Evening star., 1923-02-11
Demand for Cloture in Senate
Is Old as the Senate Itself

the day we met in the cloakroom.
said to him, you trimmed me
and my ruling rather roughly. did
you notT He answered. Yes. I
meant to-" but how about It,"
asked, 'ff that brave man you
were talking about had been pre-
siding last session you would have
been deprived of the pleasure Of
reading Paradise Lost all one
mystified a moment, and then
= thrust out his hand to me. 81 re-
member" he said Unlimited de-
bate. after all. is the only wca-
pom to preserve the rights OF a
minority" From that moment to
the day of his death we were
staunch friends.
\: II Il Il
I recall no legislation from the
defeat of which by unlimited de-
bate the public suffered great In
jury. Yet no one can speak with
authority as to whether great in
jury came from the filibuster. in
the spring Of 1915. which killed
McAdoo's ship bill. The necessity
for building ships became appar-
ent when we got into the war two
years later, and was promptly ac-
ceded to. We may have been saved
two years useless expense, con-
sidering the merchant marine at
the present time with the expense
attendant to the government on
account of the seamen's law, pro-
hibition and high cost of opera
ton. When flibuster prevented
the arming of merchant ships be-
fore we got into the war. no harm
was done, because inside Of two
months we were In the war. In
deed, ] can think of no instance
in which the people were injured
by the failure to enact legislation
because of filibustering tactics.
Whenever the people really de-
mand enactment of a remedy TO
meet a wrong or a condition, either
promptly and sternly rebuke those
who are engaged in IT and get
what they desire after short delay.
IT IS the stuff that slips through
Congress easily that rises up
thereafter to vex the state-the
stuff complacently consented to.
Filbusters. taking them by and
large, have not wrought injury to
the people.
1t is interesting to recall the
difference in respect for obedience
to the law of the land as shown by
the attitude OF the English and
Americans. In England a law is
. not enacted until an Overwhelming
public sentiment demands 1t, while
in America any fad. fancy or
theory that may creep into a nim-
BILE brain Is liable to be crystal
lized into law. The education of
the people to believe in il then be-
gins. j sometimes think that more
filbusters than we have would pro-
woke a healthy discussion Of public
questions. crystalline sentiment.
bury foolish propositions and gal
vanize wise ones into life and law.
/ hope I am not the only one who
realizes that the founders OF our
republic really had some first-class
ideas about government and the
processes of legislation.
My reversal upon the limiting OF
debate as a correct theory OF gov
ernment is no moro remarkable
than the change I have undergone
with regard to executive sessions
of the Senate. / remember, of
course, the waggish remark Of
Senator Thomas of Colorado, that
the only accurate newspaper re-
ports of the proceedings of the
Senate were those which had to
do with its deliberations behind
closed doors. / started in with
the theory that every man was a
potential scoundrel and therefore
ought to be driven into the OPEN
Before ! got through. I reached
the conclusion that man is far
more likely to be a potential ego
igt nrOhahlQ
His egoism leads him. when he
has taken a stand. to stick to II
long after he Is uncertain about
it. I have no doubt that If the
Versailles treaty had been con-
sidered in executive sessions as
all treaties before il, some COM
mon ground on which to base rati-
fcation would have been found.
The covenant of the league of ma
tions would have been modified and
the United States today would be sit
ting at the table in Geneva doing
what it could for the peace Of the
world. But egoism took its stand
openly and neither men nor angels
can hape to overcome the vain
glory of man once he has told the
people all about It
am back where the fathers
were and in company about as
lonesome and dead. But l still be-
lieve in representative govern
ment. in the duty Of the people to
scan the integrity and ability of
their representatives and in the
right of, those representatives to
talk as long as they please upon
public questions In order to ex-
plain their conduct and enlighten
the public mind. The world Is
governed too much even with the
fflbuster and the executive session
in vogue. When these disappear
the last vestAge OF representative
governmnt will go with thm-