French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1916-1919, 1917-03-08
WILSON FLAYS
II SENATORS
Representing No Opinion Except Their
Own When They FiIibustered
Sunday.
MAY ORDER SHIPS ARMED.

Wilson tonight informed the country,
in a statement, that he may be with
out power to arm merchant ships and
take other steps to meet the herman
submarine menace, il the absence OF
authority from Congress.
An extra session CT Congress, the
President say is required to clothe
him with authority, but it is useless
to call one while the senate works IN
der the present rules which permit a
small minority to keep an overWhelm-
ing majority from acting.\
The President proposes, therefore,
that the special session of the senate
which he has called to meet tomor-
row. revise the rules ito supply The
means of action n save the country
from disaster"
"a little group of willful men
says the President in his statement,
representing no opinions but their
own. have rendered the great govern
ment of the United States helpless and
contemplate"
The Presidents statement in full fol-
lows:
''The termination of the last session
LOT the sixty fourth Congress by con-
Institutional limitation discloses a situa-
ton unparalleled in the history of the
coun try. perhaps unparalleled in the
history of any modern government. In
the immediate presence Of a crisis
fraught with more subtle n far
reaching possibilities of national dan
ger than any other the government has
known within the whole history OF Its
international relations, the Congress
has been unable to act either to safe.
guard the country or to vindicate the
elementary rights of it's citizens.
more than 500 of the 531 members
of the two houses were ready and anx-
ious 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 IL sena-
tors 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 diIatory tactics
of n kind can be prevented. A sin
gle member can stand in the way OF
action if he have but the physical en-
durance. The result inFthis case is a
complete paralysis alike of the legisla-
tive and executive branches of the gov
eminent.
'"This inability of the senate to act
has rendered some of the most neces-
sarv legislation of the session imposs1-
BILE. at atime when the need or it was
most pressing and evident. The bill,
which would have permitted such COM
binations of capital and of organiza-
ton in the export and import trade of
the country as the circumstances Of
international competition have made
Iimperative-a bill which the business
Judgment of the whole country approx
ed and demanded-has failed.
"The opposition of one or two sena-
tors has made it impossible to increase
the membership f the Interstate Com
merce commission or to give it the al
tered organization necessary for it's
efficiency. The conservation bill
which shoruld have released for imme-
date ust the mineral resources which
are still locked up in the public lands,
now that their release is more imper-
atively necessary than ever, and the
bill which would have made the un-
used water power of the country i'm
mediately available for industry have
both failed, though they have been un-
der consideration throughout the ses-
sions of two Congresses and have been
twice passed by the house of repre-
sentatives.
"The appropriation for the army
have failed. along with the appropria-
lions for the civil establishment of the
government, the appropriations for the
military academy at West Point, and
the general deficiency bill.
ct has proved impossible to extend
the powers of the shipping board to
meet the special needs of the new sit
uation into which our commerce has
been forced. or to increase the gold
reserve of our national banking sys-
tenn to meet the unusual circumstances
of the existing financial situation.
cit would not cure the difficulty to
call the 65th Congress in extraordinary
session. The paralysis Of the senate
would remain. The purpose and the
spirit of action are not lacking now.
The Congress is more definitely united
in thought and purpose at this mo
ment, / venture to say, that it has
been within the memory of any man
now in it's membership. There is not
only the most united patriotic, purpose
but the objects members have in view
are perfectly clear and definite.
But the senate cannot act unless
its leaders a obtain unanimous con-
sent.
ats majority is powerIess, helpless.
"In the midst of q crises of extra
ordinary peril, when only definite and
decided action a make the nation
safe or shield it from war itself by the
aggression of others, action is impos-
sible.
Although as a matter of fact, the ma
ton Inc the representatives of the
nation stand back of the executive
with unprecedented unanimity and
spirit, the impression made abroad
will, of course, be that it is not SO, and
that other governments may act as
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