The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-03-08

EusOn ate againS countries with which the United States was at peace. In othe, words, piracy -- Yankee merchants fitting out privateers to prey on British shipping.
 Today, in Congress, the word filibuster means talking @ thing to death, one congressman getting the floor and keeping 1t to prevent vote, yet the old meaning comes home to roost with double signifi- canoe now - talking against a bill to aid a country with which the United States is at peace, Britain.
 Officially, the senators talking against the lease-lend bill don't admit this is a fllibuster. Their strategy, as 1t shows now, is to in- vite people from all over the country to wire in or write in to their senators, telling them to fili- buster the lease-lend bill If they have to. But actual fllibuster is the last resort.
 LONGS WAS
 CRAZIEST
 People outside of Washington, who never saw filibuster in action and probably never will, but who did see the movie MT. Smith Goes To Washington" will get their best idea of a fllibuster by remembering in that picture where Jimmy Stew art, playing the part of young Sen- ator Smith, talked all night and then some to defeat 6 bill he thought was crooked. That was a real fllibuster, wandering on about anything that came to his head, reading the Declaration of Inde- pendence, the Constitution, any, thing.
 There has been nothing like that so far in these leaSe-lend proceedings, which have been marked by sticking closely to the subject, even though making the same points over and over.
 There have been 16 filibusters in the Senate since the first one back in 184l, on debate to oust the Senate printer, It lasted Q week. Forty years later, in the debate over organization of the Senate, there was a filibuster that lasted from March "A to May l6.
 Most famous of the filibusters was in 1922, on the Dyer anti lynch bill, when Pat Harrison and q group of southern senators made lengthy speeches about changing commas and the exact minute the vice president entered the cham Der, in correcting the reading of the previous days record, a for- mality usually dispensed with. They killed the bill.
 Longest one-man speech on rec. ord was old Senator Bob La Fol- lette's l8-hour and 23-minute fili- buster against @ currency bill in 1908. Craziest filibuster on rec- ord was Huey Longs reading of pot licker" recipes in 1925.
 BOYS WILL
 TALK IT OUT
 The reason a fllibuster can go on is that the Senate rules permit un- limited debate, Only way to break a fllibuster is for majority of the senators to remain on the floor, night and day, until everyone wish ing to speak against the measure is physically unable to keep on his dogs or wag his tongue.
 A filibuster is perhaps dirty pool, but Senate defenders say no essential piece of legislation was ever lost by filibustering tactics. A score of bitter -enders organized for joint filibuster could, how ever, filibuster the lease-lend bill practically forever.
 Only alternative to even an un- official filibuster like this Is to ap- ply the rule of cloture -- to close debate after limiting every sena- tor to one hour of speaking on the measure and It's amendments. It takes only 16 senators to petition for application of the cloture rule, but 1t takes a two-thirds vote to put over and in the case of the lease-lend bill, those supporting the measure simply don't have the votes
 Cloture has been proposed in the Senate 19 times since the rule went into effect, March 8, 1917, but 1t has been agreed to only four times. It's that tough to put across, and since the rule of the Senate Is unlimited debate, unless there is Q shifting of sentiment and votes, the boys will talk 1t out if it takes all summer.