The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1917-03-05

OF It's clllZeHS. more than 0OU of the
531 members of the two houses were
ready and anxious to act; the house of
representatives had acted by an over
whelming majority; but the Senate was
unable to act because a little group
of IL senators had determined that it |
should not.
"The senate has no rules by which
debate can be limited or brought to
an end, no rules by which dilatory tao
ties of any kind can be prevented. A
single member can stand in the way
of action if he has but the physical
endurance. The result in this case isl
complete paralysis alike of the leg
islative 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 impos-
sible at time when the need for it
was most pressing and most evident
| The bill which would have permitted
such combinations of capital and of
organization in the export and import
trade of the country as the circum-
stances of international competition
have made imperative bill which
the business Judgment of the whole
|
failed.
"The opposition of one or two sena-
tors has made it impossible to increase
the membership of the Interstate Com
merce commission or to give it the al
tered organization necessary for its
efficiency. The conservation BILL which
should have released for immediate
use the mineral resources which are
still locked up in the public lands now
that their release is more imperatively
necessary than eyer, and the bin which
would have made the unused water
power of the country Immediately
available for industry, have Doth
failed, though they have been under
consideration throughout the sessions
of two congresses and have been twice
passed by the house of representatives
"The appropriations for the army
i, have failed along with the appropria-
tions for the civil establishment of the
government, the appropriations fer the
military academy at West Point, and
the general deficiency bill. 1t mas
proved impossible to extend the powers
of the shipping board to meet the spe
cial needs of the new situation into
which our commerce has been forced
to increase the gold reserve of our ma
, tional banking system to NEE, the un
usual circumstances Of the existing n
nancial situation.
1T would not cure the difficulty t
! call the 65th congress in extraordirar,
| session. The paralysis of the senate
: would remain. The purpose and tn
! spirit of action are not lacking now
The congress is more definitely united
o in thought and purpose at this moment
J | venture to say, than it has been with
: in the memory Of any man now in it
! membership. There is not only tn
. most united patriotic purposes, but tn
| objects members have in view are pei
/. fectlv clear and definite But the sen
, ate cannot act unless its leaders ca
- obtain unanimous consent. Its major
). itv is powerless, helpless. In the mids
!. of a crisis of extraordinary peril, whe
. only definite and decided action ca
n make the nation safe or shield it fror
war itself by fine. aggression Of other
= action is Impossible.
). Although as matter Of fact til
> nation and the representatives OF tn
: nation stand back of the executiv
: Continue Pres. Wilson'S Statement
: with Unprecedented unanimity an
y spirit. the impression made abToa
Will of course be that it is not so an
re- that other governments may act
10 thew please without fear that this 90
eminent can do anything at all.
cannot explain. The explanation is !
81 credible.
bo 1.-THE senate of the United States
~ the only legislative body in the wor
M which cannot act when its MAORI
ii is ready for action. A little group
n. winful men, representing no opini'
bat their own, have rendered the gre
he government of the United States hel
he less and contemplate.
,ss 1.-The remcdy' There is but o
i. remedy. The only remedy is that I
rules of the senate shall be SO alter
m that il can act.
''The country can be relied upon
70 draw the moral. ! believe that I
To- senate can be relied on to supply I
re- means of action and save the count
of from disaster.