The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-14
RUMPUS RAISED
IN SENATE OVER
RAILROAD BILL
,coxr,N,IEp FROM PAGE ~

CONTINUED FROM PAGE - -
49,
for which Senator Dixon of Montana No nae
nresented a substitute. The eHect VI ms
was 10 give the Montana senator Pos
session of the floor when CLOCK "i
rived. ,on,h,ic-
For several days the regular repuplio-
ans had been boasting they mao oioa
majority to defeat all OF the iohs on.
short haul amendments. Iney .Ssd
their claim upon a canvass winch eenu.
+, show that majority of the senate
p.o,,ld vote to defeat the Dixon ameho-
ment which the insurgent repupncdns'
Joined by a number OF regulars from INC
intermountain section. and propaoy
n,aioritv of the democrats, had agreed
10 support.
. Democratic Votes Promised
The regulars had been assured OIL d
number of democratic votes. just peloi
n clock il came to the knowledge OF sen
ators Aldrich and Elkins that WINE tne
democrats on their list would vote asailis'
the Dixon amendment they purposeo ia,eI
to support an amendment introduced py
senator Overman of North Carolina, the
effect of which would be to place all rates
on a mileage basis. Such provision
would be particularly obnoxious 10 inc
opponents OF long and snort haui plo-
visions. and they were unable In nasty
poll to show a majority against the over
man amendment.
senators Carter of Montana and Smoot
of Utah, both of them ardent supporters
of a long and short haul provision, whlch
would prevent Determinations against the
intermountain country, received overtures
from the regular republicans, who OF
fered a compromise in the form OF por-
tion OF the original Dixon amendment ana
a proviso taken from an amendment OIL
fered by Senator Paynter of Kentucky
Picturng the political effect of humiii-
ating defeat through the adoption of an
exclusively democratic amendment that
would put the whole question on mile
age basis. the regular republicans en-
countered little difficulty In bringing a
large majority of the Senate to their way
of thinking. The compromise, which mn
ally was adopted. was put in the nanos
of Senator Smoot and in turn presented 10
Senator Dixon, who offered it as a modifi-
cation of his own amendment. just PRIOR
to the hour of o'clock.
Botched in the Making
Through the clumsy handling of scissors
and paste brush, the composite compro-
mise was sent to the clerks desk in a
form far different from that intended by
it's authors AS the clerk began TO read,
Senator Aldrich hurried to the desk of
Senator Dixon and a whispered converse
tion ensued Mr.. Dixon clamored for rec
ognition.
II move that the Senate recess. he
shouted, until 4:30 o clock" He appeared
greatly excited. The demand for a recess
was met with cries of mo. no." but on a
vote a large majority sustained the de-
mand
. There followed a scene of great con-
fusion, such as rarely takes place. Some
declare 1t to have been unprecede nted in
recent years Obviously, few people real
ICED what the move meant. On every SIDE
there were cries that the unanimous con-
sent agreement had been violated. Evi-
IDENTIFY the insurgents did not Know what
was happening. and Senator Bristow, who
had been in the cloakroom, burst into
the chamber with bundle of papers in
his arms, which he threw to the floor with
every indication of anger
Senator Cummins fastened to Mr..
Dixon's seat and Mr.. LaFollette fol-
lowed The conversation which had
taken place between Messrs. Dixon and
Aldrich aroused suspicion on every
side and a number OF senator's, with
out knowing what the next step was
to be, loudly charged that they were
being betrayed.
Mr.. Dixon ran from seat to seat,
ella inning they had brought the regu-
lars into camp" and that the coalition
of republican and democratic support
ers Of the long and short haul clause
would bring a story greater than they
had anticipated.
Shaping the Compromise
After few minutes of personal ex-
PLANTATION on the part OF the senator's
who were ''in the secret" of tho pro-
ceedings there was q perceptible cool
~ 49, - Ia
senting all factions went to work to
shape up a compromise. At first few
of them retired to the Presidents
room but 1t soon became evident that
any secretiveness Would disqualify a
Ia rye number of senator's concerned In
the negotiations. Soon the conferees
returned to the Senate chamber.
Mr.. Smoot took the A1drich- Payne
compromise and in . few moments
WHIPPED 1t into shape. Around the desk
were crowded Aldrich. Elkins, Bacon
Crawford. Bristow, Rayner and a num-
| Der Of others. all OF whom took part
in a rapid interchange Of comments
Other senator's who could not get near
enough to see, hung about the outside
of the crowd. The hour OF 4:30 came
and found the work still Incomplete
Mr.. Dixon demanded another recess un-
| til $50 but SO many other senators
after a roll call. which consumed near
| ly 10 minutes OF the precious hour.
The general conference Of the re-
cess hour resulted in the restoration
of the words Of the Dixon amendment
VIII ich he had agreed to eliminate These
provided that in making exceptions un
der the long and short haul clause
the interstate commerce commission
shall satisfy itself that all the rate.
involved are Just ana reasonable and
not unJustly discriminatory, not ufiduly
prejudiciai. With the exception Of these
words the provision. taken from the
language of the bin. II identical with
that introduced by the Kentucky SEN
ator.
+ Immediately upon the senate's beins
again called to order, Mr.. Dixon pre-.
scented the compromise amendment. SEN
ator Hepburn raised a point of ordef
that the new amendment was out of order
the unanimous consent agreement which
he claimed. contemplated vote only
uron matters pending at the time the
agreement was made. This led TO an
Interesting wrangie between Vice Presi-
dent Sherman. In the chair. and Sem