Evening star., 1909-05-22
AIdrich Wants Vote on Tariff
Bill Taken June 2.
DANIEL MAKES OBJECTION
Cummins Declares There Should Be
Full and Fair Discussion.
BAILEY CALLS FOR A QUORUM
Several Roll Calls Taken in Conse.
quence of His Vigilance-Lumber
Schedule Taken Up.

Failure today met the first serious at
tempt of Senator Aldrich Of Rhode Island.
chairman. Of the finance committee. to
fix day when the Senate shall take the
final vote on the Payne-Aldrich tariff bill
and all pending amendments thereto
Senator Daniel OF Virginia objected. AS
such an order In the Senate can be made
only by unanimous consent, there was an
end to It for the present Mr.. Aldrich's
request was for June 2
Spice was injected into the proceedings
the very first thing this morning by Sena-
tor Bailey Of Texas and it became ap-
parent at once that 1t would not be a dull
day. Mr.. Bailey was displeased because
Mr.. Aldrich last evening frustrated his
attempt to have the Senate adjourn over
until Monday morning. The Texan want
ed time to catch up with his fast-ac-
cumulating correspondence. and thought
other senators ought to have the same
his motion for this purpose. however.
than Mr.. Aldrich moved to adjourn regu-
larly, which motion had precedence over
all others under the rules. and was car
ried.
Suggests Absence Of Quorum.
Mr. Bailey thereupon remarked that he
believed it would be mighty hard to MAIN
tain a quorum Saturday, but that he
would certainly help the senator from
Rhode Island to do SO.
The session this morning had scarcely
begun when Mr.. Bailey suggested the
absence of a quorum. He withdrew his
suggestion several times in order to al
low Senator Burton OF Ohio TO complete
few remarks on q resolution making
available for use unexpended balances
for river and harbor projects. but az
soon as this was over he renewed II.
with the observation that he was going
to keep his promise with Mr. Aldrich
to help him to keep quorum.
Senator McLaurin Of Mississippi spoke
for about half an hour In favor of an
income tax, and when he was through
Mr. Bailey, noticing that many of the
fiftyfour senator's who had answered to
their names on the first roll call were
gone, again told the chair that he
thought there was not q quorum present
The roll was called once more, and
enough senators came to allow business
to proceed.
Wants Date for Vote Fixed.
This opportunity was taken advantage
of at once by Mr.. Aldrich to ask for q
time for the final vote on the bill. As
soon as his request had been made, as
already stated. Mr.. Cummins sang out,
Mr.. PRESIDENT
Before Mr. Cummins was recognized,
however Mr.. Daniel in very distincs
voice said:
Il object
THAT ends it." remarked several sen.
ators on both sides in an audible whisper
Mr.. Cummins did not take his seat,
but proceeded to say that he hoped Mr..
Aldrlch would not press his request too
hard. He said that several republican
senators felt that certain amendments
to the bill ought to be reviewed. These
senators, he held. had not unduly de-
fined themselves to the points at ISSUE
Personally, Mr.. Cummins declared, he
was just as eager as the senator from
Rhode Island to speedily end the debate.
he wanted to see il proceed as fast as
possible. with a view to full and fair
discussion. He said he voiced the SEN
timents of several republican senator's
when he said that within those limits
they would aid Mr. Aldrich to get early
action.
The chairman of the finance committee
said he fully appreciated the attitude
of Mr.. Cummins, and that he had no in
tention to limit free debate. He thought
Mr.. Cummins would agree that there
had already been much irrelevant dis
cussion on the bill. He expressed the
hope that date for the vote might soon
be fixed.
Then Senator Hale of Maine got on his
feet and asked what proportion of the
bill still remained TO be acted upon.
Extent of Bill to Be Taken Up.
Mr.. Aldrichs answer was that he be.
lieved in point of the number OF para
graphs about ohe-half OF the bill still
remained, and that Of that remainder one.
half of the paragraphs were subjects OF
dispute. Therefore, he believed the ma
jority Of the disputed paragraphs Of the
entire measure had been disposed OF to
date.
In moment Mr.. Bailey was on his feet
to say that he did not agree with Mr.
Aldrich that there had been any irreie-'
had been less discussion than on any
previous tarfn measure, he asserted, the
debate having been almost entirely COM
fined to the schedules themselves
At this point Senator Clapp Of Min-
nesota suggested that the Hale resolu-
ton. introduced yesterday afternoon for
the purpose of making the sessions begin
at IL O'Clock every day and last until
IL O'Clock at night with a recess from )
pm. TO pm, for dinner, beginning
Monday next, be amended so as to make
the session begin at 10 am. Mr.. Aldrich.
to whose committee the resolution was
referred, nodded his head approvinglys
but made no reply.
Lumber Schedule Taken Up.
The lumber schedule was then taken
up, and a debate of the McCumber
amendment for free lumber was launched.
!. had not gone far, however, before Mr..
Bailey again insisted on roll call TO
establish the presence of a quorum. As
the roll was being called the members OF
the finance committee began to look wor-
ried.
Sxty-six senators answered present
more than enough. Silence fell for a mo-
ment after the roll had been called.
"As no one seems TO want to proceed.
/ move that the Senate adjourn said
Mr.. Bailey.
The motion was put and lost on a viva
voce vote.
Elkins Charges Discrimination.
Then out of a clear sky came new
trouble Senator Ekins OF West Virginia.
who is not at all pleased with the way the
finance committee has treated the prod.
ucts of his state, began to complain
Armed with documents full OF statistics
MIR. Eikins went after the committee. He
told the Senate with frankness that h0
couldn't get along with the committee or
with the progressive" and didn't know
where he was at He charged tho conn
Aw[N t<n