Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-13
ALIEN STACKER
BILL HELD UP
It's Opponents Say We Should
Object if Our Nationals Were
Coerced Abroad

Special Correspondence Of the Evening Ledger
WASHINGTON, oct. IL.
TTNilE last hours of a session of Congt ess
i are necessarily tense. II happens that
numerous bills are left on the calendar and
that members anxious for favorable consid-
eratlon of them watch the hands of the
clock, hoping for a nod of recognition from
the presiding officer. AS everything depends
upon that nod of recognition. that member
is lucky who. having a special bill In his
keeping, succeeds In obtaining Il.
In the House Of Representatives il is the
province of the Speaker to veto a bill under
these eleventh-hour conditions If he sees fit.
Speaker Cannon used to hold that recogni-
tion by the Chair. especially where unani-
nous consent for the consideration of "A bill
was required was equivalent to the right to
object. That is to say If any member on
the floor could defeat bill by objecting to
II the Speaker could also defeat IL by refus-
ing recognition to the member who desired
to call il up.
Whether that was a fair Interpretation
of the rule or not other Speakers, including
Mr.. Speaker Clark, have consciously or un-
consciously observed it. The number of
bills still standing on the calendar when
adjournment was finally announced last
week attests that fact
Committee chairmen, who usually have the
right of way, were given recognition to call
un and dispose of small war bills that might
BE- classed as "slicken feed" and then the
Speaker permitted certain individual MEM
bers on both sides of the House to have
their chance, but all of them, of course,
could not get in.
Alien Enlistment Bills
1t was under these circumstances i'm the
last half-hour before noon that a Joint reso-
luton was called up which proposed to open
up diplomatic negotiations with our Euro
pean allies with a view of obtaining their
view and sanction for action by the United
States permitting the inclusion in the armed
forces of the United States of such citizens
of such foreign Governments as are now in
the United States. The purpose of the
resolution was to compel showdown" by
those aliens in the United States Of military
age who have not enlisted for military
service here or who have thus far resisted
the appeals of their own countries to return
home FOR service in their respective armies.
Almost as soon as the resolution was
called up opposition to it developed and
continued until so close to > o'clock that
it became necessary to suspend further
proceedings with reference to IL so that a
dccorous adjournment might take place. In
other words, the measure was "bowled out"
and will now lie dormant until Congress
meets again in December. Enough was said
about the resolution. however, to show that
Il had been given serious thought on both
sides and that it involved certain questions
OF national and international policy that
could not well be settled without further dis
Cussion. OF all the so-called "alien Stacker"
bills, this one on which the House so sum-
marily closed it's jaws was probably the
leGst drastic.
The House immigration Committee had
proposed a bill compelling the nonenlistng
alien to enlist or leave the country, and a
somewhat similar bill had been introduced
in the Senate. but each of them suggested
possible international complications, since
II has been Contended that the United States
should not attempt to exercise jurisdiction
over citizens of foreign countries any more
than it would tolerate the enforced enlist
ment of American citizens by foreign coun-
tries. The joint resolution proposed that the
Secretary of State should approach the for
egn nations in a diplomatic way TO see If
an understanding could be had as to the
treatment of aliens in the United States and
the President was reported as approving
this proposition.
Opponents of the measure, however, con-
tended that the United States should "go
slow" in attempting to hold the citizens of
foreign countries for military service, be-
cause there would certainly be objection to
any foreign country holding an American
citizen for foreign service. At the time of
this discussion the proceedings of the Ger
man Reichstag which seems to have had a
smillr problem before II, were not known
TO tne House ueDaterS, early TINS week,
however, foreign dispatches indicated that
the temper of the Reichstag, which seems
to have been considering the alien Stacker
question: with respect to Americans in Ger
many, was reported to have been against
impressing American citizens now residing
in the German empire into the imperial
military service.
In view Of the fact that reference was
made in the House debate to the causes of
the War OF 1872, including the action OF
Great Britain in impressing American sea-
men into the British naval service, the re-
ported attitude of the Reichstag is some-
what significant
Labor Question Involved
The agitation to compel the alien Stacker