Evening journal., 1918-10-03
THANK HAYES OF CALIFORNIA.

~, HERE are ways usually followed by Congress In
passing bill amending former statute. One Is to
strike out or insert specific language. The other is to
amend the earlier act so that It VIII read as follows
and the old law is repeated in the blu with the pro
posed changes included in IT, Under the method
1t is possible TO distinguish at just what effect the
new amendment viii have but under the latter labor
ious comparison Of the bill with the old law must
be made in order TO detect the change language II the
authors Of the amendment wish to avoid discussion on
the floor OF the House. and get their proposition through
that body with little disturbance possible the latter
method invariably to- That OF legislation
has been adopted more than by the Administration
in putting through Its pet measures.
A typical case occurred recently In the House. bill
under discussion. introduced for the purpose OF
couragng the sale of the next issue OF Liberty Bonds
To the casual reader the sections OF the looked
innocent enough. and calculated to remove certain
restrictions Of present law TO provide further in
centves to the purchase OF bonds But Section OF the
bin began follows THAT clause lb) Of Section OF
the trading with-the-enemy act be. and hereby IS
amended 10 read as follows" Then followed the COM
plete paragraph as it would appear after the change.
Few Congressman took the trouble to compare the
bill with the original law. but Republican Representative
Everis A. Hayes, OF California made study Of the
paragraph and discovered that ten new words had been
added to the than $50 words of the old provision
Those words undertook to place in the hands OF the
President absolute power TO prohibit all dealings In
Liberty Bonds In spite Of the fact that the bill had
been drawn for the ostensble purpose Of promoting the
sale OF those securities, here a provision which,
IL had remained In the measure would have cut down
the total amount OF bond sales by millions OF dollars
Few persons going to invest in Government bonds
II they know that their resale depends entirely on the
will OF one man, though he be the President OF
the United States. Every small investor knows that ne
can take his 500 bond to the bank at any tlme and
either deposit il collateral for loan Of almost its
face value, sell it outright at the current market
price To deprive the people Of that right threaten
to do So would have the immediate effect Of tying up
hundreds Of millions of dollars that would otherwise
be cleerfully loaned to the Government.
The members Of the House were so impressed with
Congressman Hayes presentation Of the matter that the
committee amendment was defeated in the Committee
Of the Whole by vote Of 81 to 52 When the bill was
reported to the House. however administration leaders
gathered their forces the language was restored to
the before its final passage But the Senate
Committee Finance adopted Mr. Hayes views and
recommended the elimination OF the prohibiting clause
Likewise the Senate which struck out the language with
out dissenting voice. In conference the Secretary OF
the Treasury appeared and gave his views But the con-
ferees while comforting the President power TO regu-
late bond transactions put In the specific provision
THAT nothing contained in this subdivision lb shall
be construed TO confer power to prohibit the pur
chase sale for cash notes eligible for discount
at any Federal bank Of bonds or certificates OF
indebtedness Of the United States" The conference re-
port has been adopted and presumably the law will con
tain that language
The people OF the entire nation owe debt Of gratl-
tude to Congressman Hayes for his discovery and
Of such insidous attempt on the part
OF the Administration. Had IL not been for Mr. Hayes
diligence in first calling attention TO the real meaning
Of the language possible it would have escaped de-
tectlon altogether.