The Twin City star. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1910-19??, 1912-10-26
TO PREVENT
ASSASSINAT|ONS
Bills For That Purpose Have
Come to Nothing.
STARTED BY M'KINLErS DEATH

cussion-Proposed to Stop the Sale
and Ownership OF Pistols and Re-
volvers - How Southern Members
Make campaisns-rhs New Senate.
BY ARTHUR w. DUNN.
Washington. Oct. 24.-lSpeciaI.l-
For few months after there has been
an assassination or attempted assassi
nation IN this country there Is much
discussion about methods to prevent
the recurrence Of such crimes. And 1t
all ends IN talk. Long before anything
Is done the people pass ON to some
thing else and are only again aroused
when there IL a repetition.
Congress was tiOOded with bills to
prevent assassinatiOns Of presidents
and other public men after the trugic
death Of Mckinley. and several meas
ures reached the stage Of debate In
both houses. hut the two houses could
never agree upon hill. The principal
reason. when 1t came down to cold
facts. was that certain southern sena
t0rs feared that the laws which were
proposed might interfere with the
rights Of states to regulate their own
criminal procedure.
=, One Feasible Plan.
There IL one plan to prevent 80 much
assassination and also to prevent 80
many murders. 1t is to prohibit the
manufacture. sale. ownership and pos
session Of the deadly revoivers and
pistols. OF course the knife and sti-
lett0 .wonid still be. available. hut most
murders and assass:natiOns are com.
mitted with rpvolvers. The laws and
municipal ordinances against carrying
concealed weapons amount to nothing
il II only after crime has been COM
mitted that 1t IL learned that such con.
ceaIpd weapons were carried by the
murderer.
That strong laws against these weap-
obs have met favorable response is
shown In bills which have been intro.
dncpd for the purpose In congress. Put
the ban upon them. just like lottery
tickets or anything else that Is detri.
mental to the general welfare.
Must Return to Troops.
1t took legislation to inaugurate re-
form In the army which ought to have
been adapted by the secretary Of war
or the comma nding officers of the ar
my. This was to compel officers to re.
turn to their commands when they had
been absent four years. There has
been deal Of complaint and groaning
about how this works detrimpntally
here and there where an officer IN par
ticularly fitted for detached duty. hut
that is mostly fudge. When an officer
becomes Indispensable In any place he
should be retired or the place abol-
isbpd.
The only fault in the legislation Ia
that 1t applies only to captains and
Heutenants. 1t ought to apply to all
officers.
eankhead Takes II Easy.
The activities of John Bank head. sen-
atOr from Alal,a ma, ceased when the
Baltimore convention determined that
It did not want Oscar Underwood for
president. Senator Bankhead has been
spending much of the time since In
Washington. If Underwood had been
nominated BaDkhead would have been
chairman Of the national committee.
Seeing the Home Folks.
Although it In not necessary to make
q political camDaign In many southern
districts. yet there are quite number
Of members OF congress from that seq
tiOD who make the pre-electiOn months
q time for seeing the home folks"
Very few real campaign speeches are
made. but these men go around and
lay the wires for the next primary
when they may have a fight and whel
they will be In Washington. The cam
paign Of the average southern member
ia one of handshaking and Is social In
its character.
Twenty New Senators.
There are thirty four senatorial seats
dependent ulOn the election next
month. and II seems almost certain
that twenty new senators will be elect
ed as a result of the changes which
will be made. That IL very extraor.
dinary. for usually not more than q
dozen seats are filed by new men ev.
cry two years. II the Democratic con-
tentIons are right the changes will be
nearer twenty five than twenty.
In Their Home States.
1t Is said thar many senators and
representatives who IRE candidates for
reelection. and even those who may
be candidntes at some future time. are
deyQtipg most Of their time to their