Evening star., 1949-03-06

islation has been demanded. 7
demand for a change in the Sen;
provision on the individual Sena
have the Federal Government
compel individual States-those in
the South particularly-to accept
the so-called civil rights pro-
gram"
And today the chances for sue
cess in this drive to strip the
Senate Of its unique qualifications
as q great reviser and compro-
miser of legislation and as a final
and effective check on intemper-
ate demands of the executive
branch Of the Government. o.
demands Of minority groups-ap-
pear better than they have at any
time in the past. At the insist
ence of President Truman and the
Democrats outside the "sollc
South" and the insistence OF the
Republicans, the civil rights pro-
gram has been given the right OF
way in the Senate over all other
measures. And to make the drive
for the enactment Of this anti
racial discrimination legislation
run more smoothly, it is now pro-
posed to amend the cloture rule
of the Senate-to fill the loop
holes and make it possible Tor a
two-thirds vote in the Senate To
linit-and 50 close-debate In the
Senate at all times and on all
matters.
Delays Irritating
The present demand to make
two-thirds cloture ironclad is
frankly only a step toward major
ity cloture.
President Truman has declared
himself for closing debate by a
simple majority of the Senate
Under the Presidents proposal. 25
Senator's majority of quorum
of 49-could put an end to discus
sion of any subject before the
Senate, If only a bare quorum OF
the Senators were attending q
session.
A number Of Senators, dur
ing the recent hearings on the
amendment to the cloture rule anc
during the present debate IN the
Senate, have stated they desire
majority cloture. Senator Myers
of Pennsylvania, Democratic whip
is proposing to offer an amend
ment to the pending resolution
providing for majority cloture In
stead of two-thirds, and so is Sen
ator Morse. Republican, Of Oregon
To partisans the tortolselikt
slowness of the Senate. the con-
slant and continuing delays aris'
ing because of the rule Of unlim'
tied debate, have been tremen'
dously irritating. Invective levelec
at the Senate has been harsh II
the extreme. Others have at.
tempted to ridicule the upper
house of Congress and its indi.
vidual members. The boast OF the
Senate-and it is a proud one
has been that it alone provides
forum of completely free debate
and free speech.
The rule of unlimited debate
has prevailed in the Senate since
l306-143 years. The only checks
upon it have been temporary
rule, adopted during the Civil War
restricting debate on war measures
considered in secret sessions Of the
Senate, and the present two-thirds
cloture rule, adopted in 1917 wher
this country was on the verge o1
another war. Prior to 1906 the
previous question could be moved
in the Senate-a motion designed
to end debate and bring a vote or
q pending question-but even ther
the previous question was subjecr
to debate. The Senate rules them.
selves provide exceptions to tn,
general rule of unlimited debate
for example. a motion to adjourn
Is not debatable, nor is a motor
to lay on the table any question
or measure before the Senate.
Advantage vs.. Weakness
The test of the value-or lack O.
value-of unlimited debate lies. O
course, in its practice. The ad
vantage of the rule of unlimited
debate must be weighed in thu
balance against its weakness. Ha'
the rule of unlimited Senate de.
bate ever proved injurious to thu
country? Has it ever caused dis
aster in an emergency? Th'
answer is no. It has, to be sure
caused delay, compromise and de.
feat of measures which majority
has desired-measures that have
had merit. But such delays, com
promises and defeats must be
weighed against the tremendou!
value of free and unlimited dis
cussion of measures upon which
the people of the country have
needed to be informed, far more
fully than limited discussion per-
mits.
So strong has been the feeling
against limiting free debate II
the Senate that efforts to invoke
the present two-thirds cloture
rule of the Senate, since its adop'
ton, have been very, very rare
Take a look at the record. In al
that time, the Senate has actually
voted on cloture only 10 times
And cloture has been invoked onl!
four out of those 19 times OF
which it came to vote.
Two Loopholes Found
The two-thirds cloture rule wa
adopted by the Senate as a re
suit Of a filibuster in the Senat'
which prevented the passage o
foo ro 20 llad rync6 merchant Shil