New-York tribune., 1912-02-11
THE SENATE

and REPRESENTATIVES. They afford an easy
and accessible refuge when the Senator does
not want to be seen. He is reported as
being at the Capitol; but on inquiry 1t IS
found that he is neither in his seat, nor IN
his committee room, nor in the restaurant,
nor on the floor Of the House OF Representa-
tivcs. nor in the Office building. When all
these points are settled, the Senator comes
up smiling from the tunnel.
The Senate has its own way OF transact
ing business. When a tllbustcr IS on hand
for the grave and digniicd Senators are
| inyctcratc nlibus,crs q compromise IS often
reached bv what is called gentlemen
agreement" This Is purely oral and IN
formal; but is strictly inyioIablc.
DUT. however much Senators may dis
- agree among themselves, they stand
shoulder to shoulder when It comes TO
question Of the privileges and powers ol
the Senate. Conflicts with the House are
very common, and then, on both sides,
par,vand personal antagpnlsms are forgotten
/ and n comes down TO "a regular tug oi war.
The. Senate has its own method OF snuD-
hing the President when II chooses, and
many Presidents have been put on the gnll by
liz. Auamu,ing situation camcabOut between
rhr Senate and Prcsicn, Roosevelt IN the
! last month 0i his administration. The Sen
a'. always rcscn's any attempt at dIctauon
or even instruction from the President, and
/, go, tired Of President Roosevelt S frequent
mcssag,-. and concluded % turn the Prc,l.
dent down. /, is the custom, whenever a
message is received from the President, Tor
the messenger, who is always known, 10
enter the door OF the Senate Chamber facing
the Vice President. As soon as the mcsscn-
yer is well inside he makes bow which IS
responded 10 by the Vice President and It
/, announced. n message from the Prcsl-
dent.
Pending business is then suspended by
courtesy until the message is delivered and
read bv the reading clerk. The Senate, how
ever. got more messages from the President
than /, cared about, and especially one IN
which President Roosevelt returned bill,
declaring it was not properly drawn, and
pointing ont how the defects should bc rem
cdial. Now. President Roosevelt was not a
great lawyer. and the Senate is always an
aggregate Of the bcs, lawyers in the country.
| The notion Of President Roosevelt teaching
the Senate how 10 construct bills was like
teaching his grandmother 20 milk ducks. As
inc lttllllg 'l'I h i''i'l NllN l'''''' ~
out. the grave and reverend Senators leaned
back in their chairs and smiled, until the
reading closed. when the Senate calmly re-
sumcl its business without taking the slight
est notice Of the communication.
\ day or two attcrward still another mes,
sage came from the President but, instead
Of stopping its work the Senate went right
along. leaving the messenger standing al the
door waiting for recognition. Al tins, Sen
atyr Lodge reminded the Senate CauSlicaIIy
that "A messenger was at the door bearing 4
message from the President of the United
States. Not Senator buigcd peg, and
the debate went on unchecked. Then sen
ator Culbcrson Of Texas rose and rcbukcd
| his Republican colleagues for ignoring
message from the President, but tins did
no more good than Senator Lodge expos
tuation. The Senate resumed the debate
in lcisurcly manner. At last, when every
thing had been said, and there was nothing
more 10 DO. the messenger was recognized
and the message delivered and promptly
| ignored.
/, is delicate thing for President to
ATTEMPT to instruct Congress. and any
President who tries it is made to smart for
| il. President Clcyclands unlucky remark,
81 have Congress on my hands, cost him 4
fearful price. At the same time, any Scna-
tor attacking the President personally Is al
WAYS severely punished by being left out in
| ,..t,Y