The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1917-07-18
Congress Cropping For PreCe-
dents to Meet Conditions.
DIG INTO THE MUSTY PAST
Little Found In Old Records That Fits
the Present ocossion-Senstor Lewis
Advocates Temporary Suspension of
Parts Of Constitution to Give Prssi-
dent Power.

washington, July IL. Especial. -
Cropping for p~recedents to fit a situa-
ton which Is unprecedented is one Of
the features OF debate I'm the senate
and alse In the house to some extent.
Congress Ii continually called upon to
pass legislation OF an unprecedented
character to meet unprecedented condi
tons. And yet the constitutional con
structionists and those who still hope
to preserve the greater part OF the con
stitution dig into the musty past 10 find
something which will Justify them In
voting for extraordinary measures. De
bates take a wide range. We hear
quotations from Chief Justice Mar
shall. from acts OF President Lincoln
and from supreme court decisions dur
Ing the civil war. And yet they do
not fit the present occasion. We are
making war under different conditions
than ever before. and legislation Of the
past does not at.
The Ham Lewis Method.
Perhaps 1t might be Just as well to
take the James Hamilton Lewis short
cut. The Illinois senator says. having
declared war. we have given the com
mander In chief all power that is nee
essary to make the war a success; that
he has all the power II he wants to ex-
ercise II: that the constitution or those
parts of II which may not enable him
to do all that he thinks needful for con
duct of the war are I'm Temporary sus-
pension"
That Is n good way out Unless a
man feels o~verburdened with constitu-
tional restrictions he can take the Lew
is way ont and vote for everything that
In presented to congress for war pur-
poses.
Everything Must Pay.
Ii begins to look as II everything and
everybody must pay. Having wiped
out a quarter of a billion liquor ia
Nnd added as much more TO the bur-
lens of the government to buy the
liquor now In stock, IL behooves con-
eress to dig down into the peoples
pockets and get half d billion more
money.
A Booze Joke.
There has never been such n diligent
attendance on the floor Of the senate
as when the liquor question was be-
ing considered. Only those who We're
too Ill to attend missed voting.
THE senate never was go fun as
when considering this whisky bust
ness" was the booze joke of a man
In the gallery who looked over and
saw nearly every seat occupied.
Can Enforce Attendance.
liz the senate would always adopt "a
ten minute rule II would insure attend
ance. 1t is the long winded speech
which drives men from the chamber
into the cloakrooms and into their pri-
vate offices and to the golf links. Sen
ators who make long winded speeches
will o listen to others who make such
speeches. Senators who are limited to
ten minutes often make speeches which
are really worth while. Besides. there
is always the possibility OF a vote
when the senate reaches the ten min
ute stage. and most senators like to be
recorded upon the important matters
that are now being considered.
There Was a Reason.
During the discussion of the food
control bin the organization and per
sonnet of the Council of National De
Tense came In for discussion and some
criticism. Senator Brandegee Of Con-
necticut was moved to remark that he
regretted the subject was brought up
and indicated that If Ii was discussed
with the exhaustiveness 1t ought to be
treated II would long delay the pas
sage of the food bill. He went on to
say that a report OF the organization
had recently been made public, but
had received only very scant atten
ton in the press. because perhaps II
is not very brief and not particularly
adapted to newspaper needs"
And to prove his assertion he had
this report printed In the Record. &C.
.upying thirty-three pages Of that pub
lication. Brandegee was right; there
was q reason.
Bitter Feeling Enosndersd.
1t has been a long time since any
such bitter feeling has held sway In
congress as that caused by the prohi-
bition issue injected into the food con.
trcl bill. II Is a good thing the divi-
sion was not upon party lines, a. II
would have brought about G condition
ylch MS TO endanger future war legis-
lation. While the speeches on the
floor of tie senate did not show III
feeling, there were remarks In the
cloakrooms which showed all intense
bitterness on the part OF senators on
both sides of the question.
Wa Reed S~arcasticf +
In the senate n day Senator Reed
was speaking. IL see by the press"
said the Missouri senator, and he
paused, glanced toward the press gal
lery and parenthetically added, and
heaven save me from challenging any
thing l see In the press"
Perhaps he was merely sarcastic.