Evening star., 1913-10-20

A VISIT TO THE BUREAU OF FISH
sympathetic connection with business as
possible.
The Letter to Underwood.
The letter to Representative Underwood
is as follows:
my Dear Mr.. Underwood: Last week
you called upon me. and, in view of the
very natural desire of the members of the
House of Representatives to know why II
seemed necessary to keep them contin-
uously in Washington, and when they
might expect to be free to go home. II
on.y for brief interval of adjournment.
asked me what l thought the prospects
were with regard to the banking and cur
/ rency bill in the Senate.
las 1 then promised You, l have had
conferences with members of the Sena,e
committee on banking and currency. both
democrats and repub. leans. AS a result
of these conferences, feel confident that
q report on the bill may be expected not
| later than the first week in November.
Most of the members Of the committee
| with whom l have conferred have shown
themselves keenly aware of the disadvan-
! tase to the country Of any unnecessary
delay. I believe that the action Of the
Senate upon the bill will follow within
two OF. at the most. three weeks after the
| report is made.
II do not believe that there will be any
attempt to delay Its passage by dil.atory
! tactics. Senators on both sides realize
| that the business of the country awaits
this legislation, impatient of being kept in
| suspense, and display most public-spir-
| tied desire to dispose of 1t promptly. The
passage of the bill Is assured.
I'm the circumstances, l should like to
! confer with you, as you SO kindly sug-
gested, as to the action the House should
| take while awaiting the result"
Settles Adjournment Question.
The letter Of the President dispels,
beyond doubt, all question as to an ad-
journment of Congress. and shows con-
clusively that the Presidents firmness
on that point has been rewarded by
| what appears to be an all-round de-
termination to stick to the job In the
Senate and pass a currency bill.
| After his conference with the President
| relative to the recess Of the House, Ma.
jority Leader Underwood conferred with
Minority Leader Mann at the Capitol
seeking to get an agreement for the pas
| sage OF joint resolution that the House
| recess for thirty days. There being nc
l
possible to pass such a resolution withou,
| unanimous consent. The minority leader
| said he would let Mr.. Underwood know
what stand he would take by tomorrow
noon.
| Such a recess could only be taken with
| the consent of the Senate, and the minor.
| lty leader was not at all certain that the
Senate would permit the House to recess
Should | consent to the passage of q
| recess resolution" said Mr.. Mann, 81
In n Nl.x,,-~ --.~. "a
uat.on. as the Senate mig turn 1t down
Personally 1 feel inclined to keep the
House here as long as the President In.
| sists that Congress shall not adjourn. ]
| want to keep on demanding roll calls tc
show that the democrats are not here"
| Mr. Underwood said after the con-
| ference that he believed he and Mr.,
Mann would reach an agreement to-
morrow. Meantime, the House lead
! er Is sounding out the Senate on the
proposed recess resolution.
Committee Members Disagree.
| Members of the Senate banking and
currency committee read with much
interest the letter Of President Wilson
| to Mr.. Underwood expressing the opin-
| ion that the bill will be reported dur
| ing the first week of November and
passed by the Senate within two or
| TIN ee weeks.
Senator O'Gorman Of New York, demo
crat, said:
Il presume the letter states the situa-
ton correctly. The situation may become
such that the bill could be passed this
session. 1t is, not a thing that can be
determined definitely
Senator Weeks of Massachusetts,, re-
publican:
1.-THE Presidents letter betrays greater
confidence than the facts warrant"
Senator Bristow OF Kansas republican:
Impossible. 1t can't be done. The
| hearings before the committee have been
gress, and they could well be continued
for another month"
Senator Hitchcock, Nebraska, demo.
crat:
do not believe that ii will be possible to
pass the bill at this session of Congress" "
Senator Hollis, New Hampshire, demo
crat:
Il am in hearty agreement with the
opinion expressed by the President. The
bill should be reported to the Senate by
November 10 and passed by the Senate
with not more than three weeks of de-
bate. l expect a unanimous report upon
the BILL"
Morawitz Sees Defects.
Victor Morawitz. New York lawyer,
was the witness before the Senate COM
ulltct tOUdy. SdlQ t0dL ne QaQ
studied the currency question carefully
for the last four years. He has opposed,
he said. the A1drich plan for a central
bank, and has favored the regional re-
serve bank system.
This has prejudiced me in favor Of the
pending bill." said Mr.. Morawitz. But
the bill as it passed the House contains
some serious defects"
He said that the form in which the
notes are proposed to be Issued by the
bill is faulty.
LAS the bill provides. the notes will
be government obligations" said Mr..
Morawitz- Therefore they will be
promissory notes of the government.
But as matter of fact, the notes will
be issued by the banks and the govern
| ment Is not expected to pay the notes.
The banks will pay the notes. The
notes are to be In form government
notes. though in reality they will be
bank. notes guaranteed by the govern
ment, This Is artificial and misleading.
1t will be CALLING to my pride as an
American citizen to be compelled to
explain. why the notes have been is
=. H.