The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1914-01-01
FOR cL0TURE RULE
CURRENCY BILL DELAY m YhG
o9MArE PRovokEs LEAoGRo
o. the MAJORITY.
HAy ADOPT the HOUSE ptAn
ehseesoO on q Uasimttsd oshsAs.
"s~sssr. Would D o4seaueusiy
oeesesS BY Many osaatsss.
- 0sGA easeiee.
Oy oGoRog cLIMYoN.

- SS~"S0 SesWuVWs
WasAinston.-Ths somewhat las-
sara consideration Of President VIII
soa's currency bin may be the cause
q forcing an issue On the senate of
tie United States. that OF the wisdom
d the adoption offs cloturs rule simi-
lar to the one which has been in opsr-
sfaon In the house Of representatives
~ years out Of mind.
10 the Glass-Owen currency law, for
- such 1t will be known although It
might have Wilson" imprinted ON 1t.
TO bring about . change In the pro-
cedure Of the senate Of the United
states? Is the senate to lose its
name a. the most deliberative body
In the world. or is 1t to be allowed to
90 on in Its old way, . way of talk
At times seemingly unending. talk
that on more than one occasion has
caused the death of bills which the
people would have preferred to be
endowed with life!
Leading Democrats in Washington
are advocating the adoption of SEN
ate rules which will give the majority
the power to nx the day on which .
bill must be voted upon. to limit de-
bate to any measure and to make GER
tain that March and March 4 In the
years OF short sessions. and the last
two days Of the years Of long sessions
shall not witness senator's spelling
one another" In speech In order to
compass the failure of some piece Of
l. - ~,
them object
Once Threatened by Republicans.
Republican leaders are criticising
sharply the plan of the Democrats to
limit senate debate. Republican lead
ers are saying that never did they
threaten or even suggest that the
e1ght Of free and unlimited speech
should be denied to any senator of the
United States The old party men
have short memories.
By coincidence It was the last cur
rency bill which was passed by the
United States congress which brought
from the Republicans threat that un-
less opposing senators should forego
their intention to talk the bill to death
1t might be necessary for the Republic.
an majority to adopt the cloture rule
Of the house and to prevent such q
talking to death: occurrence in the
future
1t was during the Roosevelt admin.
istration that the Aldrich currency bill
was passed Senators La Toilette, Re-
publican and Stone and Gore. Demo
Gratis. were opposed to the bill and
they entered into a compact to relay
one another In speech until the close
OF the session. 30 that the bill could
not be put to vote. This compact
conspiracy. the Republicans called it
failed only because Senator Gore
was blind. He thought Stone of Mis-
souri, was in his seat ready to take up
the talk at the point where the Okla.
homan should drop it. Stone was not
there. There was a lapse. and the
vice-president put the bill to a vote
and 1t was passed. only few hours
before the close Of the session would
have brought its death.
The Republicans on this currency
bill have been doing just exactly what
they condemned in La Toilette. Stone
and Gore on another occasion. Now
the Democrats are doing the con-
demning and it Is the give and take"
of the party systems.
Would Arouse Opposition.
There are Republicans and Demo
Gratis both. who maintain that cloture
for the senate would be a good thing
"a 10 l.
scope, but this admittedly is impossi-
BILE No party majority in the senate
would dare to rule that certain bills
should be voted on at certain date
and that debate should be restricted.
while giving sanction to as much talk
as any one chose to engage in on
uther measures Such an elastic rule
would bring trouble in a minute, not
only from the minority, but from mem
bers of the majority, perhaps few in
number, who either wish for for full
expression on clotured bill or else
wanted cloture on some bill to which
the rule was not applied.
There Ia some Democratic opposi-
ton to the application In the senate
of the house rule for closing debate
and forcing a vote, but in the main
the leaders seem to be in favor Of .
change which will enable the present
majority to get all Of Mr. Wilson's
tleEislation through In due season.
Most Of the Republicans will oppose
such a change In the rules. The Ques-
ton is whether the Democrats will
attempt to make q party measure Of
their plan and to force 1t through by
q party majority II they do this. Mr..
wilson's legislation will be expedited
in its passage, but II they refuse to do
1t the country can expect just as long
q senate on tho antitrust bill as they
had on the tariff and longer debate
than they had on the currency.
suffrasIsts Must Wait.
While many leaders Of the suffrage
movement are camped In Washington
and have announced their intention
hA1 nA<