The Washington times., 1915-02-15
WOULD ABOLISH UNITY OF ACTION.

WOULD ABOLISH
The other half would except from this
Norris rule any proposition on which
a party caucus had bound a party to
substantial unity Of action. Thus. when
caucus rule had turned a minority into
a majority. the cloture could not be In.
voked to jam into the laws a propo'
sition actually opposed by a majority
! Of the Senate. but that was being passed
| through caucus rule.
In substance. the combination Of these
two plans would result In the adoption
Of the following rule:
During the morning hour the motion
shall be in order to provide for the con.
sideration Of any bill under this rule
That motion shall not be debatable. II
carried, the bill comes under this rule.
Thereafter discussion shall be limited
| to three hours for each Senator. in gen.
eral debate. and to hfteen-minute
speeches on amendments. At the close
Of discussion in this manner vote
shall be taken. Provided. however
And here comes the Limitation thai
smashes CAUCUS rule-tnat this rule shall
| not apply to the consideration OF any
measure that has been adopted as q
party measure by a party caucus.
Under this rule. the situation as to the
| ship purchase bill would be this:
! measure by a caucus. 1t is really the
| measure Of a minority which. through
caucus rule. is attempting to force its
| will on the Senate. Therefore. 1t would
not be eligible for consideration with
| the privilege Of cloture.
Might Gain Votes.
But II there had been q cloture rule
| for bills that had not been approved By
| a caucus. this measure could be con-
| sidered as q non-partisan proposal. and
with proper amendments. which in tina,
case would be possible, might gain more
| votes than it would lose.
| Consideration Of such a complete re.
| organization Of the procedure Of the
| Senate points to a change in the whole
parliamentary situation Of the country
| The changes would not be less importan,
than were those In House procedure tha
! were adopted as a result Of the ole
| fight. few years ago, on the House
rules.
The fight against "Cannonism' is
| credited wit, a very large part In
starting the poltical revolution that
| drove the Republicans. first from con-
| troll of the House. then from domina-
| ton Of the country. In Its beginnings
! that fight was not recognized as OF
| the tremendous Significance that after
! ward attached to 1t. Rather. the hrst
mutterinss of the storm were regarded
| as no more than the grievances OF mer
who had not been given the committee
| assignments they wanted: the protest.
ants were looked upon as cranks and
extremists. Yet in n few years they
forced a situation in which the country
| came to their support, and the reform
Of the House rules proved one OF the
rather minor results growing out OF
their struggle.
Has Larger Significance.
A Senate fight for cloture will have
even larger parliamentary significance
| for the adoption of cloture in the Sen
ate would be a far more revolutionar!
change than any that has been made
in House procedure. The Senate ha!
become the citadel Of opposition: pp
position to anything; miscellaneous anc
general opposition. Long sessions Of
Congress have been jammed with grea
| legislative programs; the short session:
have been too brief and their end toe
| abrupt to make much maneuvering pos
sble. Every short session has been 6
graveyard of legislation: from the time
Congress returns, In this session, aftel
the Christmas holidays. 1t sits in the
shadow OF the threat that a fllibustel
may at any hour break out and destroy
all effort to accomplish results.
The privilege of unlimited debate. ir
| the Senate. inevitably compelled the
formulation of means to counter this
| eternal threat against any eg,slatior
| on which there was not substantially
| fective means was the caucus rule. Fol
a long time the old-fashioned parlia
| mentary leaders held caucns rule sa
| cred; none might presume to bolt his
party without losing his political honor
| 1t was necessary to oppose a solid eau
| Gus strength to an opposition. which
though feeble in numbers. might bs
armed with the weapon Of the fiibuster
s"Freedom" a Menace.
So the unlimited debate rule which
seemed and has always been supported
| on the ground that 1t was the last WORD
in absolute freedom on parliamentar!
procedure. made freedom 80 absolute
that 1t became a menace; liberty to
think and say what and all mar
| chose. became license to break dowr
| the whole legislative scheme II few
men pleased Alongside this overdon'
| liberty in debate, consequently. grew ur
| the tronclad caucus system. which rep
resented a very opposite tendency; thu
| tendency to suppress all individuality
within the party.
In recent years disaffection with bott
caucus rule and unlimited debate hal
| been growing stronger all the time. II
is now deserted that adoption of {
cloture plan will inevitably weaken the
caucus system. already gasptng fol
breath. There will be less excuse. il
there is means to shut off endless
talk. for using the caucus club Not q
few members of the Senate. realizing
that unlimited debate tends to fortify
extreme par.isanship, have been coming
over to the demand for cloture because
Of its effect in this direction.
fight for cloture, especially II II
were for a blanket general rule on the
subject would be the occasion for q
great demonstration OF parliamentary
warfare. The thick-and-thin adherent'
Of the old-fashioned traditions Of the
Senate are chiefly to be found among
the elder Republicans, men OF long ex-
perience and intimate with every re
source that the rules place at their DIS
noSl for Carrying on such Z contest