The state herald., 1917-03-09
WILSON TO NATION.
APPEALS TO PEOPLE IN CRISIS
CAUSED ~ FlL,susrER OF
TWELVE IN SENATE.
President Declares situation at Close
Of Sixty-Fourth Congress 70 Be
Unparalleled In History Of
Modern Government.
Western Newspaper Union New. Service.


Washington. March 5.-President
Wilson Sunday night issued the fol.
lowing statement. addressed "to the
Nation:
The termination of the last session Of
the Sixty fourth Congress by oonstitu-
tional limitation diselosas o situation
unparalleled In the history Of the ooun-
try, perhaps unparalleled In the his.
the immediate presence of q crisis
fraught with more subtle and far.
reaching possibilities of national dan
ger than any other government has
International relations. the Congress
has been unable to act eithor to safe
guard the country or to vlndicats the
elementary rights of Its citizens.
More than five hundred of the five
hundred and thirty-one members OF the
act: the House Of Representatives had
acted. by an overwhelming majority.
but the Senate was unable to act, be-
cause . little group of senators had
determined that 1t should not.
The Senate ma. no rules by which de-
end: no rules by which dilatory tactics
OF any kind can be prevented. A single
member can stand In the way OF ac-
tion II he have but the physical en-
complete paralysis alike of the iegisia-
tive and Of the executive branches Of
the government.
This inability of the Senate to act
has rendered some of the most neces-
sary legislation of the session impossi-
BILE at a time when the need for II was
the most pressing and most evident.
The bill which would have permitted
such combinations of capital and of
organixation In the export and import
q III
stances Of International competition
have made imperative-a bill which
the business Judgment Of the whole
country approved and edemanded--has
failed.
The opposition of one or two sena.
the membership Of the Interstate Com
merce Commission or to give II the all
tered organization necessary for Its ef-
ficiency.
The conservation bill. which should
have released for immediate use tho
mineral resources which are still
locked up In the public lands. now that
their release 10 more imperativciy nee
essary than ever. and the bill which
would have made the unused water
available for Industry, have both
failed, though they have been under
consideration throughout the sessions
OF two Congresses and have been
sentatlves.
The appropriations for the army
have failed. along with the appropria-
tions for the civil establishment OF the
military academy At west Point and
the general deficiency bill.
II has proved impossible to extend
the powers Of the shipping board to
alton into which our commerce has
been forced or to increase the gold re-
serve OF our national banking system
to meet the unusual circumstances Of
the existing financial situation.
II would not cure the difficulty to
call the Sixty-fifth Congress In extra
ordinary session. The paralysis of the
Senate would remain. The purpose and
the spirit OF action are not hacking
united In thought and purpose at this
moment. ! venture to say. than u has
been within the memory Of any man
now IN Its membership. There is not
only the most united patriotic purpose.
but the object. members have In view
arc perfectly clear and definite.
But the Senate cannot sct unless It's
leaders can obtain unanimous consent
the midst o. . crisis Of extraordinary
peril when only Definite and decided
action can make the nation safe or
shield II from war itself by the ag-
xression Of othsrs. action Is impos-
Although a. q matter of fact the
nation and the representatives Of the
nation stand back of the executive
with Unprecedented unanimity of spIr-
Il. the Impression made abroad will Of
course. be that Il is not so. and that
other governments may act ms they
please without fear that this govern
ment can do anything at nii. We can
not explain. The explanation 10 incred-
ible.
The Senate of the United States Ia
the only legislative body In the world
which cannot act when Its majority 10
ready for action.
A little group Of wtifui men repre-.
ssnting no opinion but their own have
rendered the great government Of the
United States hsipless and contempt
tbls.
The remedyr There 10 but one rem.
sdy. The remedy II that the rules Of
the Senate shall be 80 altered that II
can act. The country can be relied
upon to draw the moral. ! believe that
the Senate can be relied upon to sup
ply the means of action and savs the
country from disaster.