Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-03-01
BELIEF GROWING THAT ALDRIcH
HAS MEASURE FIXED TO
SUIT HIM.
PLANS TO LESSEN POWERS
OF COMMERCE COMMISSION
AIdrieh Known to Have Blocked At
torney Generals Plan to Make Bill
Effeetive-8oard Itself Now Fearful
of Its acknowledgements and
Democrats to Make Vigorous Fight.
Especial Correspondence

washington, March 1.-The difficult
railroad bill are increasing. 1t is not
only confronted with a hard fight in
the senate but the house committee
on interstate commerce is proving
backward about taking up with the
proposition of establishing an inter-
state commerce court. This opposition
in the house committee has already led
| the president to call in a half dozen
! members of that committee and urge
them to support the interstate COM
merce court proposition.
But disclosure of the fact that Sen
ator Aldrich successfully stood in the
way of Attorney General Wickersham
| in getting an amendment put into the
J bill that would have made it entirely
certain that the proposed interstate
commerce court would not have broad
er power of review of orders of the in
terstate commerce commission than the
circuit courts now have is likely to
prove extremely troublesome to the
measure before it is enacted.
The fact the amendment which the
attorney general has not been put in
and that Mr.. Aldrich in the senate
committee prevented it from going in
has caused mo end of talk about the
capitol of a Joker" 1t has given rise
to the belief in many quarters that
Senator Aldrich hopes to see the pow
ers of the court made greater than they
now are with respect to the review of
the commissions orders and the COM
H.
When Attorney General Wickersham
was before the committee, Senator
Cummins called his attention to the
provisions for the commerce court and
asked him if it was intended to make
the review power of this court greater
than those now had by the circuit
courts. Mr.. Wickersham said no and
in order to make sure of it he presented
an amendment saying that the power
of the interstate commerce court
should not exceed the power now had
by the circuit courts in reviewing or
ders of the commission.
Senator Aldrich at once objected. He
fatty told the attorney general that he
had talked with the president since he,
the attorney general, had and that the
president was convinced the amend
ment ought not go in. Thereupon, the
attorney general gave way and ulti-
mately Withdrew his amendment. The
amendment, however, appeared in the
last committee print of the bill but
it was stricken out of the bill as re-
ported from the committee. This gave
rise to much talk of jugglery.
las matter of fact, the whole mat
ter was fully understood by members
Of the committee. They all knew the
Wickersham amendment had been
blocked by Senator Aldrich. The COM
mittee print Of the bill was not Off
cial and the committee never adopted
the Wickersham amendment These
circumstances, however, will not re-
move the fact that Senator Aldrich's !
unwillingness to allow the Wickersham
amendment to go in the bill has I
aroused much suspicion about the cap |
itol that if the interstate commerce |
court is created, unless the bill is
changed, it will be found the powers I
of the commission have been crippled !
and that the interstate commerce court |
can practically try anew any case that |