The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-10-04
CAN ACT ON
LA TOILETTE
Committee So Decides, De-
spite Senator Reeds
Assertion
REED SMOOT
CASE is CITED
Senate Receives Many Petit
tions for Expulsion
of Senator

elections can take no action in the cas-
of Senator Robert NJ I.aFollette, in
formally charged with seditioGs utter
ances, was demolished in that commit
: tee yesterday after one Of its members
Senator Reed of Missouri, had used mucl
time trying to convince his colleague:
that the committee was impotent be
cause no resolution for investigation Oh
impeachment of the Wisconsin senator
had been offered on the floor. The Older
members of the committee recalled that
years ago, when charges were brought
against Senator Smoot of Utah because
he was a Mormon, and his admission to
the Senate was protested, memorial
stating certain facts was presented to
the Senate with protest against seating
Senator Smoot. The papers were re-
ferred to committee and the commit
tee itself, after due deliberation, pre-
sented its own resolution recommending
an investigation. This resolution went
the routine way, through the committee
on contingent expenses of the Senate,
was there approved and finally adopted,
whereupon the celebrated inquiry over
Senator Smoot, which excited the entire
country, was held.
1t was decided informally yesterday
that the committee on privileges and
elections has exactly the same power as
to procedure and that if it is the opinion
of the committee that Senator LaFol-
lette should be convicted or cleared by
the Senate of the charge of disloyalty,
the committee can take jurisdiction at
least to the extent of making a recon-
menda ton as in the Smoot case. The
committee took no formal action and. in
fact, its discussions were interrupted by
the assembling of the Senate to consider
the war insurance bill. 1t will meet
again to-day.
The ST Paul speech of Senator LaFol-
lette has been printed for the use of the
committee but has been given no general
circulation and, indeed, up to yesterday
other members of the Senate had not
been given opportunity to read the
speech. A stenographic copy was sub
mitted with the memorial requesting the
expulsion Of LaFollette received from
the governor and committee on public
safety of the state of Minnesota. This
memorial will form the basis of any ac-
ton the committee may take, although
all other papers in the case are being
referred to the committee on privileges
and elections as fast as they come in. |
The speech consists largely of defense
of the system of war taxation embodied |
in the war revenue bill introduced by |
Senator LaFollette. as a substitute for |
the revenue BILL just enacted by Con-
gress. LaFollette proposed that the war
should be paid for as it went along by /
direct taxation, chiefly upon incomes and
excess profits, and in his St. Paul speech
the senator declared that Congress has !
not met its responsibilities in failing
to adopt his scheme. The speech teens
with bitter arraignments of wealth" for
its alleged responsibility for the war and
condemns the war because in the speak
er's opinion no sufficient ground for war
existed.
Upon the two main points upon which
war was declared, Senator LaFollette
said, first referring to the Lusitania,
now, fellow citizens, ! don't believe we
should have gone into this war for that
Door privilege, the right Of an American
'itizen to travel upon a foreign vessel
oaded with the munitions of war, be-
ause foreign vessel loaded with NUM- |
ions of war is technically foreign ter !
itory (appause) and an American citi- {
EN- takes his own life in his own hands q
ust as much as he would as if he were
N the territory of France and camped
n the neighborhood of an arsenal 1t
las sometimes occurred to me that the
hippers of munitions of war, who are
making enormous profits out of the bust
ess, should not have encouraged Amer
,an citizens to ride on these ships in
rider to give semblance of safety to
he passage of their profiteering cargo
board"
Several utterances of this character
aiken in conjunction with the declara-
ion of Mr.. Bryan to the president. quot
4 by LaFollette, that the Lusitania car
led ammunition and passengers in viola
ion of a statute of this country, are
aid by some senators to constitute so gross
Misrepresentation of the law and the
lcts as to warrant action, or at least
} command the careful attention of the
1mmittee.
Referring to the doctrine that one
lrpose of the war is TO make the world
lfe for democracy, as President Wilson
ause": ''Who is il abroad over this
'untry waving the flags and crying out
II democracy in the loudest possible
mes - Ii is the business that is max
g money out of existing conditions,
Iat is what it is. You new converts
democracy are masquerading in the
very of heaven while you serve the dew
And again: "Of course | know the
lows who are waving the flags of to-
" most frantically, the belated repre-
natives of wealth who are shouting
udest for democracy to-day, are trying
invest this particular time with new
rm OF democracy; a democracy that
S attached to it as a cardinal principle, Z
It liberty, not equality, but profit"
The senator's references to enlist
ent,' which have created wide com
ent, were not apparently. from the
ntext, to enlistment in the military
rces buf to the ranks If tho Nor-r,ar / .