The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-13
PRESIDENTS FIGHT FOR APPOINTEES IS
 CAUSING COMMENT
Qualifications of Nominees for the Federal Reserve Board Lost Sight of
 by Senators
Ry (. E. STEWART

| Washington, July 12.-(Special. )--Tht
 fight between the President and the United States Senate over the eonfirma ton of two of the Presidents appointees to the federal reserve board, is now at tracting more attention than any politi- 1 cal event of the administrations
 The qualifications of the two men se- lected has been lost sight of entirely. l The Senate feels that the President has seriously affronted that body. and is sentiment, to deprive them of their cher ished prerogatives. The Senate. as a body, Is very jealous of it's rights-as prescribed in the consttution-it is dis I tinctly body of traditiosls-even if it l has progressed it has held valiently to | the rules, regulations and customs prac- | tized in the early days. The President undoubtedly has his supporters in the l Senate in the struggle to confirm his two l selections under fire, Thomas D. Jones I of Chicago and Paul M. Warburg of | New Y,rk. But at the same time the l opposition-not only as to the candidates themselves, but to the Presidents atti- tude, in the Senate is pronounced and
 
 undertaken.
 The announcement from the White House. virtually to the effect that the President would go to the matt with these two men, and hinting at the White 1 House placing the responsibility for de- I lay in the inauguration of the new cur l rency system, stung the Senate as noth- ing else has stung them during the pres ent administration.
 Senate Plays Card
 l Some of the members of that body were simply speeches. with rage. But the Senate adrotly played a card itself that | in a way threw the White House on l the defensive. They pointed out that a quorum of the federal reserve board had l been confirmed in the persons of w. P | G. Harding of Birmingham, Charles s. | 1amlin of Massachusetts and A. c. Mill Ter of California. The new currency law l provides that a quorum of the board has | the authority to proceed with the busi- | ness of the new system. But, points out l the Senate, the organization committee | consisting of Secretary McAdoo, Hous- | ton and others, is in the hands of the | administration, and if there is delay it can only be charged to the administra- | tion and not to the Senate.
 Criticize McAdoo
 1 Moreover, several senators are inclined l to criticize Secretary McAdoo, any way I because no greater progress has been | made in the organization plans of the | new currency system It is whispered in high places that the secretary has not | devoted his attention to getting the sys- tenn under way in the manner that should ! have characterized a zealous and earnest | cabinet officer charged with this respon- | sibility.
 l In the case of MT. Jones, opposition to 1 his confirmation in the Senate was based | wholly on his connections with the har- | yester company. Senators from western and middle states. it Is said, would have committed suicide politically to have l voted for MT. Jones, because in that country the feeling against the harvester company, especially through the agri- | cultural districts, is intense. No amount | of explanation, it is declared, could have | Justified a senator voting for a director 1 in this 'trust' In the minds of the l farmers In that section of the country. l where a great many or the machines of 1 the harvester company are used MT. Jones made a fine personal impression | on members of the Senate but his ad- | missions of connection-not only with the | harvester company, but the zinc corpora l on-characterized a vicious monop- l oly'' made the task of his confirmation l even greater.
 
 admits that the New York banker Is a | very capable man, but the Senate can | not recover from the shock of his re- l fusal to appear before their committee. The question of his confirmation is not especially his fitness for the place, 1 that is conceded or even his connections, which were to be Inquired into more or | less by the committee, but the serious problem in his case now is, his abso- l lute refusal to submit to what has been termed the third degree
 Wants to Confirm Warburg On the whole the Senate wants to con- | firm Warburg. If there is a way to escape the embarrassment of his refusal to appear before Senate committee, which heretofore, have summoned before l such committees J. P. Morgan. Theodore ], Roosevelt and many men high in the l financial and political world. 1t may be done. MT. Warburg's refusal to appear l has done more to defeat him, If he is | defeated, than any of his connections | or former activities.
 ! Irrespective of the TWO candidates. however, and their qualifications, the most serious part of the entire contro- | versy is the feeling aroused between the | White House and the Senate. In all probability 1t means the first defeat of | the President-that is the first lie has 1 suffered where he took a positive and I unyielding stand. It may lead to more, | for the Senate-after the taste of blood and encouraged by this victory, may not be as easy to handle in the future, az it has been in the past. Anyway it has sharply drawn tho line of conflict be- | tween the White House and a certain | school of democratic senators who have all along sfnarted under the so-caled "dictation of the White House