The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-01
SenaterHad Made Over 800
Changes in the House
Measure
SENATE HAD TO BE
VERY CIRCUMSPECT
To Have Offended One or Two Sem
ators Might Have Jeopardized
Whole Bill Which Has
Caused Much Labor
ny G. e. STEWART

washington, September 30.-fSpecial.)
Ihe final staging of the tariff bill takes
place In the House and Senate Tuesday
ana Wednesday. Probably the most try
ing' as we'll as the most interesting pc
Rod of the tariff bills transition through
the Congress was while that measure
was In conference. The Senate had made
over 500 changes in the bill as passed by
the House, and while most of them were
insignificant, many of them were impor-
tant-espeeially important to the revenue
end of the bill.
There is slender democratic majority
IN the Senate-with the present rules of
that body. With the traditions of the up
per House 1t is indeed a marvellous thing
that the Underwood bill has now every
assurance of becoming a law, having run
the gauntlet of the Senate, without hav-
ing been more shot to pieces than 1t
really is.
One or two senators could block the
bill. No cloiture rule prevailed that
would enable a majority to rule. When
q senator made a demand for a certain
duty-and made the ultimatum that un-,
less his demand was compiled with ne
would vote against the bll--there was
nothing to do but to yield-the interests
of the American people were as nothing
against the interest of a senator. When
the political future of a United States
senator stood in jeopardy, 100000 peo-
pie must be denied, and yet with these
conditions the administration forced the
best tariff bill and the most scientific tar
iff bill ever passed by the American Con-
gress to a successful issue.
Only Limited Discretion
he 81, a.,
exercised only limited discretion. They
dared not yield to the House on many
things for had they done so they would
have antagonized the interests of certain
senator's with whom they would have to
reckon when the bill was reported back
to the Senate. Nothing more clearly IL
lustrates the entire absence of leader
ship in the Senate nothing more truly
shows the utter lack of an organization
on the part of the party in that body.
1t also illustrates that the Senate must
yet learn its lesson. And that lesson is,
that from this good hour each and every
individual member of that body must be
answerable to the people of this state, and
not to the politicians who formerly con-
trolled his political future.
The Senate played politics-pure and
simple politics--on the Clarke amendment
to regulate the sale OF cotton futures
and put tax on such transactions. There
was little sincerity IN the SenateS at
titude of insisting that the House accept
the Clarke provision--there was no sin
cerity in it. The Senate-a big majority
of the Senate at least-wanted the House
to hold out and reject the amendment,
thereby making the House the goat. They
believed that the Clarke amendment had
no place on the tariff bill and wanted 1t
eliminated entirely and they stood for
it without change with the hope that the
House would turn it down fatty.
Neither the House nor the country ia
vors the Clarke amendment, If expressions
from the people of the cotton growing
belt are; to be believed The country,
does, however, and SO does the House
favor an honest contract for the cotton
exchanges, and this is what the leaders
In the House propose to demand.
Underwood's Substitute
To this end Mr.. Underwood offered
new bill along the lines of the Smith
Lever proposition to regulate cotton
transactions on the cotton exchanges.
This bill will be substitute for the
Clarke amendments and while in the strug