Amarillo daily news. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 19??-current, 1912-02-28

lie and correspondents, but the clerki
and even the reporters were exclud
ID. Somehow or other nearly all th'
proceedings OF the secret meeting
were reported In full In the newspaper
OF the next day. and since them some
proceedings OF the senate which or
dinarily In the past would have beer
held behind close doors we're open tf
the public The tendency is more and
more TO do away Wit secret sessions
Secrets Are inviolate.
When the senate sits in executive
session for the consideration Of the
confirmation OF appointments to Office
made by the president secrets Of
the chamber are kept IN tolate No
one thinks OF asking a senator about
protests that might have been made
against the confirmation OF any man
Neither would any one think OF askins
him how the senators voted on the
question OF approving the choice Of
the president The senators wouldn't
tell II they were asked Aside from
their implied promises TO hold safe
the secrets OF the room, they have toe
much at stake personally TO justify
them In answering questions or In civ
Ing Information voluntarily.
Nominations have been refused ap
proyal because OF the objection Of a
single senator who held that the man
named was distasteful to him person
ally. II Is a sort Of do this for me
and Iil DO Il fof YOU some day" propo'
sition In the case OF treaties and
other matters which the senate may
feel called upon TO discuss In private
the thing IL different The whole
public Is Interested In the proceed
ings. and the public for many years
has been unable TO understand why II
should not know the views OF its rep
resentatlves on questions OF national
Importance As a matter OF fact, the
public generally has discovered these
views, for the senators will talk. Near
ly every new and comparatively new
senator IS IN sympathy with the open
meeting idea The belief is that II
viii prevail before long
In his day Charles Sumner was an
ardent advocate OF open senate SEES
sions for all Of the business except
that Of the confirmation OF appointees
10 Office Even the strength OF Sum-
ner, however, failed to move the SEN
ate Since his day individual senators
have tried and tried again 10 secure
the consideration Of treaties in open
session bat the trying failed
clapp Is lronieal
Some years ago Senator Moses r.
CLAMP Of Minnesota introduced an
irou'cal resolution calling for open
sessions The members were consid
orr- an lsthmlan canal matter, and
'ul reports Of everything that was
said IN the secret session were ap-
pearinr daily In the newspapers The
Clapp resolution was 10 the effect
that the Minnesota senator had dis.
covered that one newspaper man had
made a mistake Of one word In a Sc
cret session report which was six col
umns long and n asked In the inter,
est Of accuracy that the newspaper
correspondents he admitted 20 the gal
lerles during the executive sessions
u is matter Of truthful history
that Senator Hoar took The resolution
seriously and that the next day when
Senator Morgan was pounding away
az tho "treacherous character" Of one
Of the Central American republics
Senator Hoar walked over 20 Senator
Clapp and said
II your resolution had gone
through and this speech Of Morgan's
were made public the country he Is
attacking would be ablaze"
let her blaze. senator" said Clapp.
1T wouldn't make a big enough FIRE
10 reach us."
Senator Morgan's speech was made
public. as were all the others. and
there wasn't as much as a bonfire in
Central America II should be said
for Senator Hoar that never in any
circumstances would he lisp a word
about what was said and done In en-.
ecutive session Of the senate.