Los Angeles herald., 1910-05-03
Administration Senators Agree to
Abandon Several Impor-
tant Provisions
CONFERENCE LIKELY TO FAIL
Commerce Court Only Feature in
Senate Measure That Is
Not in Peril
Associated Press1
[Associated Press1
WI ASHINGTON, May 2.-President
w Taft's railroad legislation will
bo eY,oa so11Iated

VIZ ASHINGTON, May 2.-PreSldent
w Tafts railroad legislation will
" be emasculated.
At the close of a protracted confer
ence of leading regular" Republican
senators tonight 1t was apparent that
the revolt of the senate insurgents"
had been virtually successful. The sec
tions of the bill relative to traffic
agreements and mergers, which Senator
Cummins and other insurgents have
been fighting to amend, will be aban-
doned.
Practically nothing distinctive Of the
original bill will remain, save the sec
tions providing for the creation of
court of commerce. Even that has had
a perilous time in the house, and no
body tonight is prepared to guarantee
that it will be enacted. In fact, the
differences between the senate and
house are so great that it would sur
prise nobody if the entire bill should
fail in conference.
So serious became the situation Of the
bill late today that President Taft him
self, at Pittsburg, was advised of the
situation over the telephone by Senator
Aldrich.
Despairing Of putting the bill through
the senate as reported from the COM
mittee on interstate commerce, the
leaders in the conference tonight de-
insurgents claim practically would have
repealed the Sherman antitrust law by
permitting traffic agreements, and Nsec-
tion II, which would have legalized
mergers in cases where one railroad
corporation owning already 90 per cent
of another desired to control outright.
WILL BLAME INSURGENTS
Upon the insurgents the administra-
ton will endeavor to place the respon-
sibility for the failure of the Taft rail-
road legislation.
10 Senator Aldrich, over the tee
phone, Mr.. Taft is said to have ex-
| pressed himself emphatically to this
| effect He said he had initiated the
pending measure and had advocated it
| throughout the country in the form in
which it was reported to the senate,
and if combination of insurgent Re-
publicanS and Democrats rendered 1t
Impossible for the Republican majority
to enact the bill he felt that the adj
ministration should be relieved of re-
sponsibility for it's defeat He rested
the entire matter in the hands of Sem
ator Aldrich and his Republican asso-
ciates, who were then in conference.
At the conference were Senators Aid
rich, Elkins, Carter, Kean, Crane, Root,
Curtis, Flint, Brandgee, Lodge, and
from time to time other Republican
leaders.
When the original Cummins amend
ment to the traffic agreement section,
introduced as a substitute for the Elk
ms Crawford provision, was voted upon
Saturday the administration senators
won by a margin of six votes. But
there were so many absentees on Sat
urday that the result with the full
membership present could not be fore
| told.
From a message received from some
| ElTNNA hot ftaN
regular Republicans would meet with
a reversal on the next vote. After the
vote Saturday Senator Cummins imme-
diately offered another amendment to
accomplish the same purpose as that
which had just been voted down.
SUBSTITUTE COMES FIRST
AS the pending Cummins amendment
is offered as a substitute for the Elkins-
Crawford provision, no motion can
side track this provisions; 1t must be
disposed of before any other step can
be taken. 1t is agreed that section II
must be abandoned also. 1t Is not
certain that even sections 13, IA and
is, which provide for federal regulation
| of the issuance of securities OF rail-
roads, can be saved. The agreement
reached today does not cover these Sec
tions.
Throughout today efforts were made
who favored the Cummins amendment
and those who supported the Elkins-
! Crawford amendment. The first would
require all traffic agreements and
! changes of rates to be approved by the
| interstate commerce commission before
taking effect. The latter would make
| traffic agreements lawful under the
sherman law, but would not require
that rates made by railroads should
he submitted to the commission in ad-
vance.
The insurgents were unyielding. They
| believed victory was within their grasp.
| After the adjournment of the senate
Senator Cummins was called into the
final conference. He was asked If the
insurgents could not get together on
some proposition less obnoxious to the
majority of the Republicans than was
the pending Cummins amendment.
MI. Cummins is quoted as saying
! personally he would agree to the adop-
| ton of some provision insuring sub
stantially the same thing. but he did
not think his insurgent colleagues
would accept anything other than a
straight out proposition compelling
railroads to obtain approval of the
commission before putting new rates
| into effect.
FLINT MAKES OBJECTIONS
Harmony was not complete in the
conference of the senate leaders. SEN
ator Flint was not willing that section
7 be stricken out. At the same time he
was opposed to giving railroads full
power to raise rates without approval
| of the commission, and made 1t clear
that on a final vote he would act
against his associates and support the
Cummins rather than the Elklns-Craw"
ford amendment
"If you adopt the Elkins- Crawford
provision, and the railroads increase
their rates, as they must do" declared
Mr.. Flint, "it will be charged that the
Increases were due to the removal of
the possibility of prosecution for viola
tion of the provisions of the Sherman
| ar. Para TxvoA