Grand Forks herald., 1917-03-09
NEW RULE BREAKS
PRACTICE OF OVER
ONE HUNDRED YEARS
Gronna Declares He Has No
Apology for His
Opposition.

s4u6 NVO6CV aets4SSA WHY W SahS yssSS
ical endurance OF senators and the
provisions Of the constitution. the sen.
ate tonight by vote Of 76 to put
the power In the hands Of twu.thirde
Of It's members in the future to ltsnit
discussion and to say whom vote
shall be taken on pending measure
Never while the amendment ts In
the senate rule book can \ little
group OF willful men," rs President
Wilson called those he held responsi.
BILE for the defeat Of the armed neu'
bill before the senate II two.thlrds Of
their colleagues will otherwise decree,
The organized filibuster as reccE-
mixed In the senate is dead.
Action came unexpectedly after sis
hours debate on the new rule, drAft.
ed by bipartisan connmittee. Al
though both Democ-atS and Repue'
licans had approved OF the change
in caucus, and Senator Martin, the
majority floor leader. had K.ren no
uce that the senate would be kept In
continuous session until vote Was
taken, nearly every one looked for 8
much longer discussion.
Three Vote ~No"
Senator's LsFolle,te and Gcoana.
two OF those who opposed the ARMED
who favored It, cast the negative
votes. senators ClEnninA Kenyon,
Kirby. Lane, Norris Stone ana Var
daman, who were against the armed
neutrality hill, voted for the amend
ment. Colleagues % most % The sen
ators absent announced that x they
had been present they would have
supported &.
The e1scs use .. the rule viii not
become apparent uaal II = enforced.
but !, probably cannot Be success
one-nan tilieussers by which senators
have talked bills pending ia the clos
ing hours of 8 session Is 4 legislative
grave. Such n,iecsters probably
canont Be prevented unless they are
foreseea, but an organized affair.
which must be planned two days or
more sheed OF sessions end, can
be easily disposed Of.
One Hour Limit
In brief. the new rule provides that
on petition OF le senators to close
debate on pending measure, the SEN
ate. by q two-thirds vote on the fol-
lowing day but one, may limit debate
thereafter to one hour to each senA-
tor. 1t includes provisions to prevent
diliatory tactics and to bar the intro
duction after cloture is ordered Of
amendments not germane to the
pending bill.
Cummins DESIRES IT.
The debate today started peacefully.
but before 1t had continued long It
branched into discussion on the arm
ed neutrality bill and tho presidents
statement about the II men he held
responsible for "a failure to get . vote
upon 1t. There were some bitter crit
icisms OF the president and Of tho
newspapers. Senator Cummins de-
clared that any men in the senate or
out Of 1t, high or low." who said he
attempted or conspired to prevent a
vote on the bill deliberately falsi-
fled"
Senator smoot said IL the presiden.
would call q special session OF con-
gress now and the friends OF the arm.
ed neutrality bill would not take All
the time, the measure could bA pass-
ed In three Gays after It reached the
senate floor.
LAFoHette Last
The last speaker was senatof La.
Toilette. the central figure Of the Ill
-ibuster. He said he would not dis-
enss his position on the neutrality
bill now. but might have somethsnI
to say about it later. Pointing GU,
that some Of the most important ap-
preparation bills. including the navy
and army measures. had been pre-
sented to the senate only q shor.
time bIore March Z. he ssked:
Were they 80 long coming to the
senate because II vas undestra ble
that they be discussed here 20 The
army bill was presented. he said,
with . provision never before dared
TO be presented to an American
congress. with universal comcript.on
or universal military training embod
led in it,
Gronna Stands.
Il have no apology to make for my
action in trying 10 defeat the aaned
neutrality bill" said Senator Gronna
Il was opposed 70 that bill. and am
now. and II It were before the ssn.
ate should talk against II and
should vote against It."
Senator Stone remarked with con.
viction: III our action results in the
senate being able to DO some business
then the occurrences Of the last week
have not been in vain"