The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-09-22

The strongest test of President Will sons control over party policies and over the legislative performances of Congress is about to occur. Within the last week he has seen the triumph in the House of his currency reform
 demands and the practical completion of the tariff revision bill 50 far as ad-
 ministration ideas are connected with
 it. The. e.nqHestion now paramount in
 congressional circles bears directly up-
 on the Presidents potential control of
 the currency reform situa tion in the
 Senate. Except for those immediately
 connected with the handling, of the
 currency bill, the general query is:
 Will the President be able to induce
 the Senate to act on the G1ass-OWen
 bill without delay and without mate
 rial alteration of it's provisions?
 No doubt remains of the determined
 purpose of the President to urge Con
 gress to complete the currency legisla-
 ton within the next few weeks, and
 to give the country new banking
 system and a revised form of paper
 currency before December. Evidences
 of his concern in the matter have come in a series of events in which his in-
 fuence has determined the action of
 congressional leaders. Over a week ago, after a conference with MT. Will
 son, members of the Senate Democrat
 ic steering committee announced that copsidera ton of currency reform would be pushed without delay in the Senate and that there would be no Senate recesss.
 A growing demand in the House, for a months recess to- begin this week, eliminated a few days ago when Rep resentative A. Mitchell Palmer. one of the Democratic House leaders, after a talk with President Wilson, announced that the House would not recess for more than three days at a time, but if- influence could be exerted on the Sen ate if desirable to speed up that body's work on the currency bill.
 The President has gone further in his activity in behalf of the currency bill and has talked a length with in- dfvidua1 members of the Senate bank ing and currency committee who had been strong critics of the administra- ton measure With the aid of Secre- tary McAdoo, who helped in the orig ina1 preparation of the bill, it is un- deretood he will attempt to satisfy many of the criticisms that come from | Democrats and will endeavor to bring 1 the Democratic forces into united SUD- port of the plan embodied in the bill l that has passed the House.
 Thus far there has been a marked independence of expression among Democratic senators engaged in work | on the currency bill to important points of currency legislation. The | public hearings reopened by Chair l man Owen last week are still under way, and will continue through part of this week. The actual committee work on the bill probably will begin late this week, and will develop for | the first time the real strength in the committee in support of the presi- dents plan for immediate indorse- m ent of the bill. There is apparently no spirit of antagonism to currency legisla ton among the leaders of either party in the Senate; but the wide diff ferences of opinion as to the best of revising the banking and currency system will exhibit 9 test of in which the Senate leaders expect President Wilson's influence will be brought into the situation.
 A striking feature of the situation in the Senate is that the vote of one Democratic member of the banking and currency committee would be suf- ficient to prevent the committee from favorab b1y reporting the currency bill. There are seven Dem Ocrats and five on the committee. The almost without exception have expressed the belief that study of currency reform needs and the careful preparation of a bill to enact a new system would re- qufre more time than the committee could give it during the present extra session.
 Chairman Owen and one or two