Norwich bulletin., 1917-03-05

Washington, March 4.-President Wilson tonight Informed the country, in statement, that he may be with out power 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 it is useless to call one while the senate works un- der the present rules which perni. . small minority to keep an overwhelm- ing majority from acting.
 The president proposes, therefore, that the special session of the senate row, revise the rules ito supply the means of action and save the country from disaster"
 WiIfuI Obstruction.
 little group of wilful men, says the president in his statement, rep have rendered the great government of the United States helpless and con- temptible."
 The presidents statement in full follows:
 "The termination of the last session of the sixtyfourth congress by con stitutiona1 limitation disc1oses a sit nation unparalleled in the history of the country, perhaps unparalleled in ment. In the immediate presence of a crisis fraught with more subtle and far-reaching possibilities of national danger than any other the government has known within the whole history gress has been unable to act either to safeguard the country or to vindicate the elementary rights of it's citizens. More than 800 of the 5S1 members of the two houses were ready and anxious to act. the house of representatives had acted by an overwhelming ma jority but the senate was unable to act because a little group of Ii sena- tors had determined that it should not.
 No Limit to Debate.
 "The senate has no rules by which debate can be limited or brought to an end, no rules by which dilatory tac- tics of any kind can be prevented. A of action if he have but the physical endurance. The result in this case is a complete paralysis alike of the legislative and of the executive branches of the government.
 Time of Pressing Need.
 This inability of the senate to act has rendered some of the most nec- essary legislation of the session inn possible: at a time when the need for 1t was most pressing and most evil dent. The bill which would have per- mitted such combinations of capit9l and of organization in the export and import trade of the country as the cfrcum mstances of international compe- tition have made imperative-a bill which the business judgment of the whole country approved and demand ed-has failed.
 "The opposition of one or two sen ators has made it impossible to in crease the membership of the Inter state Commerce Commission or to give it altered organization necessary for It's efficiency. The conservation bill which should have released for imme- diate use the mineral resources which | are still locked uD in the public lands, | now that their release is more imper- l atively necessary than ever and the bill which would have made the un- usual water power of the country inn | available for industry have both failed, though they have been un- | der consideration throughout the ses- sions of two congresses and have been | twice passed by the house of repre- | 
 Appropriation for Army Failed.
 "The appropriations for the army | have failed, along with the appropria- lions for the civil establishment of | the government, the appropriations for | the military academy at West Point, | and the general deficiency bill. It has l proved impossible to extend the pow CTS of the shipping board to meet the | special needs of the new situation into which our commerce mas been Iorceu | pr to increase the gold reserve of our | national banking system to meet sthe unusual circumstances of the existing | financial situation.
 Majority is Poweriess.
 "It would not cure the difficulty 60 all the 65th congress in extraordinary | 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 mo- | ment, I venture to say. than it has | been within the memory of any man | now in its membership. There is not | only the most united patriotic purpose | put the objects members have in view | are perfectly clear and definite. But | he senate cannot act unless it's lead ITS can obtain unanimous consent It's majority is powerless, helpless. In he midst of a crisis of extraordinary peril, when only definite and decided | action can make the nation safe or l shield 1t from war itself by the ag- | yression of others, action is impossi- | ole.
 Creates Wrong Impression Abroad.
 Although as a matter of fact the | nation and the representatives of the nation stand back of the executive