Arizona republican., 1917-03-05
URGES NEW RULE TO SAVE NATION
 FROM DISASTER
Republican A. p. Leased wirel

Republican A. p. Leased Wirel WASHINGTON. March 4-President Wilson tonight informer the country in Q statement that he may be WlInvu. ,so i to arm merchant ships and take other steps to meet the German submarine menace. in the absence of authority from congress.
 An extra session Of congress, the president says, is required, to clothe him with authority, but if is useless to call one while the senate works under the present rules which permit small minority to keep an overwhelming ma jority from acting
 The president proposes. therefore. that the special session of the senate which he has called to meet tomorrow. revise the rules to supply the means of action and save the country from disaster"
 "A little group of wilful men" says the president in his statement. rep resenting no opinion bat their own, have rendered the government Of the United States helpless and contempt ible"
 The presidents statement in full fol- lows:
 The termination of the last session of the siXty-fourth congress by con stitutional limitation discloses a situa- uon unparalleled in the history of the country. perhaps unparalleled in the history Of any modern government. In the immediate presence of crisis fraueht with more subtle and far reaching possibilities of national dang CT than any other, the government has known within the whole history of it's international relations, the congress has been unable t0 act either to safeguard the country or to Vindicate the elemen- tary rights of its citizens More than 500 of the 53I members of the two houses were ready and anxious to act. the house of representatives had acted by an 6erwhelming majority but the senate was unable to act because lit- tie group of eleven senators had deter mined that il should not.
 The senate has no rules by which debate can be limited or brought to an end, no rules by which dilatory tactics of any kind can be prevented X single member can stand in the way of ac- ton if he have but the physical endur- ance. The result in this case is q com plete paralysis alike of the legislative ard Of the executive branches of the government
 This inability of the senate 10 net has rendered some of the most neces- sary legislation of the session impos-
 
 Was a most pressing and most evident. The bill which would have permitted such combinations Of capital and of organization in the export and import trade of the country as the circum- stances of international competition have made imperatiVe-a bin which the business Judgment of the whole country approved and demanded-has failed
 The opposition of one or two sena- tors has made it impossible 10 increase the membership of the interstate com merce commission OF to give it the altered organization necessary for its efficiency. The conservation bill which should have released for immediate. use the mineral resources which arc still locked up in the public lands. now that their release is more imperatiyely necessary than ever. and the bill which would have made the unused water power of the country immediately available for industry. have both failed though they have been under consider alton throughout the sessions of two congresses and have been twice passed by the house of representatives.
 The appropriations for the army have failed. along with the appropria- tions for the civil establishment of the government, the appropriations for the
 
 the general deficiency bill It has '-~nved impossible to extend the powers oi tar shipping board to meet the spec ial reeds of the new situation into whi n our commerce has been forced or ,a increase the gold reserve of our na- uc'al banking system to meet the un- us circumstances of the existing fin acial situation.
 ". would not cure the difficulty ia call the sixty fifth congress in extraor- dinary session. The paralysis of the senate would remain. The purpose and the spirit of action are not lacking now The congress is more definitely united in thought and purpose at this moment. l venture to say. than it has been with in the memory of any man now In its membership There is not only the most united patriotic purpose but the objects members have in view are per fectly clear and definite. But the sen
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