Evening star., 1925-07-26
MEN AND AFFAIRS
BY ROBERT T. SMALL.

II Is not difficult to understand why
/ President Coolidge has remained alooi
| from the Dawes campaign to change
the rules of the Senate and has even
| looked upon that campaign with some
| misgivings. The President believes
| in the Senate as a citadel of liberty
He believes 1t was constructed under
the Constitution to protect the rights
| of the minority. That is also the
| Senate's view of itself and that is why
some of its rules were adopted lis
years ago and have remained virtually
unchanged to date.
Senators who are opposing the new
| Dawes plan" are holding hard and
| fast to some abstracts taken from the
inaugural address of Mr.. Coolidge
| when he was inducted into the office
| Of Vice President four and a halt
years ago, and became the presiding
officer of the Senate. Reading that
! speech in the light of what Mr. Dawes
| Is trying to do is a revelation Of the
Coolidge attitude.
The tribute to the Senate of the
| man who is now President contained
these significant sentences:
Five generations ago there was
/ revealed to the people of this Nation
! a new relationship between man and
| man, which they declared and pro
Therein they recognized a legis
lature empowered to express the will
| of the peop'e in law, a judiciary re
qufred to determine and state such
law, and an executive charged
with the duty of securing obedience
to the law. all holding their office, not
! by reason of some superior force, but
through the duly determined con
science of their countrymen.
An oIz
of the Nation, renewing its whole
| membership by frequent elections
representing directly the people, re
flecting their common purpose, has
been granted a full measure of the
power of legislation and exclusive
authority to originate taxation.
To the Senate, renewing it's mem
bership by degrees, representing, ir
part. the sovereign States, has beer
granted not only a full measure of the
power Of legislation, but, If possible
| far more important functions. To Il
| is intrusted the duty of review, thai
| ratification and to appointment ap
| proval.
But its greatest function of all, toe
| little mentioned and too little under
stood whether exercised in legislatine
or reviewing, is the preservation OF
! liberty; not merely the rights of the
| majority-they need little protection
but the rights of the minority, from
whatever source they may be assailed
| THE great object for us to seel
here, for the Constitution identifies the
vice presidency with the Senate, is Il
continue to make this chamber, as il
was intended by the fathers, a citade
! of liberty. There is no legislative body
in all history that has used it's power
with more wisdom and discretion, more
uniformly for the execution of th'
| public will or more in harmony with
the spirit of the authority of the peo
| pie which has created it, than the
| United States Senate"
| Mr.. Coolidge concluded by express
| ing his pleasure at taking up the duty
| of presiding over the Senate "agree
| able to its rules and regulations" anc
| referred to it once more as "a grea
deliberative body. without passion
without fear and unmoyed by pas
| SION
| In poignant contrast to the above
| Vice President Dawes took up hi:
| duties March last in a mood tha'
| was anything but agreeable to the
rules and regulations. He wants &
Senate moved by the same clamoi