The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1917-03-07
PLANS SPECIAL
SESSION SOON
President Informs Country He May
Be Without Power to Arm Mer.
chant Ships.

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, may be required to
clothe him with authority, but it il
useless to call one whole the Senate
works under the present rules, which
permit small minority to keep an
overwhelming majority from acting.
I. The President proposes, therefore
that the special session Of the Senate
which he has called to meet tomor-
row, revise, the rules 90 supply the
means Of action mad, save the coun-
try from disaster" - :
"a little group Of wilful men,"
says the President in his statement,
representing no opinion but their
own, have rendered the great gov
ernment of the. United States help
less and contemplate" r..
Presidents Statement.
The Presidents statement in full
follows: .u
"The termination Of the last ses-
sion Of the Sixty-fourth Congress by
constitutional limitation discloses a
situation unparalleled in the history
of any, modern government. In the
immediate presence Of a crisis
fraught with more subtle and far
reaching possibilities Of national
danger than any other the govern
ment has known within the whole
history of its international relations,
the Congress has been unable to act
either to safeguard the country or to
cindicate the elementary rights Of
its citizens. More than five hun
dred and thirty-one members Of the
two housese were ready and anxious
to act; the House of Representa-
tives had acted, by an overwhelming
majority; but the Senate was unable
to act because a little group of ele-
ven Senators had determined that it
should not.
Z "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. A single member can
stand in the way Of action if he have
but the physical endurance. The re-
suit in this case is a complete paraly-
sis alike of the legislative and execu-
tive branches of the government.
Causes Serious Trouble.
"This inability of the Senate to
act has rendered some of the most
necessary legislation Of the session
impossible, at a time when the need
for it was most pressing and most
evident. The bill which would have
permitted such combinations of cap
ital and Of organization in the ex-
port and import trade of the coun-
try as the circumstances Of interna-
tional competition have made imper-
ative-a bill which the business
judgment of the whole country ap-
proved and demanded-has failed.
The opposition Of one or two Sena-
tors has made it impossible to in
crease the membership of the Inter-
state Commerce Commission or to
give it the altered organization nee
essary for its efficiency. The con-
servation bill, which should have re-
leased for immediate use the miner
al resources which are still locked
up in the public lands, now that
their release is more imperatively
necessary than ever, and the bill
which would have made the unused
water power of the country imme-
diately available for industry, have
both failed, though they have been
under consideration throughout the
sessions of two Congresses and have
been twice passed by the House of
Representatives.
Appropriations Needed.
"The appropriations for the army
have failed, along with the appropri-
ations for the civil establishment of
the government, the appropriations
for the Military Academy at West
Point, and the, general deficiency
hill IT, has proved impossible to