it, the real con-
sideration, the telling debate, will take
place in the senate, and if bill finally
shall pass, it will be the one made by
the senate.
1t is therefore peculiarly timely to
consider how the senate Is likely 10
line up on the program which Presi-
dent Taft outlined at Des MONIES, or
on any measure which may be devel-
ident proposes to take some of the log
ical forward steps which were conceded
to be in order when the law of three
years ago should have been fairly test
ed. There will be decided differences of
opinion among those who favor pro-
erosion, whether the president has
proposed the right moves; and the bus
mess of the session will be to work out
measure which may commend the
support of a majority.
Test Of Strength Important.
| What are the presidents chances to
carry a majority of the senate with
him? 1t might seem easy to answer
! this question, in view of the fact that 1t
is only three years since, with only
two votes in the negative. the senate
passed the Hepburn bill. But 1t is we'll
j known that the senate was very close
| ly divided in actual sentiment, and
| the conservatives were strong enough
to force the broad court review into
the measure. President Taft is now de-
handing the narrow court review, and
the test on this seems likely to be one
of the most important during the con-
| sideration of his proposed changes in
the law.
How rapidly changes take place in
the personnel Of such body as the
senate, is indicated by the statement
that more than one-third of the men
who are now senators were not mem
bers of that body when 1t voted on the
Hepburn act. To be accurate, OF the
NINETY two present members of the up
per body, thirty-four have become such
since that bill passed. Twenty-one OF
these are republicans, thirteen demo-
Gratis. In a general way 1t can be said
THAT almost all the democrats must be
placed on the side of progressive legis-
lation of this kind. Some of them viii
be credited with doubtful sincerity, but
it is doubtful If there is democrat
now in the senate who will vote agains
measure which, when perfected, will
commend itself to such republicans a:
. Cummns, Dolliver, LaFollette, Nelson
Clapp and Beveridge. These men will
all be advocates of SUCH legislation, thu
? they will have made disagreement!
. among themselves about it's details
/. They will be the bell-wethers of thu
4 flock. Those who go with them will b'
) Eclassed as progressives; those who op
t pose them, as the conservatives or tn
tories.
a Majority Will Favor Progression.
A study of the present personnel c