Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-02-22
MAINE EDITORIAL COMMENT.
A Triumph for Sen. Hale.

A Triumph for Sen. Hale.
washington Correspondence of Ban
gor Commercially
About the biggest triumph Sen Hale
has had of late at the North end of the
Capitol has come with his Naval APP
preparation bill. He won out with it in
the face of the recalcitrant western Re-
publicans, who had decided upon q
plan to hector him because they thought
they were not getting as good COM
mittee assignments from the leaders az
they ought to have. And furthermore
he won with provision for restoring
Marines to service on battleships. The
Senate did not even force roll call on
that important matter. after it had
heard Sen. Hale's forcble argument
and the probabilities now are that the
Marines will go back to the battleships
in spite of the Presidents order Of
some months ago that they should
gradually be removed and confined to
service on land.
The Western recalcitrants, who
thought they We're going to worry Mr..
Hale by their tactics, We're consider
ably disappointed. He did not wrangle
with Sen. LaFollette, as some other
prominent Senate Republicans have
done when Mr.. LaFollette got into one
of his questioning moods. He did not
say harsh things about the Wisconsin
senator OF course Mr. LaFOllette and
Mr. Cummins and DR.. Dixon of
Montana and Mr. BOrah of Idaho and
number of others who want to run the
Senate to suit themselves, We're fillbus-
tering and trying to block public bust
ness. They were a bristling array OF
quotation marks. They discovered all
as once they were tremendously inter-
ested in a dozen paragraphs of the
Navy bill and wanted to know why it
was drawn this way and why it was
not drawn the other way and so on
and so on through a long category.
Instead Of trying to choke these
questioners off and trying to suppress
them, Sen Hale took his place, ready
to answer questions all day long. He
has not been legslating on the Navy
for 80 years for nothing and the
westerners found they were drawing
upon a mine of information about the
Navy when they began to question
him. There was not a paragraph in
the bill with which he was not familiar
in details and all any senator had to do
to be educated" was to ask questions.
OF course it got tiresome when the
westerners kept questioning and
questioning but, without any show or
ill temper.
Mr. Hale finally suggested that he
was going to test the sense of the
Senate as to night sessions, if his Re-
publican friends were still athirst for
navy information. He did test the
sense of the Senate and found it his
way. There was a night session and
the westerners. most OF whom are in
clined to be indolent and most of whom
are not great students of legislation
any way, We're obliged to attend at
night or give up the contest. And so
the navy bill got through the Senate
in pretty good time and as far as the
first round is concerned Senator Hale
seems to come off a. very good winner.
The WesternerS have not gained any
public sympathy by their demonStrd-
ton and on the whole are probably
worse off than they We're at the start.
For they are no more likely to receive
highly desirable committee assign
ments now than they We're before they
began to seek trouble in blocking the
way for the consideration Of appropria-
ton bills.
Mr. Hale threw himself into the fight
for the marines with all his energy.
The Senate has not often in late years
heard him make such a vigorous plea
as he made in their behalf. 1t is true
the majority of senators and represen-
tatives have long been convinced that
the President had erred in virtually
obliteratng the Marine corps, after its
century of brilliant record. The House
wanted to enact such a provision but
was prevented from doing so because
it was ruled to be new legislation on an
appropriation bill. When the viva
voce vote was taken in the Senate it
seemed as though two-thirds of the
entire Senate was with Mr.. Hale for
putting the marines back upon the
ships 1t is altogether probable that
the House conferees on the Navy bill
will accede to the provision and the old
order of relations between the marines
and the jackies on ship will be resumed
not long after President Taft takes the
helm at the White House.