The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-30
Standpatters Overwhelmed With Surprise at the
 Sudden Action
LAFOLLETTE STARTS
 THE REAL FIREWORKS
But Through It All There Was Sign of Excitement and the Grave Senators Never Applaud
 Anything
By WALTER HARPER

By WALTER HARPER
 Washington, July 29.-(Special)--I am told by veterans in the press gallery that the passage of the LaFolette compro- mise wooden bill in the Senate was one of the most spectacular incidents that has transplred in that body for many day.
 It impressed me greatly, but was nev in the gallery and was not able to judge it by comparison. had the week be- fore witnessed the successful passage Of tie reciprocity measure. But that went through as everyone knew that it would. There was no surprise, no hitch in the programme.
 This was not so in the passage of the wooen bill. The real action br )ke liks q storm. Not even the wisest newspaper as to what the democratic caucus and the supposed conference with the insurg cnts the night before had developed.
 There had not been the sign of leak. No senator on either side had taken a trusted newspaper man in his confidenc.. And this was not all The regular re- publicans weer as much in the dark as anybody.
 There was sigh of relief n this quar- ter when the LaFollette substitute to the House woolen bill went down in reg uiar defeat without the batting of an eye CT the quiver of a muscle, and when this y,as followed by the prompt defeat of the House ~aolen bill.
 There may have been some premonition that the job was not finished here but it did not appear on he sur face.
 The newspaper correspondents gathered up the scraps of paper and rollca;l sheets on which they had kept tally on tn. votes and were leaving the gallery. There W ere many such remarks as, That was fine sham battle,' Well. what did you expect ote.
 But, wait. There was a voice, a strong. rasping voice frem the right side call lag, .Mr. President. MT. Presidents. lr.s was persistent. A few of the correspond lsnis paused for a moment to see what the lissurgent leader from Wisconsin had 70 Isay. Perhaps he intended to tell how 1t happened Perhaps he would withdraw from the race for President.
 MT. President, I Eove for a reconsid- eration of my substitute bill.''
 Senator Martin, the minority leaden was on his feet T had intended .o make that motion but as the senator from Wisconsin has made it I will second it.
 Hold on, boys, something doing here,'' and the correspondents filed back into their seats craned their necks over the heads of their fellows.
 The vote on the motion to reconsider told the whole story. It was practically the vote that finally passed the substi- ute. No, there is little more to the story. When MT. LaFollette amended his bill making the basic rate on raw wool 8 cents instead of 4O cents, the whole secret of the compromise had been re- vealed.
 There was nothing left but the call of the roll and the formal counting of the votes.
 The regulars were taken off tteir feet. The man who seemed to suffer most was Senator Shoot of Utah, one of the lead CTS and the high priest of wool protec- tionsts He is a woolen manufacturer. Then he had gone up to the White House the day before with cock-sure assur- ance to the President that he might rest content. that he, the President. would certainly not be embarrassed by the pre- sentation of a woolen bill for his signs tire or veto at the present session of Congress. It is said that the President was greatly relieved at this assurance
 In less than ten minutes time all this rosy hope had been obliterated and with out moments warning. MT. Shoots D face was the picture of despair and dis gust He really seemed bewildered.
 MT. Penrose was unmoved. His face retained it's blank eXpressiveness. No ono knows what he thought. This Is char acteristic of him.
 Not even murmur of any sort of dem onstration accompanied or followed the unexpected action of the Senate. There was no applause. This Is never seen In the Senate. When the Vice President announced the vote you could have heard the rustling of an envelope across the chamber.
 The Senate was making political history that will extend through many years to come but there was no more excitement about it than if the President had an-
 
 take a recess of 20 minutes.
 The moment the vote was announced Senator Dixon moved to consider small resolution that had been previously in- ti oduced to provide for extra pay for some committee clerks. And the Senate dr opped back into its indifferent swing with only a handful of senators remain ing.
 The newspaper men retired to tho lounging room to compare notes or fire carly bulletins to their papers.
 Some of them were very biue. They had been planning to get away to the to the seashore or for short turn through Europe to spenl a little of their magnificent salaries during the short recess that had been promised.
 But 1t was all over now. All hope of getting away before the birds ny south ward was shattered in the minds of the though some are still hope ful that something will or will rot hap uen during the next few weeks They do not know what to expect or what to hope for
 Congressmen are just as much at sea hut most of them are agreed that they will have to hire their neighbors to pull