Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-02
La TOILETTE HITS
SENATE SECRECY
Evils Abound and System Is
Contrary to Spirit of
Nation, He Says.
Continued from First Page. }

Cary OF Interior; Harry M. Daugnerty
Attorney General; Charles r. Forbes
director of the Veterans Bureau, anc
Thomas F. Miller, alien property Gus
todian, each was considered In execu'
tive session.
Had these nominations been con.
Sidered in open sessions Of the Senate,
he said, some of them at least woulc
have been fully debated and conf1rma-
ton strongly opposed"
Referring to the celebrated Warren
case, when the Coolidge nominee fol
Attorney General was defeated by g
single vote, the Wisconsin Senator ex-
pressed the opinion that If Warren's
nomination had been considered In
secret session instead of under the full
light Of publicity 1t can scarcely be
questioned that the nomination would
have been confirmed.
Question of Public Right.
Senator La Follette's speech follows
One hundred and forty years since
the Constitution went into effect, the
Senate of the United States is face to
face with this issue:
Shall the Senate transact the public
business. while debating and confirm
ing nominees of the President to Fed
eral office. in open or in secret session?
Stripped of its technicalitieS, that is
the naked question involved in the dis
cussions on the Senate floor within the
past 10 days. This is no academic
question, no mere matter of procedure
which concerns the Senate alone. 1t is
Of profound importance to all the peo-
pie of this country. Upon its settlement
depends the right of the press to pub
fish information concerning the public
business. free from censorship. It in
wolves the right Of the people to have
that information and to hold their Rep
resentativeS in the Senate to strict &C
countability for votes cast upon all
questions involving the public interest.
I have taken the position that the
nominations of public officials to be
debated and voted upon behind closed
doors is a violation of the spirit of the
Constitution. It paralyzSes any effec-
tive opposition to the appointment Of
unfit men for Federal Office. It at
temptS to destroy the primary respon-
Sibility Of Senator to his constituents.
1t sets UP a censorship over the press
which never has been and never can
be enforced; and it impairs the dignity
and the power of a self-respecting leg
islative body.
In my Judgment, this question can
only be settled rightly by an amend
1nent to the Senate rules to provide for
the fullest publicity for all the proceed
IL,
and branch, the system of secrecy. If
such an amendment is adopted. we
shall witness a change of momentous
historic importance in the conduct Of
the public business at Washington.
Advantage Of Radio.
I regret that one of the advocates of
secrecy is not here tonight to debate
this question. It Is an admirable fea-
fH,ro IF THE hot Ar{y,
into the homes Of the people a free
discussion of important issues, upon
which they have right to be informed
and which they must ultimately decide.
believe in the presentation of both
sides Of all public questions, in the clash
of convictions honestly held, in the
fearless winnowing and sitting of
truth" as the SureSt safeguard Of repre-
sentative democracy.
It is by no means new question
which now confrontS the Senate. It is
older, indeed, than the American Gov
eminent itself, for the policy of invoking
secrecy in the conduct of the affairs Of
men is deep-rooted in the past. For
centuries it has been defended by some
among the rulers of earth, and from the
time It fastened itself upon the Senate
of the United States 1t has been chal-
lenged again and again down to the
present hour.
We cannot understand the. recent
case which has come to the attention
of the public or the amendment now
less we examine the origin of the
secrecy system. It did not originate in
the Constitution. On the contrary, that
document provides that leach House of
Congress shall keep a journal of its
proceedings, and, from time to time,
publish the same It was only after
a close division In the constitutional
were given the option, in publishing
their proceedings, to omit such parts
of the public record as required
secrecy" Within eight days after 1t
first met, the House Of Representatives
opened its doors to the press and to
the people. Since that time the doors
of the House have been closed only on
rare occasions, and then only during
actual war.
First Session Secret.
For four years after 1t first met the
Senate transacted all BUSINESS of every
kind and character behind closed doors.
The Senate abandoned this practice in
1893 and 1t was not until 1920 that a
rule was adopted providing that all
information and debate on nominations
submitted by the President should be
kept secret. In 1914 the rule provid-
ing for expulsion of any Senator dis
closing such information was adopted.
In 1868, in the period of party passion
and strife that followed the Civil War.
the secrecy rules were amended and
adopted in substantially their present
form. They provide that "all infor-
nation communicated or remarks made
by a Senator when acting upon norni-
oh anita nv
qualifications of the person nominated,
also all votes upon any nomination,
shall be kept secret"
1t was under these rules that the
Senate met on May II, 1929, to consider
the qualifications of Irvine l.. Lenroot
of Wisconsin, nominated by the Presi-
dent to serve on the Federal bench
for life as judge of the United States
Court of Customs Appeals.
The doors were closed, the galleries
were cleared, newspaper men and all
persons except Senators and half q
dozen employees were excluded from the
floor. Not one word of the debate on
May II, lasting for more than six hours,
was taken down. Every argument made
against Mr.. Lenroot's confirmation was
based upon the public record which he
had maze while in the Senate and since
his retirement. Not one word was
spoken which could not and should not
have been said in open session.
Record Under Fire.
Here was a nominee for high judi
cial position, former Senator, whose
record was properly subject to scrutiny
and debate. His record had repeatedly
been attacked and defended before the
people of his own State, who had re-
jected him for reelection to the Senate
in 1926. Yet the United States Senate
on May II refused to debate the quail
fications of this nominee in the oper