Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1913-10-29
ITEMS OF INTEREST
AT NATIONS CAPITAL
Special Representative Will X
Public Opinion Readers Posted.
SPECIAL ATTENTION GIVEN
TO NEWS OF IOWA PEOPLE.
Interesting Developments of Ma.
tiOn's Affairs Tersely Described
by Former IOwan for Iowa
Readers.
Public Opinion Bureau,
Washington, d. C. Oct. 27.
The WauS of ConuraSSnan

PuDllc opinion bureau,
Washington, d. c. Oct. 27.
The Ways of Congressman.
Republican Leader Mann de-
clares: Everybody except the
President knows that this bill can
not go through the Senate during
November He refers to the cur
rency legislation and adds that he
is willing to stake his legislative
judgment "for all time to come on
the proposition that the currency
bill will not be reported, as the
President says, the first week in
November, and that it will be passed
in the Senate within three weeks
thereafter. The absence of a
quorum in the House has been dis
turbing Mr.. Mann more than any
thing else, while in the Senate there
was a near riot the other day when
Senators Borah, Cummins, La Fol-
lette. Chamberlain, Kern and AS
hurst united in demand that every
power of the Senate be used to bring
absentees back to Washington. The
Senate found it difficult for several
days to conduct business because
nearly one half of its membership
was out of the city. In the House
of Representatives there appears to
have been little need of attendance,
but in the Senate different con-
dition has been found, and its lead
ers have been demonstrating vigor-
.ously.
La FOlIette's Great Speech.
Senator La Toilette having spent
a large part of his endeavor in the
past twenty years in regulating the
railroads of the country, has now
turned his attention to that other
great avenue of travel, the high
seas, and he made a splendid fight
the characteristic La Toilette
kind, for his substitute bill provid-
ing the standard of efficiency for
seamen, in which they are to be
designated as ''able seaman The
Senator defines an able seaman as
zone who is not under nineteen
years of age and who has had three
years experience on deck at sea or
on the Great Lakes" He calls at
tention to the fact that the bill re-
ported to the Committee required
six men in crew to be "able sea-
men," IF legislation Of that char
acter be enacted" he declared, 1T
will not be creditable to the Con-
gress of the United States" In
answer to a question by Senator
Cummins, Mr.. La Toilette stated:
Perhaps it will help to an under
standing of the question to refer to
the Titanic. The Titanic had 2,201
people on board. OF that number
S85 were crew. She had fourteen
life boats. She had some life RATS
and some collapsible life boats.
These were not standard life boats.
She had only fourteen life boats,
each capable of carrying sixty-five
people" In his speech he main
tanned that the ship owners and
the steamship companies have been
defeating legislation providing bet
ter safety at sea because of the ad-
ded expense that would be entailed,
and he insisted that the time had
come for action by the Congress of
the United States. His speech was
counted as one of the greatest con-
tributions to debate in the present
session of Congress.
Mrs. Pankhurst.
Mrs. Pankhurst found good
friend in President Wilson, who
dismissed all legal technicalities and
admitted her to our shores. How
ever, the famous militant has been
having poor luck in commercializ-
ing her notoriety as American audi
ences have not responded any too
freely to invitations to hear her
talk.
Massachusetts and New Jersey.
1t is announced that Secretary
Bryan and Senator Ollie James as
representatives of the national ad-
ministration, will lead the spell bin
ders who will go into the New Jer-
sey campaign. All the Democratic
Republican, and Progressive party
committees are actively engaged in