The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-10

| dozen senators have stated their purpose | of addressing the Senate on the subject within the next few days, and so far no serious effort to limit the preliminary dis cussion or to bring up other matters for action has been made.
 Senator Kenyon announced during the day that he approved the suggestion or former President Roosevelt that the tolls question be arbitrated.
 Senator Williams of Mississippi agreed that the question might well be arbitrated and that arbitration would satisfy the nearer consequences" spoken of by President Wilson in his repeal message. He said, however that a canvass or the Senate year ago showed that two-thirds of the Senate were not in favor Of arbi- tration and so far as he had heard only two senators opposed to repeal supported arbitration.
 Chicago April 9.-A United States senator, Albert B. Cummins, of Iowa, in an address here tonight, criticized the democratic administrators stand on the tolls bill, pronounced the repub- Hcan party the true progressives and blamed the republican national com mittee for the democratic victory of 1912. He was the chief speaker at the Appomattox day celebration of the Hamilton club. Democratic defeat at
 
 Cummins predicted, would be effect ed by republicans and progressives united as the republican party and em l bra cing a platform of progressive doc | trines.
 | Dealing with the records of the dem ocratic administration, Senator Cum mins declared it unnecessary to speak l of Congress. ""rhe President has for the time being obliterated that ancient 1 and once powerful department of the 1 government" he said.
 When therefore. l speak of the dem ocratic administration l mean Wood row Wilson. The overthrow of repre- sentative government does not seem to have excited alarm, but the day will 1 come when the country will understand I better than it does now how vital 1t | is to preserve independence of legisla = | tive authority.
 "The President passed the tariff bill. The republican tariff of 1909 was too high. We ought to have reduced it, but we did not and are suffering the 1 consequences of our folly
 The Panama tolls exemption repeal probably will pass the Senate. accord ing to Senator Cummins. "There are two entirely distinct and independent questions invelved in this controversy he said.
 "rhe first concerns a domestic pol icy and with it no foreign nation has a right to interfere and we would be a craven people if we permitted even the suggestion of interference.
 That is if we had no treaty obi cations, it is wise, 1t is fair to the
 whole country to give coastwise boats free passage through the canal. My am swer is No
 The second question concerns our rights under the treaty. To that
 would say there is nothing in the treaty that in any way restricts oi limits our absolute sovereignty in this regard and the man who is willing to accept the construction asserted by Great Britain, or yield to the still more lignominious interpretation involved Tn dissenting to the demand made by the President, is willing to pay a higher price for the friendship of that coun- try than I am willing to pay for the favor of the whole world"
 The republican defeat of 1912, Sem ator Cummins declared, was caused by the failure of leaders to heed the voice of the rank and file of the party.
 "We suffered defeat and disaster he said, because some of the men clothed with the power of office re- fused to grapple with their problems
 "The unfair. unjust representation of the south. and the overthrow of pri- lmary laws were two of the great fac tors which brought about the disinte-
 grafton which followed"